Damsels Without Distress: Picture Book Folktales Starring Strong Female Characters

Girl power is great power! You probably know the stories of fairy tale princesses like Snow White, Cinderella and Rapunzel, but girls can be more than princesses in folktales. Sometimes they're clever, sometimes they're courageous and sometimes they're caring. No matter what, the girls in these stories are always awesome. Check out this list of girl-powered picture books you might not know about!

How do you outsmart a giant, meet a king, find a bridge made out of a single hair and get royalty to marry you and your sisters in just days? You’ll have to ask Molly Whuppie…or you can just read her wildly whimsical story!

Poor Two-Eyes. She’s different from most people, who have either one or three eyes (this is another world!), so her horrible sisters bully her all the time. Can a magical old woman help her out? One-eye! Two-eyes! Three-eyes! is a story both funny and fun, and it proves that different is cool!

In The Snow Queen, a good-hearted little girl goes on a journey to save her best friend from the Snow Queen’s spell. Her kindness and loyalty help her there. This version of the story is really beautiful, too, thanks to Bagram Ibatoulline’s illustrations.

You’ve probably heard a lot of stories about evil stepmothers. A story about a kind stepmother is a nice change! The Lion's Whiskers is a touching tale of the love that comes from great parents of any kind.

Who are your favorite folk heroines?