'Traditional fairy tales describe the princess (or heroine) as beautiful, obedient, generous, and kind; of all these, beauty is the most prized attribute. Walker's women are gutsy, resourceful, realistic, and firmly in tune with nature; their beauty comes from within. In "Ugly and the Beast" (one of the turnabout stories), Ugly is loved by her family and by the Beast for her sweetness; her far-from-perfect looks are irrelevant. Environmental messages are woven into such stories as "White Riding Hood" and "The White God." Antiviolence themes appear in "Barbidol"; in "Snow Night," the good stepmother effectively thwarts the attempted rape and murder of her stepdaughter. The excellent explanations that precede each story provide scholarly references to Babylonian, Sumerian, Biblical, Greek, Roman, Celtic, and German myths and creation stories. These fairy tales are tools for empowerment.' --Judy Sokoll, School Library Journal

'Walker has applied her considerable scholarship to re-spin classic fairy tales, reinterpret folklore staples and write a few original stories of her own in a manner that reflects a serious-and sometimes funny-feminist mind. In perfect read-aloud cadence, the stories elevate women to the heroic roles: Gorga, who umasks the dragon; Ugly, who lives narcissism-free with the Beast; Jill, who descends the beanroot into the earth; Ala Dean, who asks the lamp not for riches but for peace and equality; White Riding Hood, who feeds the hunter to the wolves. Walker introduces each of the 28 stories with a brief commentary on its origins and meaning-from Gtterdmmerung to Jung.' --Publishers Weekly

'Walker, author of numerous feminist works, offers here a collection of 28 fairy tales in which women are the adventurous protagonists, confronting the whims and frailties of humanity and of the supernatural. Most of the tales are retellings of well-known classic fairy tales from a feminist perspective, reflected in titles such as "Gorga and the Dragon," "Ugly and the Beast," "Cinder-Helle," and "The Empress's New Clothes," while others are based on Greek myths or are Walker's own tales. The black-and-white drawings accompanying each tale are in keeping with the traditional style and feminist focus. This is an entertaining and thought-provoking collection.' --Jeris Cassel, Library Journal