Four Short Story Collections About Strong Women and Girls Around the World

My apologies for the long silence! This is a list of recommendations I wanted to post during Women's History Month, but couldn't get a hold of all the titles in time. That's okay though since we celebrate women and girls all the time on Ink & Pen! So, here are four collections of short stories about strong women and girls who think--and do--for themselves. Many of these tales have been buried or ignored, but we're glad to have them available to us now. Enjoy!

Not One Damsel in Distress: World Folktales for Strong Girls
collected and told by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Susan Guevara

This collection of thirteen tales from Greece, Niger, Germany, Argentina, China, the White River Sioux, the Ozark Mountains, Scotland, Romania, Poland, Japan, France, and England, was by far my favorite. Yolen is a gifted storyteller and chose an array of engrossing tales that left me wishing there were a second collection!

The Serpent Slayer: and Other Stories of Strong Women
written by Katrin Tchana, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman

This collection includes 18 stories of strong girls and women from Asia, the Americas, India, the Jewish tradition, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. The tales in this collection are fascinating and the girls in them are all strong in unique ways. The illustrations for this treasury are remarkable and the stories fascinating.

Weekly Roundup: June 30 - July 6, 2013

• Multicultural Books for Children: 40+ Book Lists at Pragmatic Mom

• Whitewashing: The Disappearance of Race and Ethnicity from YA Covers  at Inside a Dog

• Sci Fi Fantasy Books for Kids That Have Disabled Characters  at Patheos

• Russian Book for Teens Tackles LGBT Prejudice, Growing Up  at The Moscow News

• Kolkata Schools Tweek Classics to Teach Gender Sensitivity  at Times of India

Double Dose: Weekly Roundup: June 16 - June 29, 2013

• Openly YA Tour Hits the Road at Publisher's Weekly

• Resources for Parents of Gender Variant Children  at Express Milwaukee

• As Demographics Shift, Kids' Books Stay Stubbornly White  at NPR's Code Switch

• Why Hasn't the Number of Multicultural Books Increased in Eighteen Years?  at Lee & Low's blog

• Shaikha Bodour Emphasises Importance of Providing More Books to Visually Impaired  at Gulf News

• How Young Adult Literature Challenges Gender Norms  at Thought Catalog

• Degrees of Difficulty: Writing the Other at Rich in Color

• When Every Culture Is a Foreign Culture: Writing on the Autism Spectrum  at Rich in Color

Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments!

Ten Cinderella Tales from Around the World

It's officially summer here in the Northern Hemisphere and we'd like to take this season to focus on folk and fairy tales (and perhaps myths and legends, too) here on Ink & Pen. So, to start things off here are ten Cinderella tales from around the world. Considering that it is widely accepted that the Cinderella tale was first recorded in China, it's surprising that multicultural versions of the story are not more popular, but thankfully there are a multitude of picture book versions from a truly diverse array of countries and cultures.

When I was a teacher, I spent an entire month exploring Cinderella tales with my students and we still didn't get through every culture's version. I found my students open to and interested in Cinderella stories from every culture. In fact, when I began reading them a Perrault version (what would be the "standard" for those of us in mainstream Western culture--except perhaps in Germany) they asked me what country the story was from, not viewing it as more original, authentic, or authoritative than any other version.

Of course, the Cinderella tale can be problematic when it comes to gender, body image, etc. I would strongly recommend that you engage any children you may be reading with in a discussion about standards of beauty as well as any other issues you may see with the tale. It's important for children to know that physical attributes are not an indicator of inner worth, and while some children will come to this conclusion on their own, it is helpful to have a trusted adult either introduce or reaffirm this notion.

I'm not including synopses for these books for though they differ widely in details, they are all versions of the same tale. Here are my top ten (in no particular order):

1. Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale


2. The Korean Cinderella


3. The Rough-Face Girl

Five Diverse Fantasy Novels

As I've stated before, fantasy is my very favorite genre. It's a sad fact that growing up I never saw anyone that looked anything like me in the fantasies I read. And while as an adult I have encountered more characters of color in middle grade and YA fantasy novels, they are still very thin on the ground. So, for those of you that are fantasy fans, or know a fantasy reader, here are five great stories written for the older middle grade/younger YA crowd that feature protagonists of color. All summaries in quotes from IndieBound.

Akata Witch
by Nnedi Okorafor

Okorafor's skilled writing makes this African mythology-based story accessible to readers more used to fantasies steeped in European mythology. I've had a lot of success recommending it to fans of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. 

"Twelve-year-old Sunny lives in Nigeria, but she was born American. Her features are African, but she's albino. She's a terrific athlete, but can't go out into the sun to play soccer. There seems to be no place where she fits. And then she discovers something amazing-she is a "free agent," with latent magical power. Soon she's part of a quartet of magic students, studying the visible and invisible, learning to change reality. But will it be enough to help them when they are asked to catch a career criminal who knows magic too?"

Breadcrumbs
by Anne Ursu

Hazel, the protagonist of this beautifully-written book, is adopted and while that fact is not a major theme in the book, I thought it worth pointing out for anyone who might be looking for books with adopted protagonists. Much more important to the plot are Hazel's feelings of awkwardness and not fitting in with her community. Though the book doesn't dwell on it, I think it's pretty clear that this awkwardness is due--at least in part--to her physical difference, being of Indian descent in a town that is predominately white.

"Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. But that was before he stopped talking to her and disappeared into a forest with a mysterious woman made of ice. Now it's up to Hazel to go in after him. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Breadcrumbs is a story of the struggle to hold on, and the things we leave behind."

Weekly Roundup: June 9 - June 15, 2013

• Beyond 'Game of Thrones': Exploring Diversity in Speculative Fiction at the L.A. Times Hero Complex

• The Grey of Gender: Intersex and Gender Variant/Non-Binary Characters in YA  at Gay YA

• Book Shares Insights of Filipino Children  at Times of Oman

• Diversity in Literature and a Giveaway!  at Go Teen Writers

•  CGI Chicago: First Books Commits to Diversity in Children's Literature at allvoices

• YA Is Too Late: Gay Characters in Middle Grade Fiction  at Vikki VanSickle

• A New Definition of Fatherhood  at Colorlines

• Once Upon a Time  at Business Standard

• YA Books About Transgender Characters  at Diversity in YA

Five Diverse Picture Books for Father's Day

This upcoming Sunday is Father's Day in the U.S. and for once I am happy to present a list of book recommendations prior to the actual day of celebration! So, here are five diverse books that celebrate fathers and explore fatherhood. All summaries in quotes from IndieBound.

When Dads Don't Grow Up
written by Marjorie Blain Parker, illustrated by R.W. Alley

"[T]his playful book follows four father-child pairs as they spend happy, silly times together, popping bubble wrap and watching cartoons and taking part in shoppingcart races. These are dads who aren't worried about looking goofy or getting their hair wet - dads who still remember what it's like to be little. Don't be fooled. They may look like grown-ups on the outside, But underneath they're just like you . . . Kids!"

A Father Like That
written by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by LeUyen Pham

A great choice for children who don't have their father in their lives--or expanding the horizons of children who do--this book shows all the things the little boy protagonist knows about fathers without having his own present. Though it is clear the little boy feels a void is left by his father's absence, he has a loving, supportive mother and enjoys imagining an ideal father for himself.