Author: Jane Yolen
Illustrator: Susan Guevara
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: Boston, New York
Copyright: 2000, 2018
Recommended Age Range: 8-13
Formats: Hardcover (144 Pages), Kindle E-book
Available from: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and anywhere else children's books and e-books are sold
Critical Score: 3/5
Storyteller Score: 2/5
Drawing from diverse cultures around the world, renowned author Jane Yolen celebrates the female heroes of legend and lore in a collection that will empower every reader. This new edition features two brand-new stories from Azerbaijan and Indonesia, and enhanced illustrations.
Review: Lovingly crafted from start to finish, Jane Yolen's Not One Damsel in Distress is an anthology of various folktales and legends from all over the world with one interesting, if a bit obvious, thing in common: strong, wise, and brave women characters that prove just as capable as any standard male hero. Written for girls of the present, future, and past, this text simultaneously offers a veritable buffet of inspirational figures and also acknowledging how far women have come in society, even though there is still a long, difficult road ahead.
"Female heroes existed well before Wonder Woman, or Bat Girl, or Raven. Before Princess Leia Organa, Katniss Everdeen, or Storm. But they lay hidden in the back storeroom of folklore, put away by retellers and bookmakers who though girls should be...well, girls.
So the tales were disguised. Mutilated. Truncated. The female heroes' feet bound as surely as Chinese bound the feet of young noblewomen even as late as the last century.
This book is for you because the stories were not only waiting there to be rediscovered in folklore, but in real life, too. For once upon a real time, there were actually young women who--sometimes in disguise, and other times in no disguise at all--went off to battle as often as young women do who are in the armed forces now."
"You said we needed this book, and we do. But not for the reasons you think. We already know that girls have power, that we can be heroes too. We already take kendo and judo and have black belts in karate. We already go to school wrestling teams and soccer teams and can outrun the boys in track. We can do it all with polished nails, if we like....
We need this book to remind ourselves that girl heroes have always been around, hidden away--as you say--in the storerooms of folklore."
Still, all hope of engagement is not entirely lost on this book. As I said, with a proper and active storyteller, I have little doubt that children grades 2-4 might have a blast with this story and see a bit of who they want to be in these women heroes. Kids grades 5-8, on the other hand, might actually have a good time looking through this text and recognizing some consistent actions, character descriptions, or scenarios that bear similarities to the fables, legends, and folktales they grew up in those younger grades. The story of Molly Whuppie, for example, bears some staggering resemblances to classic children's tales like Jack and the Beanstalk, Hansel & Gretel, and a bit of Rumpelstiltskin. Such kids might even enjoy seeing the similarities between the stories of Fitcher's Bird and Masha and the Bear as they recognize the "I see you!" trick present in both tales. So, while the book as a whole feels a bit dated and underwhelming, considering that the book itself doesn't meet the standards set by the book's colorful and simplistic new cover that appeals more to kids today than the original, I can't say it isn't without some level of merit and intrigue. It just might take a little extra effort or the demand of it being required reading to convince kids they should grab this book today.