Ahh, don’t you just love fairy tales, they’re something you treasure forever {still have the books from when I was young}. Well I’ve been lucky enough to be a gifted a gorgeous new *ahem* FEMINIST story book {that yes I’ll it treasure forever} and I wanna tell you all about it.
Now with general fairy tales, from what I can think, it was always women who had a hardship and needed to await a man to come and ‘save’ them, gets a little tedious at times, because hey us women can manage ourselves. Elaine has written these fairy tales feminist style, and the women have strength {we can manage thanks price charming..} and they were so refreshing to read, and I feel in ways relatable {well as much as possible for a fairy tale}.
So there is seven stories in total, and I honestly loved them all, you get to learn about the charters in depth and there is a lot I got from each story, I guess everyone interprets things in different ways, but this is what my brain plucked from each one.
- From the first one named ‘The Little Witch‘ I got the message that you can be loved when you don’t feel like you can be, also that knowing not to raise your hand to women or anyone for that matter is a important thing to remember.
- The second one ‘The Weaver‘ it showed that men deemed as ‘powerful’ and ‘in control’ don’t always win, also the woman got through her fear and became friends with it. YOU GO GIRL.
- ‘The Enormous Clown‘ this story very nicely linked back to the first one, it showed that even when people don’t believe in what you want to do, ie. the dad in this case, you can still go and do what you set out to and succeed, just need to believe in yourself. Also that it’s okay for boys to cry and show emotion, which is a very important message these days.
- ‘The Changeling‘ showed a mother love and strength when her boy got taken {he was returned} and how he began to resent all women, it was sister that saved him from it when he was sad, lost and lonely, raised talking about periods a little too.
- ‘The Unicorn‘ oh it showed a lot of resilience, not giving up if you believe something isn’t right, and never giving up. It oozed girl power which a strong sister bond. Also a very caring to animals side, and helping others.
- ‘The Strong Man‘ was about a bully who would pick on the ‘ugly’ {I say that loosely, no ones ugly, beauty in everything n everyone}, and he would single them out in front of everyone. But the little gnome stood up to the bully, and married the bearded lady, whom never thought anyone would love her.
- The final one ‘The Sea Queen‘ really portrayed abuse as a child, the women had forgotten as she got older, and resulted in anger to those around her, as she resented other people, but hey she became happier again. {BRILLIANT}!
Phew, that was a lot of explaining, I thought it would be nice to point out how amazing this book is and that you NEED to purchase it, due to the messages it gets across, the stories are so captivating and I didn’t want it to end {i need a second volume..}. Read it yourself, or children, teenagers, grandmas, grandads, EVERYONE! These stories will leave you believing in real life magic, with a touch of sparkle left in your heart, with the realistic spin, not left deflated after yet another man saves everyone..
A quick note on how beautiful the book itself, a hardback blue cover, with gorgeous silver writing and drawings on the front. It’s been illustrated by Megan MacPhie, and the drawing throughout are utterly beautiful, and guess what?! you can colour them in if you so wish ~ which helps out anxiety a little, I can’t actually express how fabulous this book is. One last thing {i can’t stop raving about it}, at the very back there is a ‘notes’ section, with lines, now how good would this be to do your own little story!? genius.
About Elaine
She is a mum of three boys 8, 7 and 5, a big feminist and trying to learn as much as she can about inclusivity. Also a holistic therapist, seeing clients for Reiki or Dr Hauschka therapy as part of a portfolio career. This is her first book, and she’s pretty much learning the whole process as she goes.
I took a little extract from Elaine’s website in which explains how she came about to write this book..
‘ I was recently asked by a bloke on the internet “what is a pro-woman fairy tale?”..
I wanted to give children and young adults (and maybe even their parents) something to read that was a bit more thoughtful than the mainstream, with more modern values. And to give you the full and final answer I sent my fabulously informative internet pal, pro-woman to me simply means that my women are not reduced to a one-dimensional role in relation to how desirable (or otherwise) they are to men. It also means that many of my male characters are strong enough to overcome limiting and damaging patriarchal values. In that respect, Hans Christian Andersen was light years ahead of the modern retellings of his work, and I am an awful lot more inspired by his angle on it all.’
