Alison Larkin selects and introduces fairytales of strong, independent, brave, at times irreverent girls and women who take charge of their lives, go on their own adventures, rescue themselves and sometimes even save the men they love. These are not stories of helpless females shut up in high towers waiting around for a handsome man to rescue them while they sleep for years or from brushing their golden hair a lot. These heroines have far more to distinguish them than the fact that they (sometimes) end up married to a prince.
Stories included: The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, Molly Whuppie and the Double-faced Giant by Flora Annie Steel, A Pottle of Brains by Joseph Jacobs, Cap O Rushes by Joseph Jacobs, Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm, Mr. Fox by Joseph Jacobs, Clever Grethel by the Brothers Grimm, Kari Woodengown by P.C. Absjornsen, The Twelve Dancing Princesses by the Brothers Grimm, Felicia and the Pot of Pinks by Madame la Comtesse d'Aulnoy, The Iron Stove by Miss Mulock, The Hedley Kow by Joseph Jacobs, The Six Sillies by Monsieur Lemoine, Baba Yaga a Russian folk tale re-told by Verra Xenophontovna Kalamatiano De Blumenthal, The Old Woman in the Woods by the Brothers Grimm, The Idle Spinner by the Brothers Grimm, The Twelve Brothers by the Brothers Grimm, Frederick and Catherine by the Brothers Grimm, Little Red Cap by the Brothers Grimm, Beauty and The Beast by Marie Le Prince de Beaumont.