Power to the Princess

'If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales’

If you want to show them that thoughtfulness, strength, and social consciousness are more important that being pretty, read them these fairy tales.
These stories are GORGEOUS
I will now be ordering this book for all of my nieces and nephews.
Right now

I wish I read this book when I was younger, it was just beautifully amazing and everything fairytales need to be. Short and sweet, like the originals, but even better because princesses to the power! All of them were seriously wonderful and inspiring, I want to be like them when I grow up (what do you mean I am already grown up??)

I think this book teaches something very special, and it is why you should all read it (for yourself, to your kids, younger siblings, grandparents, EVERYBODY).

Once upon a time, in a sunny French province, lived a girl called Belle. Belle the Brave to be precise, because Belle was fearless.

Had to read this as soon as I saw it because I love fairy tales!
Many traditional tales can seem problematic when viewed through modern eyes, especially with gender roles, over-reliance on physical appearance as a reflection of character and attitudes to difference. There has been a recent trend towards re-imaginings of fairy tales with a feminist twist and this collection looks to recast fairytale princesses as mistresses of their own destiny!
First impressions: I like the style of the cover which looks like something you would find on a traditionally-bound collection of folktales. The interior illustrations by Julia Bereciartu are colourful and both bear homage to older illustrations while subverting them in playful ways. Vita Weinstein Murrow's language is very modern, almost jarringly so at times, with characters referring to trade unions and scientific research and the tone is quite conversational, as many people would speak and is therefore quite accessible for younger readers, despite perhaps not being what you would expect in a fairy tale.
I really liked the greater diversity shown in names, illustrations and relationships, all of which serve to modernise some of these old tales. In particular, I liked some of the challenges of gender roles with, for example, Prens (in Cinderella) being a fashion aficionado!
I did feel that it worked better with some stories than others, particularly in stories where the new story bears only a fleeting resemblance to the original. My personal favourites were The Princess and the Pea and Belle the Brave. My e-ARC only contained 7 of the 15 stories which will be included in the final version, but I can tell from those seven that this will definitely be worth the read! While reading, I did also come across some typing errors, but I imagine that all of these will be ironed out for the final copy.
Perfect for fans of fairy tales or children who would like to be little princes or princesses, just not THAT sort of stereotypical prince or princess.

In this kingdom, united by compassion, where everyone made space for one another, and celebrated differences, they really did live happily ever after.


What I liked: Greater diversity in the stories e.g. same-sex couple, people with names from different cultures, women saving themselves from problems, etc. I liked the style of the illustrations and the messages sent by the stories - definitely a worthy update to the original traditional tales.

Even better if: I would like to see the rest of the stories in this collection! Also, I hope that the spelling and grammatical errors can be fixed before publication.

How you could use it in your classroom: This would be fantastic to read alongside other alternative or fractured fairy tales and as springboards to discussion about some of the problematic content in older stories. How has our society changed so that some of these stories now require updating?

(Full review to come on my blog closer to publication! Post on blog scheduled for August 23rd)

Much shorter than I expected, but that's my fault for not reading the descriptions. I love that this looks like a regular kid's book; most of the feminist books out there at the moment are much more grown up. This is more like something you'd actually buy for a child. And that child would enjoy this, because it's a really well written, cute series of stories. Very clever.


I received a proof copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was the sort of child that devoured princess stories and movies growing up. What's not to love about fancy clothes, castles, and living happily ever after? However, as I've grown and have begun introducing my two girls to favorites books and movies from my childhood, I see them through a new lens and find myself cringing more often than not.

For instance, we recently read Rumpelstiltskin. And I couldn't help but think the king was decidedly cruel to threaten her life if she didn't spin straw into gold (and why would her father put her in such a position?!). Then, once his greed is satiated, he deigns to marry her -- and she wants such a man for a husband?! Then there was the recent reading of The Princess and the Pea. What a trivial test to determine a spouse.

I know I'm not alone in such feelings, and this is the environment that led to the book Power to the Princess. Vita Weinstein Murrow has taken traditional fairy tales and updated them. We get a more rounded background to the characters and their motivations; characters are recognizing internal traits instead of falling in love at first sight.

For instance, Sleeping Beauty, cursed with narcolepsy, researches her symptoms. When she falls into a deep sleep from the prick of a splinter, the sleep experts publish her research and ask for help: "The sharing of Aurora's struggle, in her own words, had a magical effect. For it inspired people and magical creatures all around the kingdom to begin to share their stories of what made them different, and how they had struggled too. They drew courage from Aurora's example, and began to speak up for what they needed and teach one another about their differences."

I appreciate the premise of the book, even if it is hard to compete with how internalized the original stories are in our culture and some of the adaptations fall flat. The stories tend to be relatively brief, around four pages of dense text, with illustrations in the margins. It would be a good way to balance out what can be pretty trivial princess tales.

Rating: 4.5/5

Downloaded from Netgalley Free in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely love spins on fairy tales. Power to the Princess is one of those. Each story has an element of what we now consider “powerful” in women. Each women's adventure focuses on them and not their love life. Well, it's not the center of it. Cinderella is a woman who runs her own business, advocates for the working class and still finds her prince. This prince shares her ideals and doesn't prevent her from living her goals of helping others.



“Ellia discovered that people who are treated better work better”.


While, Belle is brave and helps the beast be the best person he could be. She is upset when she finds out that he was cursed which is Illegal. She speaks with a detective and ends up working for the Fairyland Protection Department due to her bravery.



“Curses are a crime best left in the past, and she should be held accountable.”


Sleepy Beauty. she has a medical condition brought on by the Cloud fairy. The person who had sent out invitations to the party forgot to include Cloud Fairy. She has a condition that prevents her from being in sunny locations long term. The ceremony wasn't accommodating to her needs and they forgot to invite her.



“All around the kingdom were conversations of compassion and care, of accommodation and welcome.”


Through Aurora's advocacy and encouraging conversations about people... Cloud fairy no longer feels isolated and alone. Her curse on Aurora turned into something that benefited everyone in the long term.



Princess and the Pea is a story of a prince trying to find love. His parents encourage a particular kind of girl while he has differing opinions.



“The King & Queen, having learned their lesson that there is no one right kind of princess, and that no single test can determine compatibility, retired to the un-restored tower of the castle to examine their old-fashioned views.”


Snow queen, of friendship and weathering through a friend's depression ( or whatever it was supposed to reflect). The Little Mermaid, Sea king and his daughters, the king does not like humans..so his daughters focus on sea affairs .. like pollution and keeping their home healthy. She goes to the surface and meets a princess. With her help they find a solution to the pollution and fall in love.



“Once the waters were clear again, the two were married in a lively and loving ceremony in a lagoon where both Mer-people and humans could enjoy the merriment.”


Last story focuses on Snow White where the queen goes from a person who focuses on the real issues to getting sucked into appearances. This focuses on the media and portrayal of women with the focus just on appearances. Snow, is a step-daughter who soon is dealing with a step-mother who is sucked into beauty ideals than inner. She doses Snow White then brings her back with another serum..and asks for an apology and receives it.



It's focus on strong women and diverse stories. There are 2 kinds with Aurora, the Little Mermaid marries a princess. Friendships, work and doing right by people are heavily focused in it. From what I can tell, Princess & the Pea, The Little Mermaid, and Snow Queen show diversity with ethnicity.

Recommend? Yes, it's cute, different and fun.

Do you like fairy tales or enjoy reading them to a youngster in your life? Do you like stories in which girls and women are strong characters with independent lives? If the answer is yes, you might enjoy reading this book with a grade school child that you know. The author has taken well-known fairy tale heroines and given them lives that have more roles than just princess/bride. From detectives to environmentalists, these girls want to accomplish things.

I very much enjoyed the concept of the book. At times though, I think that the book was a little too heavy handed. On the other hand, the author is trying to make up for years of a certain kind of fairy tale, so I can see where this is a matter of taste. I would give this book three stars although others might rate it more highly.

A collection of fairytales retold in a feminist way, Vita Weinstein Murrow brings something new to these classic stories and they make for some inspired and captivating reading.

The representation Vita brings to these stories is fantastic and diverse. ‘The Little Mermaid’ is a story about Hans Cristian Andersen dealing with his own love for a man so the fact the writer takes this story and allows for two princesses to fall in love is just something I love in this book and for me one of the many highlights. The representation covers disability, people of colour and LGBT people and it’s just so impressive to me as the reader.

I also enjoy how empowered these characters become or are built to be. In stories such as ‘Zade and the 1001 Ideas’ or ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ we see the women become a business partner and inventor and a Forest Ranger which sees Little Red become a forest conservationist and protecting wolves from humans. I love the idea of little girls hearing these stories and becoming their own kind of princess.

To paraphrase Frances Hodgson Burnett, all girls are princesses and it’s books like this that enable all girls to see that. Some beautiful retellings of stories of my childhood combined with great illustrations that brings these stories to life, I really enjoyed this book.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ive always loved fairy tales and princess stories so I got super excited when I saw this book was available! The stories were modern but kept a tiny bit of the fairy tale touch. Some were closer to the original fairy tales and some were completely different. There were a few that I liked like Belle. It was a lot shorter than I expected pretty good nonetheless. Might not be a favorite but it's worth a read.

This is a anthology of 15 fair tails rewritten for today's girls. The stories are retold with Girl Power!!!

In this version Sleeping Beauty is a specialist on sleeping disorders, Rapunzel is a world-famous architect, The Little Mermaid is a advocate for peace between mer-people and humans, and all the other favorites are here to in their new jobs.

The kids and I enjoyed the new versions of the old tales. The book focuses on building up girls instead of leaving them locked in a tower and a man coming long and rescuing them. The new Princesses in this book seeks to help others, is open to learning new things, and looks for ways to add purpose to their lives and the lives of those around them.

This book is written very well and teaches girls they can be and do anything.

I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com to read and review.

I really like this book. I has enjoyable stories with positive female role models without feeling forced or like the author is trying to cram everything into a STEM box. I was quite excited to read this to my daughter (6 years old) who fairly quickly rejected it. She didn't really say why she rejected it, but my interpretation is that the story had far too many words per picture. I am not sure what the targeted age for the book was, but with only a couple of pictures per story I'd guess this is geared more for kids who are reading on their own.

Beginning was great where author writes about idea of the book in creative way. At Noble Monarch Jubilee, a conference for the leaders from Fairy Tales where author meets princesses featured in this book who are tired of being recognized as marrying princes, wearing glass shoes and happily ever after ending. They want themselves to be recognized as they really are and so author writes their real stories in the book.

This book has one of the most beautiful table of content I ever seen in any picture book.

Oh, I loved the voice and tone in the stories. It was kid friendly, modern, and so enchanting. Princesses of the book were powerful in the real meaning. They were courageous, thinking about the greater good , some flawed who learned eventually, some had inner beauty, and they found their calling and worked to make fairyland kingdom better for all living creatures. They were police, leader and advocate, architect, business woman, sport organizer and coach, fashion designer, award- winning actress, dancer, musician, environmentalist, zoologist, beautician, running dating service, and partner in biggest enterprise of empire. Cool huh?

The book was full of inspiration and plethora of talents. I wonder after reading this book kids would have many career options to ponder on! 😉 Jokes apart, this book will truly inspire kids to find their own talent and motivate them to achieve their dreams. This book teaches good lessons without any scary villains, cruelty and any killings.

Some stories had most of the resemblance to the original tales and some were different or had very less resemblance. But what I liked about stories that that followed original tale, was the way author diverted them into something different with uniqueness that I first haven’t imagined possible. Illustrations were so wonderful. They kept all small details in mind. I could see diversities, disabled in wheelchair, inventions, different cultures, and modern clothing. Both author and illustrator truly woven these fairy tales for young readers of 21st century.

My personal favorite stories were-

Belle The Brave– it was retelling of Beauty and the Beast, in which few of the things were same as old story but the rest was very different. It talked about bravery and justice and Belle’s ability to see good in everything. Coolest thing was there wasn’t any villain, except one and I bet you won’t be able to guess who. Climax and end was great.

The Little Mermaid– This was cool. Our little mermaid, Marisha, wears tuxedo in this story. For a change, Marisha didn’t went up to surface for prince or marries a prince. She had a great leadership ability. I liked the focus of the story on waste disposal and its effect on environment and recycling.

Rapunzel– Now I loved that princesses and villain worked together. It doesn’t make story that thrilling but so lovely. Gothel was such a great character in the book. She was nice, smart, and soft hearted. Rapunzel and Gothel together made a great team. I loved the way story turned out.

Cinderella– For change, Ella quits working for mother and her two daughter in this tale which perked my interest to see how this story was going to turn out. It was very different from all retelling of Cinderella. I loved the way Ella started her business and sought to run it fairly and successfully, and loved the efforts she put to seek justice for workers. End was truly inspiring for young readers.

Zade and the 1001 Ideas – Totally different story! “Not all the princesses are born into royal leadership. Some climb up and claim it for themselves.” I loved this first line of the story. Zade’s tactics in this story to prevent Sultan from firing her was really great. This story truly told how well read and learned person can achieve their dreams with the knowledge. It was overall good story with loads of inventions that kids would love to read.

Little Red Riding Hood– I loved the way story retold by focusing on more important topics like forestry, environment conservations, care for wild animals, understanding their needs and make the environment safe to live for both humans and animals rather than scaring kids of woods and wolves. It was inspiring.

Sleeping Beauty– This had another great message about accepting the differences, being yourself and embrace the traits that make you different from others. I loved the way Aurora worked on her sleeping disorder not to remove curse but to live with it and spreading her learnings on sleeping disorder and the way people inspired from Aurora’s work.

Evangeline and the Frog Prince– This story was about not judging anyone or anything by looks, acquiring knowledge on various animals and discover new species. It was great to read how clumsy Evan found her interest and talents in animals. Oh, I’m extremely glad she didn’t have to kiss a frog in this retelling. 😉

why not 5 stars-
I would have liked it even more if there was moral message quite visible like original stories along with these talents. In some stories I can see princesses working on their talents but no moral messages behind the story like it had with Little Red Riding Hood, The Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, and Evangeline and the Frog Prince.
But of course, it was worth reading.

Overall, I just loved this retelling loaded with talents, inspiration, and beautiful illustrations. I definitely recommend this to all young readers.

I've always been a fan of fairy tale retellings, and this collection did not disappoint! With twist endings afr from the original that you probably won't see coming, they had me hooked one after the other. The stories were short, and sweet and featured some stunning artwork. Featuring 15 strong Princesses who have some important messages to share.
A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I truly appreciate it!

According to the blurb, these are fairy tales retold for the #metoo generation, mostly text with some cute humans colorfully drawn in the margins, plus an occasional full-page artwork.
Best line, the one that best describes what this book is about: “And that is how Belle became a princess. But not that kind of princess.”
In case you were wondering if this is written in old-style English, one of the fairies likes to say, “Well, that was awkward.” Another story contains the line, “But he was a vegetarian, so that made it weird.” Possibly my fave comes from Snow White: Her hair, pitch black, was now white as snow. “Huh, that’s a new one,” Neve said in wonder.
There are labor unions, sleep clinics, fitness centers, and a detective who’s assigned to cold curse cases. Sleeping Beauty becomes an expert in the field of narcolepsy. No one needs to tell this guy not to date a damsel in permanent distress. And someone could make a fortune teaching the woodland-creature hair-braiding class.
But it’s not all unicorns and rainbows (BTW, there isn’t one unicorn or rainbow in the entire book). Some of the modern-day counterpart jobs were farfetched; somehow Belle becomes an undercover cop! It’s great that the princesses in the Little Mermaid got married, but there was no hint of them being anything more than friends before that.
The artwork is pretty much as you’d expect it. Snow White is a little jarring at first, with the overalls and white hair. Her stepmother, on the other hand, is just my style, even with the Medusa head.
3.5 pushed up to 4/5

#PowerToThePrincess #NetGalley

A modern way to represent classic tails like snow white and many others. The main characters represent a multicultural and an open society where subjects like LGBT are used.

I loved this book! The full review will be posted soon at kaitgoodwin.com/books! Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity to connect books to their readers!

I received an Advanced Reader Copy fromQuarto Publishing Group - Frances Lincoln Childrens for my unbiased opinion of the book. This is several fairytales with a modern day twist. I enjoyed the empowering change in these stories. I appreciate the author breathing a breath of fresh air into some of the antiquated tales,

This book. THIS BOOK! The physical design is gorgeous (I got a hard copy after reading an advanced copy through NetGalley), and the stories are fantastic. They're empowering and engaging, with fantastic illustrations to boot. This is now my go-to gift book for kids and grown-ups alike.

I appreciate how diverse this book is and each story brings a new element to modernize it; however, read cover to cover the book behind to feel like the result of a diversity checklist. Added to that, the princesses all feel remarkably alike. I fully recommend that others read this book, but for a greater impact the b stories should not be read all in a row. Instead pair one story with a few of the more "classic" versions of the same for a great conversation starter with kids.

Power to the Princess takes classic fairy tales and makes them diverse, feminist, and empowering. At its heart, this book has a great sentiment and is timely--there's a lot of focus on diverse books and empowering books. Many of the messages of the fairy tale became about environmental sustainability, equal power, and kindness and boldness together. The illustrations reflected diversity in skin color, sexual orientation, body type, and ability. Despite all of these wonderful aspects, the execution of Power to the Princess was still a bit off. The short nature of each of the stories meant that the reader was very much being told the moral rather than discovering it naturally. Additionally, many story elements might be difficult for readers to understand without having already been exposed to these ideas first. Those who are ready to read at this level alone will likely be turned off by the format, instead hoping for longer and more complex fare. An excellent idea that stuttered a little on the landing.