Anne Johnson

The tales that Fiona Collins has chosen to tell are definitely 'tales for today'. You will find no shrinking violets here nor will you find girls who are only looking for a man to take care of them for the rest of their lives. Ed Fisher's great illustrations are based on real girls who posed for the pictures. Real life is here in that there are some adults who are cruel and neglectful as are the parents of Molly Whuppie and her sisters and there are loving parents like those of the girl who sang herself to safety and Vasilisa's mother and father. Children like justice to be done and there is a strong sense of what is fair and what is not fair in these stories. Like all good folk tales there are monsters and giants, wicked kings and selfish grown-ups to overcome and over come they are with guts, good humour and a strong sense of doing what is right. There are girls that like to hunt, girls who like adventures, girls who are not afraid of the dark nor of things that go bump in the night. There are girls who know when to be cunning and girls who are very, very clever. Fiona tells them all with panache, humour and gusto. I love the giant's 'bommieknocker' in the story of 'Molly Whuppie' and if you want to know what a 'bommieknocker' isyou had better go out and buy this book straight away.