Power to the Princess: 15 Favorite Fairytales Retold with Girl Power
Power to the Princess: 15 Favorite Fairytales Retold with Girl Power book cover

Power to the Princess: 15 Favorite Fairytales Retold with Girl Power

Hardcover – September 6, 2018

by
Price
$15.28
Format
Hardcover
Pages
96
Publisher
Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1786032034
Dimensions
8.2 x 0.75 x 11.2 inches
Weight
1.45 pounds

Description

"Combining real-life, meaningful work with the trappings of kingdoms and fairy tales, this volume is a treasure for readers who are tired of traditional helpless princesses who fall in love instantly and 'live happily ever after.' ... Brilliant."— Kirkus Reviews , starred review Vita Murrow is an educator, an artist, a writer, and a mom. Vita has a quirky sense of humor and an eye for the weird.xa0When she was in 8th grade she was rejected from a special writers’ retreat for kids. But that didn’t stop her from pursuing her passion. Since then, Vita has been a teacher, a producer, a film maker, a program director, and even a puppeteer. She currently works as axa0children’s author reinventing old stories for a new generation and crafting wordless pictures booksxa0together withxa0herxa0husband Ethan Murrow. Their book Thexa0Whale was nominated for a CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal. She is also the author of two volumes of fairytales retold for a new generation: Power to the Princess and High-Five to the Hero . Vita loves working with other artists and writers and is always looking to share a chocolate chip cookie with someone. Julia Bereciartu (a.k.a. Juliabe) is a Spanish illustrator, born in 1980 in the northern city of San Sebastian. From an early age, she spent most of her time drawing, even if that meant using markers on her parents’ new couch. She also loved reading books and dreamed of painting the illustrations that accompanied them when she grew up. She now lives in Madrid with her partner and their ginger cat, and has fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming an illustrator. Julia works for clients such as American Girl, Google, Cartoon Network, and Simon & Schuster, and loves giving life to quirky, sassy characters and the occasional fluffy pet.

Features & Highlights

  • "Brilliant." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review What if princesses didn’t always marry Prince Charming and live happily ever after? In this stunning anthology—elegantly presented in a red, clothbound hard cover with gold-toned metallic debossing—15 favorite fairytales have been retold for a new generation. These princesses are smart, funny, and kind, and can do anything they set their minds to.
  • Focused on issues including
  • self-image
  • ,
  • confidence
  • ,
  • LGBTQ
  • ,
  • friendship
  • ,
  • advocacy
  • , and
  • disability
  • , these stories are perfect for sharing between parents and children, or for older princesses or princes to read by themselves. They teach that a princess is a person who seeks to help others, is open to learning new things, and looks for ways to add purpose to their lives and the lives of those around them. Get reacquainted with these powerful princesses:
  • Snow White—champion of real beauty
  • Snow White—champion of real beauty
  • Sleeping Beauty—specialist on sleeping disorders
  • Sleeping Beauty—specialist on sleeping disorders
  • Thumbelina—music producer and advocate
  • Thumbelina—music producer and advocate
  • Rapunzel—world-famous architect
  • Rapunzel—world-famous architect
  • Belle the Brave—undercover agent
  • Belle the Brave—undercover agent
  • Elisabeth and the Wild Swans—fashion designer
  • Elisabeth and the Wild Swans—fashion designer
  • Cinderella—prime minster and businesswoman
  • Cinderella—prime minster and businesswoman
  • Star and the 12 Dancers—dancer
  • Star and the 12 Dancers—dancer
  • The Goose Girl—stand-up comedian
  • The Goose Girl—stand-up comedian
  • Princess Sevinah (and the Pea)—founder of the Fairyland Dating Service
  • Princess Sevinah (and the Pea)—founder of the Fairyland Dating Service
  • The Snow Queen—winter sports coach
  • The Snow Queen—winter sports coach
  • The Little Mermaid—advocate for peace between mer-people and humans
  • The Little Mermaid—advocate for peace between mer-people and humans
  • Zade—storyteller (of 1001 tales) and businesswoman
  • Zade—storyteller (of 1001 tales) and businesswoman
  • Evangeline (The Frog Princess)—natural historian
  • Evangeline (The Frog Princess)—natural historian
  • Little Red Riding Hood—environmentalist and Princess of the Wolves
  • Little Red Riding Hood—environmentalist and Princess of the Wolves
  • Power to the princess!

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(187)
★★★★
25%
(78)
★★★
15%
(47)
★★
7%
(22)
★
-7%
(-22)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

This is pc propaganda for children

This book is a piece of pc propaganda for children. This is weird for me to say since I have a bachelors degree in feminist studies and even I think this is forced. Like the little mermaid is randomly turned into a lesbian at the end of the story with no precedent for it during the story. I like revisions, but this feels off in more ways than one...
6 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Fun and unexpected

My 8-year-old daughter LOVES this book, each story is short enough that she can read it by herself without much help. Then she likes to tell me what she read, pointing out each detail that is different from the classical version. She also enjoys adding her own twists to the story, coming up with other possible scenarios. The author shows us that stories, even those that have been around forever and we know by heart, are not locked down and unmutable. They can be whatever we can imagine them to be!
5 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

CUTE!

This book is REALLY CUTE! A fifth of the stories (Thumbelina, The Goose Girl, Zade and the 1001 Ideas) don't have to be versions of classic fairy tales to be good stories on their own! (By the way Zade is an inventor NOT JUST a businesswoman!)!
A fifth of the stores also have problems;
Cinderella DOESN'T define "Minim Wage" it could be as simple as "The Minim Wage was under $10, which Cinderella thought was unfair."
Elizabeth and the Eleven Swans has a Good Stepmother, who doesn't get to DO anything! These are set in our times, so possibilities for remedying this are infinite.
Star and the Twelve Dancers Enrico, a man, is the main character, The logic of Representation in media is "Girls Need Girls To identify With" though the logic is flawed, it's best practice to follow it.
Out of the other 60% one stuck out as unique. The Disability fairy tale in this book is "Sleeping Beauty" Vita Murrow details the Challenges of Aurora's Sleep Disorder, and Aurora wants to become a Physician because of her Sleep Disorder, Aurora IS defined by her Disability while being able to pursue her dream! I have Cerebral Palsy and have never seen a kids' anything with disability representation this complex!
It should be mentioned that Evangeline is labeled a Zoologist by Vita Murrow, but she studies animals in the wild making her a Wildlife Biologist, and Evangeline is against zoos. I'm gad I purchased this!
4 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Enjoyable for any age!

This is such a wonderful re-telling of the stories we grew up with that had themes of female disempowerment and helplessness. I have been reading the book with my 12-year-old son and we've both been enjoying it so much. It's fun, with beautiful illustrations, but it also gives us a great way to have a conversation about gender dynamics and the messages that boys and girls get about power, control, and intelligence. Huge kudos to the author, Vita Murrow!
4 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

This was a very uneven read for me

Power to the Princess has a fantastic premise! I'm always looking for new strong female characters, so I was really looking forward to reading about "These fifteen girls are smart, funny, and kind, and can do anything they set their minds to. Power to the princess!"

Unfortunately, the stories in this book did not really live up to the promised premise. Although they were all more modern, and most shunned traditional gender roles, with the exception of Sesi (The Snow Queen, who had a magically-induced fault) all the princess were pretty much the same character, and they all might as well have been named Mary Sue.

Oddly, considering the heroines were all so similar, the treatments for each tale were not handled in a consistent way. Some of the stories followed the originals fairly closely, but others had almost nothing but the princesses' names in common with the original. I would have preferred to see the original moral of each story be re-examined and restructured to reflect modern life.

I also struggled to understand exactly which age group this book was meant to reach. Much of the vocabulary seemed too advanced for a first chapter book, but the plots were all much too basic for even an average middle grader. On the other hand, I found some parts amusing, but I suspect those jokes would be lost on anyone under the age of 25 or so; likewise some of the messages to be learned were quite advanced.

Considered as a collection of short stories about girls, this is an ok way to spend a bit of time reading. I found the illustrations to be cute enough, and the stories weren't horrible. But if you're seeking a powerful re-telling of the classic fairy tales, I would pass on this one.
3 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Cute idea, but I didn't like it.

I understand the desire to present more socially conscious stories to young readers. Rewriting fairy tales is an acceptable way to do it. I loved the title and the idea behind the book. But the messages overall didn’t sit well with me.

I feel that many of the issues addressed in this book were above the comprehension of most of the readers. What do K-3rd graders have to know about minimum wage or even homosexuality? The Little Mermaid suddenly turning lesbian without context isn’t empowerment. It’s confusing. I’m really tired of having homosexuality crammed down the minds of young kids. Sexualizing children isn’t empowering.

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received through NetGalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.
2 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Mostly funny modern updates.

According to the blurb, these are fairy tales retold for the #metoo generation, mostly text with some cute humans colorfully drawn in the margins, plus an occasional full-page artwork.
Best line, the one that best describes what this book is about: “And that is how Belle became a princess. But not that kind of princess.”
In case you were wondering if this is written in old-style English, one of the fairies likes to say, “Well, that was awkward.” Another story contains the line, “But he was a vegetarian, so that made it weird.” Possibly my fave comes from Snow White: Her hair, pitch black, was now white as snow. “Huh, that’s a new one,” Neve said in wonder.
There are labor unions, sleep clinics, fitness centers, and a detective who’s assigned to cold curse cases. Sleeping Beauty becomes an expert in the field of narcolepsy. No one needs to tell this guy not to date a damsel in permanent distress. And someone could make a fortune teaching the woodland-creature hair-braiding class.
But it’s not all unicorns and rainbows (BTW, there isn’t one unicorn or rainbow in the entire book). Some of the modern-day counterpart jobs were farfetched; somehow Belle becomes an undercover cop! It’s great that the princesses in the Little Mermaid got married, but there was no hint of them being anything more than friends before that.
The artwork is pretty much as you’d expect it. Snow White is a little jarring at first, with the overalls and white hair. Her stepmother, on the other hand, is just my style, even with the Medusa head.
3.5 pushed up to 4/5
2 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Meh

"These fifteen girls are smart, funny, and kind, and can do anything they set their minds to. Power to the princess!" Reading this line and seeing the description of the concept it seemed like it could be a promising book. I really wanted to enjoy this book but it fell horribly flat for me. The stories are alright but it is not one I would pick up again or being showing off. I was hoping for stories that were more exciting and had some interesting lessons that retold the tales of the princesses who stood up for themselves and/or fit into this time period. Another option is having some princess' who were still in the fairy tale world but fighting their own challenges. I think this could have been wonderful but none of the characters stood out and it just disappointed me.

I received an eARC from NetGalley.
2 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

The cover is the only thing good about this book.

The title of this book is seriously misleading. Since when does "girl power" equal "woke propaganda"? This book is ridiculous. My 8 year old daughter brought this home from school, excited to dig in, and we were immediately disappointed by a weak, rushed retelling of classic stories. Why...just why? This was a literal bait-and-switch of a book, a sad waste of time and a thinly vailed call to "social consciousness". I will say, the cover and illustrations are beautiful, however they mask a poorly written facade of female empowerment. Do not purchase this book.
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Funny and feminist

Traditional fairytales updated for the modern girl! My family got a kick out of these stories!
1 people found this helpful

Related Books