Rating: Needs Parent Supervision

Reading Level: Mid-late Elementary, Middle School

Common sense and creative problem solving trump fairy-godmother magic and prince-charming kisses in this series of short stories about brave and clever young women.

Possible concerns:

  • False Savior. A clever girl helps an Arabic king. The book says she “came to be known as Scheherazade, which means ‘savior of her people.'” I’d talk to my kids about what it means to be a savior, and discuss how we have a savior available to us who has rescued us from eternal pain and sorrow.
  • Conservatives on the structure of the family may wish to know there is mention of a “partner.” In this particular context, the partner is clearly a business partner but I could see how conservative parents may wish to know and discuss it with their child. This happens in the section entitled, “The Innkeeper’s Wise Daughter.”
  • Fantasy creatures. There is magic, a dragon, an ogre, and maybe a troll.
  • Shrewdness and Deceit. Several of the young women are clever, shrewd, and sometimes tricksters. In “The Royal Joust” there is a bit of deceit as a girl secretly poses as her brother, wearing his armor and helmet while competing in a joust. In “Kimi Meets the Ogre,” as well as “For Love of Sunny” the girls tell lies to monsters and trick them.

Overall I love the can-do spirit, the initiative, and the bravery of the women featured in these stories.