Member Reviews
I love collections of myths and folktales, and this is no exception. It's a gorgeously illustrated book with color popping off the pages. The myths coming from all over the world means that many readers will be unfamiliar with a lot of these stories, which makes the book a great addition to bookshelves.
Brilliant anthology of epic myths, beautiful illustrations. Lots of folklore tales I had not heard of so it was great to learn about them.
Epic Myths for Fearless Girls by Claudia Martin is a fantastic anthology of epic myths, featuring beautiful illustrations by Khoa Le. It includes a brilliant introduction, giving some context and explanation to myths in general.
The book includes Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, Hawai’ian, Indian, Inuit, Irish, Japanese, Liberian, Maya, Mi’kmaq, Ojibwe, Polynesian, Norse and Yoruba myths.
I would recommend Epic Myths for Fearless Girls to children aged 8-12, and especially for girls, for “no daring girl wants to read about girls who stay at home while the boys have all the fun!”
(technically a DNF, but due to time and not the book!)
I'm a big folklore reader, and I loved this book. A couple of stories I knew, but many that I hadn't heard of before.
Highly recommended
I received an advance copy for free from NetGalley, on the expectation that I would provide an honest review.
This collection 15 myths from across the globe is a fun, interesting read. I liked the colorful illustrations throughout as well as the strong women at the center of each tale. There is a lot of diversity in the stories. I felt like I learned about different cultures and enjoyed the ride. I read a digital copy of this book via NetGalley.
Epic Myths for Fearless Girls is a collection of short stories from many different cultures, each featuring female protagonists who dare, who are brave even though they are scared, who protect and save their loved ones, who outsmart the villains and stand up to gods and demons. Sometimes the protagonist is an ordinary girl with a kind heart; in other tales she is a jealous goddess who learns a valuable lesson - or teaches one.
The myths come from all around the globe including Polynesian, Egyptian, Chinese, Indian, Native American, West African, Greek, and Norse, among others, and highlight the strength and wisdom of the women in them.
This is aimed at younger readers - age 8-12yo or so - and the tales are written in an easy to read format. Each tale is accompanied with clear illustrations highlighting key passages in the stories.
A thoroughly enjoyable read, and an inspiration for girls everywhere.
~ Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~
Thanks to Arcturus Publishing and Netgalley for the eARC!
I loved the myths presented in this book because it gives attention to lesser known myths and cultures. Like every body knows about Those wedding and Loki turning into a horse. The care taken here was pleasing.
The art is also stunning!
I would recommend reading this book with a child at night, and not even pointing out that the stories are all about girls. There is a wide variety, with stories from Liberia, Norway, Egypt, India, etc. The illustrations are beautiful, bright with no edges, and perfectly reflect the tone of the stories.
There are creation stories and other kinds of mythologies, and the underlying theme is that there are girls who make a difference. The girls aren't perfect, but they are all brave and their hearts are good.
Thank you so much to NetGalley for letting me read this!
This book is a great way to introduce younger readers to the myths from a variety of cultures. The writing style is well suited for the target audience of middle grade-age readers. I can easily see this book inspiring these readers to seek out more about the cultures and myths represented. So many well-known myths focus on the male characters with women often serving as the villain of the piece, so it is nice to see stories with the female characters being the heroes. Each story is short so they make for the perfect light reading before bed or while waiting for an appointment or a class to begin. This is not a graphic novel, but it does have illustrations spread throughout. These illustrations help readers better visualize what the characters in the myth look like and what they are doing at different parts of the story. I highly recommend this book for school and/or classroom libraries!
I loved these stories! They were short, but a great introduction to various myths from various cultures about clever and fierce girls.
I was interested in this book, because I love myths and I always want to read more about powerful and brave girls and women, but I also requested this copy thinking about my nieces and my students. Kids love and consume a lot of stories, and they always ask for you to explain some to them, so this book was very useful in that aspect, it helped me get more material so I can retell these tales to my kids.
One of the things I appreciated more about it is that the author marked the origin of the myths, and there is a great variety, they're not all taken from the same source. The pictures were cute, but a bit small (maybe in the printed version they will be bigger). It was a great introduction for kids to other types of mythologies, and hopefully it opens doors for them to dig deeper.
Sadly my students do not speak or read English, but I don think this book would be great for families and teachers to have some storytime with their children. I know some stories have been adapted, but so are tales from other books or movies that children love, so it was not an issue, and it was adapted really well for them.
Drawing from long-told stories across cultures and continents, Epic Myths for Fearless Girls dares to center girls as the heroines they have always been...but who's tales have not always been told. Demonstrating bold braveness and quite courageousness, the heroes in each story offer readers young and old with simple lessons to live by. From finding-- and holding on to-- hope in the darkest of days to protecting the creatures of the sea and earth, the heroines in Epic Myths remind us that leaders aren't always the loudest or strongest. And unlike so many messages told to girls and women today, Epic Myths for Fearless Girls reminds us that we don't have to be beautiful to be desired, we don't have to be the strongest to wield power, and we don't have to marry the man to find purpose.
The cultures of each story are beautifully retold by Claudia Martin and honored with stunning illustrations by Khoa Le. The anthology of 15 short stories is recommended for ages seven and up, and while the messages are ageless and timeless, the traditional names and words from each story's culture could be challenging for young or developing readers on their own. Despite this, the morals and lessons of each tale (along with the gorgeous illustrations) should be told over and over again.
Thank you Arcturus Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of 'Epic Myths For Fearless Girls' retold by Claudia Martin and Illustrated by Khoa Le.
I had so much fun reading this. Really hope there will be a volume 2.the stories were short and easy to read, great for bed times
My favorite thing about this book was the GORGEOUS illustrations! I loved reading these stories, I actually learned about so many myths I never knew existed. The format is super easy to read, perfect for inspiring the younger generations to be as fearless and powerful as the heroines depicted in the stories.
A collection of beautifully illustrated, inspiring stories of world myths! I couldn’t not request this.
This was a perfectly lovely collection of stories. From Norse Freya to Hawaiian Pele, these stories are as varied in the lessons they’re trying to teach as they are in the cultures represented. Every single story is accompanied by multiple, beautiful illustrations that really enhance each story
This would be a delightful addition to any young reader’s library, but especially to the library trying to show little girls all the different ways there are to be.
The only thing that could have truly made this book better for me would have been a pronunciation guide for the stories. I really would appreciate being able to have accurate pronunciations when I want to read this book out loud to my nibling.
Thank you to NetGalley and Arcturus Publishing for the opportunity to review this ARC.
Yes! This is exactly what I’ve been looking for to add to our families collection of empowering books. Not only are these myths focused around girls and women, but they are from various cultures and time periods, giving diverse experiences a voice. The illustrations were also intriguing and added to the great story selections.
A beautifully illustrated book on the epic tales of women in mythology. It covers stories often overshadowed by their male counterparts. Although the writing can be simplified at times, all ages can enjoy these tales.
Thank you to Netgalley and Arcturus Publishing for this ARC.
Epic Myths for Fearless Girls is a wonderful collection of stories featuring strong heroines from around the world. We see stories from Greek, Egyptian and Nordic mythology, as you would probably expect, but we also get tales from Hawaii, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Polynesia. It's a real treat to see stories representing so many cultures. The illustrations are fantastic, and the stories are well-written. Loved this!
Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this advanced review copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review on the book!
A lovely little mix of myths from different cultures, but could have been longer. Some lovely illustrations, and written in the expected tone of myths and legendsn
I have left a 4 star review on Amazon and I'm really impressed! A great selection of myths from many different cultures, not just the Greek ones we're so familiar with. Ive given 4 stars as I think they stories could have gone even further in positioning the heroines as stronger, more independent and not reliant on the male counterparts. For example, Sedna was great but she had to sacrifice her human life to escape a husband. Why not sacrifice the husband to save her human life?
Some great messages for younger girls but I'd have loved if they were even stronger.
Wonderful illustrations, too.