This series breathes new life into ancient stories, giving voice to often-overlooked characters and offering fresh perspectives on traditional folklore. It delves into universal themes of strength, resilience, and wisdom across diverse cultures. Each volume presents beautifully crafted and thought-provoking narratives for contemporary readers. It's a celebration of the female experience in all its myriad forms.
From Japan to Norway, Scotland to Sudan, Tatterhood brings readers twelve folk tales--and twelve women whose cunning, hard work, and physical strength are celebrated in each story. A family of three women teaches a burly man how to wrestle, a girl battles a fearsome bear, and a young mother rescues her village from an elephant's stomach.
These twenty-five traditional tales come from Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. All the central characters are spirited females—decisive heroes of extraordinary courage, wit, and achievement who set out to determine their own fate. Some of their stories are comic, some adventurous, some eerie, and some magical. The Chicago Sun-Times "A sparkling gathering of traditional, yet little-known, tales from all parts of the globe. The female characters. . . manage to outsmart, outdo, and over-power the villains with nerves of steel, cunning minds, and disarming senses of humor."
The feminist folktales collected in Sea Girl upend any notion that women are doomed to be sentimental, meek, or submissive. In these classic tales, heroines unflinchingly wade monstrous rivers, escape ogres' nests, and outsmart desperate sharks and hungry tigers. And while defending their families and villages, they always determine their own fate. Ethel Johnston Phelps (1914-1984) held a master's degree in medieval literature, coedited a Ricardian journal, and published several articles on fifteenth-century subjects. She compiled two anthologies of feminist folktales from around the world, Tatterhood and The Maid of the North.
In this second volume of reissued classic folktales, a Punjabi woman outwits seven ruthless thieves, an Incan girl restores harmony to the empire, and a mischievous Norwegian lass thwarts her entitled landowner. Spanning several centuries and continents, the stories in Kamala recall how it's the dazzling courage, cleverness, and power of women that hold our world together. Ethel Johnston Phelps (1914-1984) held a master's degree in Medieval Literature, co-edited a Ricardian journal, and published several articles on fifteenth-century subjects. She compiled two anthologies of feminist folk tales from around the world, Tatterhood and The Maid of the North.