Gender Swapped Fairy Tales

Reviews

Rachael Davis

I wasn't sure at first, but after a few minutes the stories came to life aided by the excellent and original artwork which was in keeping with the location in which each fairy tale is set. The topic is good as well, as it teaches young kids that girls can be strong heroes and boys can be vulnerable and need help. I love that this alternative version will be the first way they hear some of these stories.

Amazon Customer

Love it. I particularly liked Rapunzel letting down his golden beard. For me, some of the biggest questions about gender stereotypes were raised in the flippant descriptions of these secondary characters.

Henry

I bought it as a Christmas gift for a kid, but might get myself a copy as well. All of the story text remains unchanged except for the gender identifiers which have been swapped using an algorithm, created by Jonathan. A great gift for any age. I highly recommend it!

But what I hadn’t considered was the impact gender-swapping the secondary characters would have on the story, like the seven dwarfs or a footman or a bystander. For older readers, this book can open up discussions about prejudice and gender inequality. And there certainly are a lot of these characters throughout these stories – which is fantastic!

Gorgeous book: thick hardcover, beautiful illustrations. Why should a sentence or attitude sound more or less acceptable based solely on the character’s gender?

Karrie recreated the style but with the genders swapped! Karrie studied traditional fairy tale artwork and noticed how each gender was portrayed, often with princesses in “passive stances” with “exposed throats”. As you read each story, you expect to know what is going to happen next, but it feels different.