 |
Why
we still need strong girls in stories
We
all recognise the importance of young readers seeing themselves in stories, but
I believe we should also make sure it’s not just contemporary stories that are
inclusive and inspiring. We need to pay attention to the old stories too.
Because
the old stories - myths, legends, fairy
tales and folktales – are the building blocks of many new stories. and they
have a strong hold on our culture and imagination. So, what are girls (and
boys) seeing when they look at many of our best-known traditional tales?
Stories
with no girls in them at all
Stories
about girls waiting to be saved by boys
Stories
about girls who are given away as prizes (kill the dragon, marry the princess!)
Stories
starring girls who are rewarded for being patient, enduring, polite, kind,
silent, passive or, of course, pretty.
Is
that what we want to be showing girls and boys? I hope not! But we don’t have
to rewrite the old stories, we just have to search for the stories that have
always existed, in all cultures, about strong active girls who solve their own
problems and defeat their own monsters…
Stories
like:
The
myth of Inanna, the Sumerian goddess of love and war, who fought a mountain
because he didn’t respect her and threatened the people who worshipped her.
This is a female character who flies her own chariot, wields her own weapons,
stands up for her own rights, and wrestles a mountain to the ground. (And songs
were sung to this goddess, praising her strength and power, more than four
thousand years ago. Strong women and their stories have always existed!)
The
Siberian legend about Altyn Aryg, whose father refused to accept that she could
lead a tribe, because she was a girl. So she set off to prove him wrong, searching
for a giant serpent that had devoured hundreds of male warriors, running into
its belly and defeating it with her strong sword-arm. This is a traditional
story that directly addresses sexism, and shows the father eventually
recognising his daughter’s courage and ability, and naming her as his heir.
There
are also stories showing girls can be active and strong without wielding a
weapon, like the story of Kandek, an Armenian farmgirl who met a werewolf on
the edge of the forest, and used clever words and agility to escape the
werewolf’s claws and cooking pot …
But
the most important thing about the stories I tell in Fierce Fearless and Free,
is that they are not aimed solely at a female audience. I tell these stories in
school canteens, classrooms, tents, and sometimes even caves and castles, to
girls and to boys. And I never get any complaints that I’ve told a story ‘for
girls’.
Thank you, Lari! I couldn't agree more on the vitality of girls being able to read traditional stories and recognise themselves in those narratives. It's incredibly important in our development, and you're totally right - they are exciting stories that keep you enticed and engrossed.
 |
Fierce, Fearless and Free
Lari Don
Release Date | 5th March 2020
Genre | MG
Page Count | 160
UK Publisher | Bloomsbury
Summary:
A brilliant, inclusive collection of
traditional tales from around the world featuring amazing women and girls. Once
upon a time, there was a handsome prince who - no, that's not right! Once upon
a time, there were strong, fierce women who plotted, schemed, took action,
showed kindness, used magic and trickery, and made their own destiny. From the
long-haired Petrosinella who escaped the tower and broke the spell that the
ogress had cast over her and Nana Miriam who beat a hippo using politeness and
magic, to Kate Crackernuts who tried to save her stepsister from her mother's
curse, these are stories of girls doing it for themselves! With stories drawn
from all over the world, including China, Scotland, Armenia, Italy and Nigeria,
Lari Don presents heroine stories that don't leave girls sitting around waiting
to be saved by the handsome prince.
 |
Lari Don is an award-winning
writer for young people of all ages. She loved Scottish traditional tales as a
child, and now loves gathering myths, legends and folktales from all over the
world to inspire her novels. Since becoming a full-time author, she has written
more than 30 children’s books, from picture books and early readers to
middle-grade adventure novels and a teen thriller. Lari is passionate about
visiting schools and libraries to share the traditional tales she
loves, to show how those old stories can be used to inspire new stories, and to
encourage young people to create their own adventures. Fierce, Fearless and
Free is her fifth collection of traditional tales for Bloomsbury, returning to
the theme of her first, the bestselling Girls, Goddesses and Giants. She lives
in Edinburgh with her husband and two fierce, fearless and free daughters.
Website: www.laridon.co.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LariDonWriter
Follow the tour, see below for where to go next:
 |
No comments:
Post a Comment