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caitlingb's review
5.0
In elementary school, I checked this book out of the library so many times, both for the stories that captured my imagination and the beautiful illustrations. I would highly recommend this book to young lovers of fairytales and folklore.
annalisenak97's review
5.0
WOW. JUST WOW. This collection of tales is marvelously told, and each one ends with a comment about the historical and geographical context. Every story has a beautiful illustration to go with it. These practically beg to be read aloud, and each one speaks to the resilience and the creativity of the African American community.
emdoux's review
Read:
Her Animal Tales - Lena and Big One Tiger
Her Fairy Tales - Catskinella
Her Supernatural - Lonna and the Cat Woman
Her Folkways & Legends - Woman and Man Started Even
Her True Tales - Mary Lou Thornton
Her Animal Tales - Lena and Big One Tiger
Her Fairy Tales - Catskinella
Her Supernatural - Lonna and the Cat Woman
Her Folkways & Legends - Woman and Man Started Even
Her True Tales - Mary Lou Thornton
faeriedrumsong's review
5.0
Virginia K Hamilton is seriously a legend. The stories in here are little known stories that are engaging, funny, scary, interesting, twisted, sad...
They come from all over the black american diaspora, and with the insanely beautiful artwork by Leo and Diane Dillon, this is for sure worth while to have in the home.
Recommended for people ages 4 and up. The little ones will enjoy them as fairy tales, and the older kid in all of us will enjoy them on multiple levels.
MARIE AND REDFISH
loved this story, but it is so sad and weird, that i couldn't really tell you why, since I'm normally a happy ending kind of girl. The meanness of her family seems to have no root cause. You know that the parents dont want Marie with the prince, but other thanher being "too young for courtin" you don't know why. Although that seems like a good enough reason in a modern world, the folk tales mostly seem to be from a time when young marriages were the norm, so on its own, that excuse doesnt hold water, to me. And when the father literally ate his daughters love, that was just... ugh. The ending was definitely bittersweet sad. I felt sorry for the mom, too, who had a blown up husband at home and a lost daughter at the shore...
They come from all over the black american diaspora, and with the insanely beautiful artwork by Leo and Diane Dillon, this is for sure worth while to have in the home.
Recommended for people ages 4 and up. The little ones will enjoy them as fairy tales, and the older kid in all of us will enjoy them on multiple levels.
MARIE AND REDFISH
loved this story, but it is so sad and weird, that i couldn't really tell you why, since I'm normally a happy ending kind of girl. The meanness of her family seems to have no root cause. You know that the parents dont want Marie with the prince, but other thanher being "too young for courtin" you don't know why. Although that seems like a good enough reason in a modern world, the folk tales mostly seem to be from a time when young marriages were the norm, so on its own, that excuse doesnt hold water, to me. And when the father literally ate his daughters love, that was just... ugh. The ending was definitely bittersweet sad. I felt sorry for the mom, too, who had a blown up husband at home and a lost daughter at the shore...
cocoawithbooks's review
5.0
One of the major highlights of the book are the gorgeous illustrations. I love them! I wish I could find some wall art of them, they are that good.
The stories are grouped together into Animal Tales, Fairy Tales, Supernatural Tales, Folkways and Legends and True Tales. All of the stories feature a female narrative and they are all African American. Hence the title. In this book young girls and women get to see Black women portrayed as mermaids, fairies, witches and animals. Female empowerment is a feature of many of the stories.
I love the comment feature at the end of each story. It provides information about the origins of the tale, including where it came from and other possible versions that are commonly told. Some of the stories I loved in addition to "Mary Belle and the Mermaid" were "Woman and Man Started Even" and "Annie Christmas." They both also have amazing paintings that correspond with the stories.
The stories are grouped together into Animal Tales, Fairy Tales, Supernatural Tales, Folkways and Legends and True Tales. All of the stories feature a female narrative and they are all African American. Hence the title. In this book young girls and women get to see Black women portrayed as mermaids, fairies, witches and animals. Female empowerment is a feature of many of the stories.
I love the comment feature at the end of each story. It provides information about the origins of the tale, including where it came from and other possible versions that are commonly told. Some of the stories I loved in addition to "Mary Belle and the Mermaid" were "Woman and Man Started Even" and "Annie Christmas." They both also have amazing paintings that correspond with the stories.
just_fighting_censorship's review
4.0
A great collection of stories involving African American women and girls. I love the organization of the stories and the author notes at the end of each story really make this an interesting and educational read.
tealmango's review
4.0
Read the full review here: http://newberyandbeyond.com/newbery-roundup-november/
Her Stories is a book of lovely stories and illustrations. It includes African, African-American, and Creole folk tales and fairy tales, along with a few nonfiction bios, all focused on female protagonists. And I love the fact that each of the tales includes helpful explanatory notes which describe the origins of the story and how it ties into that culture’s storytelling tradition.
If you want to add diversity to your child’s bookshelf, you could hardly do better than this collection of stories about African and African American women. The stories themselves are wonderful, the illustrations are gorgeous, and the short story format makes it easy to read one or two with your child before bed.
Her Stories is a book of lovely stories and illustrations. It includes African, African-American, and Creole folk tales and fairy tales, along with a few nonfiction bios, all focused on female protagonists. And I love the fact that each of the tales includes helpful explanatory notes which describe the origins of the story and how it ties into that culture’s storytelling tradition.
If you want to add diversity to your child’s bookshelf, you could hardly do better than this collection of stories about African and African American women. The stories themselves are wonderful, the illustrations are gorgeous, and the short story format makes it easy to read one or two with your child before bed.
pageprincess398's review
5.0
Wonderful folk and fairy tales centering women and females in this collection of AA stories. The artwork by Leo and Diane Dillon with rich earthy colors add to the fantastic in these tales. A must own for your home and library collection.