WOMENFOLK AND FAIRY TALES

Eighteen deservedly familiar fairy tales from Jacobs, the Grimms, Sorche Nic Leodhas, Andrew Lang, Asbjornsen and Moe, etc., each featuring a woman or girl as the ""moving force."" Here is that Jack without a beanstalk, Molly Whuppie, along with Ali Baba whose female slave has all the lines (and the wits and courage), and other women who flummox the fairies, outwit trolls and oni and man-eating elephants, and out-muscle a champion male wrestler. Here also, inevitably perhaps, is the incompetent ""Husband Who Was to Mind the House"" -- the only selection that takes a negative approach (however goodnatured). Even though Minard didn't have to do much digging to fred the stories, their appearance together will appease those parents distressed by the ""sexist"" fairy tales that enchant their daughters -- without sacrificing an ounce of the romance and adventure that keep the genre in demand.