I'd pick up another title in the "Cautionary Tales" series beforehand (TAMAMO THE FOX MAIDEN), so I was excited to see that one focusing on Indigenous North Americans. Similar to that collection, WOMAN IN THE WOODS features various drawing and lettering styles that may be more attractive to younger readers. However, readers of all ages will benefit from getting this glimpse into the cultures of Indigenous peoples.

This is an amazing comic anthology! All of the stories and artwork are very different but they compile well into one anthology about Native American Fables and Fairy Tales. I really like that the table of contents lists what tribe each story came from and that it includes a variety of nations. If I had to pick one favorite story, it would be <i>The Rougarou</i> but I enjoyed all of them and thought they were meaningful, insightful, and certainly worth reading!

I would recommend this short, easy-to-read anthology to anyone in American with an interest in knowing the culture and history of the country's first inhabitants as the stories we tell tell a lot about who we are as a people.

Thank you to #Netgalley for the ARC exchange for my honest review.
The Woman in the Woods and other North American stories, is a beautiful collection of Illustrated and diverse Legends of indigenous individuals. The stories and the art are phenomenal.

This is the fifth volume of the Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales and focuses on North American tribes. It is an anthology of Native folklore meant for middle grade readers. The creative team is First Nation artists and writers with 8 stories. The stories come from Odawa, Chickasaw, Cree, Metis, Ojibwe, Taino, Navajo, and S'Kallam.

Like with all anthologies some stories are better than others. I liked the variety of stories. Some were modern while others were more like traditional folk tales. I do see my students really enjoying the comic.

This is a collection of comics and graphic stories inspired by North American cultural tales and retold by indigenous authors and illustrators. It’s a quick read. The stories are roughly organized chronologically by events described. The first comic is a creation story while the last few take place in modern times. I enjoyed the range of art and storytelling styles. My personal favorite was The Rougarou, written by Maija Ambrose Plamondon and illustrated by Milo Applejohn.

Oh my goodness I gushed to my friends about this book all day long as I read it– no exaggeration. I love so much how there were legends from so many tribes included, most of which I hadn't had the pleasure of knowing about beforehand.

Indigenous tales are so rich and I'm so happy to see some recorded in such a way that respects tradition and marries it to a modern medium such as a graphic novel. Quite an ingenious idea.

The art is beautiful. Every tribe looks different from one another (as they should!) and I really loved the inclusion of trans Indigenous people, Two-Spirit Indigenous people, and Afro-Indigenous people. All of that representation is so important to include and record.

Thank you to the author, the contributors, and the artists. I will hold this book close to my heart for a long, long time.

#TheWomanintheWoodsandOtherNorthAmericanStories by Kate Ashwin, Kel McDonald, Alina Pete is an excellent anthology of modernized short stories. The stories themselves and shorter, packing a lot of information into a manageable number of pages. The book as a whole could be enjoyed by a younger HS audience, and it is also a good resource for teachers to include in their classes. Thank you to #NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

⭐️ 3.5/5 ⭐️

It was a really good anthology! 😊
"The Woman in the Woods" is my fav, but all of the stories were brand new for me - I've never heard about these legends before. 🤭
I liked some of them more than some others, but generally, they were pretty interesting and the art was stunning in most of them. 😍
I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

Let’s be honest here. I would not have necessarily picked up this graphic novel willingly. Why may you ask? Well, firstly it is aimed at the middle graders. Secondly, these are North American folklore. I am not North American. However. I did pick up this black and white graphic novel. The stories are short, making for an easy read. The message and similarities between cultures and religions are so similar it just shouldn’t be surprising. Yet, it is. Love knows no bounds. It does not discriminate in terms of race, creed, gender, or where in the world you may be. Understanding and acceptance of yourself and your self-journey creates a better understanding of not just yourself but of others as well.

Introducing these indigenous stories in the short form comics is brilliant. Especially for those of us who would consider this outside the norm. I do have a slight twinge of regret, it is unfortunate that I only touched volume 5 of this anthology. I am going to rectify this, and soon.

I enjoyed this graphic novel produced by indigenous artists and writers that reimagines Native American folklore. As with almost any collection, I enjoyed some stories more than others, but I really appreciated the diversity of stories and art styles. Some stories were funny, some were intended to be scary, but my favorites were very sweet. I particularly loved learning about some mythical creatures that were new to me.

If you’re a fan of mythology, this is a great addition to your collection. While it is intended for middle grade readers, it should be enjoyable for a wide audience. It also offers LGBTQ representation, which I am happy to see.

Thank you to Iron Circus Comics for providing me with an ARC through NetGalley that I volunteered to review.

Mixing together various stories with illustration, this stands as a solid book of stories for children and adults alike. Morals and culture are at play here as well, giving a grounding grasp to readers.

* reviewed from uncorrected egalley *

children's middlegrade graphic folklore (grades 3rd and up, some tales are a little spooky but none are very scary) - several short tales written and illustrated by Native American/First Nation authors and illustrators from different backgrounds, including one who is trans and one who is two-spirit.

This is a very nice collection of short folklore stories, retold for modern consumption. A recommended addition to any school or public library.

To say that everything that Iron Circus Comics does is gold doesn’t quite explain why I love their anthologies so much. This is the fifth of their Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales, and in this volume the stories are written by North American First Nations, Metis and Native Peoples based on stories they have heard, and want to pass down, or variations therein.

The Woman in the Woods has lovely stories, and scary stories, and stories that are so wonderful, with illustrations so fluid, such as the picture of the octopus woman dancing in the sunlight drifting down to her cave or the creator deciding to create life on earth, even though it will be good mixed with evil, or a mishipeshu, the guardian of lakes and rivers, or of a horse that was once human that gave it up for power.

Some are stories that are firmly in the past, some are contemporary, but all have elements of the stories passed down.

There are trickster rabbit stories. There are monsters that were once human, and there are tales of a ghost horse that along with the bride that bonded with it, helps those in need.
Wonderful collection. Highly recommend it, as I would all the other books in the series.


<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

I was pleasantly surprised by this collection as I have only read 'full length" graphic novels before and I wasn't sure how I would feel about a compilation, especially of unconnected stories. But wow each one packed such a unique punch! It was nice to be able to digest one story and then when i picked it up again not have to remember the last because it was a whole new narrative and even art style. And of course the stories themself were such a nice glimpse in Native culture and the tradition of storytelling. Overall a great addition to my slowly growing graphic novel collection. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting collection of North American traditional stories. Each story was illustrated in a different style from the previous story, which made it easy to keep the stories separate. I always enjoy reading books like The Woman in the Woods as it is always great to learn stories from other cultures.

Students were obsessed with the stories in here. As a teacher, I try to find it difficult to find graphic novels that are great for students that are folklore-based. This text is perfect for that!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
***
The Woman in the Woods and Other North American Stories was beautifully illustrated and had wonderful stories, I enjoyed this graphic anthology of folklore. I enjoyed that these were stories I wasn’t familiar with. Also, my nephew who is really into mythology right now is going to love this when I send him a copy for his shelves.
I definitely feel motivated to check out the other books in this series as well.

This graphic novel collection was beautifully illustrated in several different art styles and color palates. It contains a diverse collection of Native American myths, legends and folklore. As an educator, there are several stories in this collection that I would use in my classroom ranging from kinder to 8th grade. There are many connections to be made through these pages. I loved how all the stories were vastly different in themes and art styles, yet connected with the power of storytelling. They can be easily paired with historical events or other legends/myths/folklore. At the high school level, this collection would work well in any mythology class. The stories could be used separate or the collection can be read together without losing context and meaning.

Highly recommend to diversify the graphic novel genre in all classrooms.

The Woman in the Woods is a short collection of folk tales from indigenous and Native American culture. This was an okay anthology that gets extra points because of diversity and inclusion. However, I wasn't blown away by any of the stories and I did not like the artwork.

Several short graphic novel tales that either tell or explain indigenous legends and paranormal creatures. Most stories are child friendly, although one or two might be a bit frightening. The stories come from a variety of traditions and the illustration styles vary widely. A good introduction to indigenous stories for those new to the topic or too young to read a longer prose work.