From same-sex romances to characters living as their true genders, these stories are rooted in venerable fairy tales from around the world, but adapted with a queer-positive lens.
Fairy tales are a part of human folklore, originating in storytelling across the globe and sometimes dating back centuries. But as author Pete Jordi Wood explains in the introduction to this wonderful volume, when these tales were written down in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was by people who were mostly “male, white, able-bodied, rich and, from what we know, cisgender.” Many of these codified versions of the tales reflect the bias and privileges of those writers.
Wood has therefore adapted 10 stories from a broad group of places and cultures, including Russia, Germany, Canada, Africa’s Cape Verde Islands, China, India, Romania, and Denmark. He tries “to stick as closely as possible to the original narratives,” while updating them with an eye towards a more positive portrayal of LGBTQ characters and different genders, as well as making them more suitable for younger readers. The results feel both steeped in the comfort of tradition and satisfyingly more inclusive.
Wood adds more nuance than simply changing the gender or gender identity of the characters. Even some centuries-old tales already include stories of gender transition, he explains—but these depictions are often questionable, implying, for example, that belonging to a specific gender means possessing the physical characteristics traditionally associated with that gender. Other old tales use a “gender-reveal” trope as a plot device. Both approaches are problematic today, and Wood avoids them. Instead of showing a character magically changing their body to match their gender, for example, he focuses on their journey from gender dysphoria to gender euphoria. (In the one case where there is a physical transformation (of a trans man’s chest), Wood reminds us in an afterward that this is not the only factor contributing to the character’s gender euphoria.) Importantly, too, Wood makes sure that the queer characters get their happy endings, while taking them through enough twists and turns for their stories to feel suspenseful and engaging.
Wood is a gay, nonbinary person (he/him), and has a disability, he says in the Introduction, but is also White and Western. He therefore worked with sensitivity readers from around the world as he reshaped these tales. Each story also has a lovely illustration by a different queer artist who shares the story’s heritage.
The majority of the stories involve male protagonists (cis and trans), although one centers a trans woman who falls in love with a cis man, another focuses on three sisters who reject marriage but are not obviously queer, and one includes a nonbinary protagonist. I wish the volume had included more stories with women and nonbinary protagonists and romances; perhaps a follow-up volume could address this.
Nevertheless, the stories here are captivating. The prose throughout captures the pace and vibe that many of us have come to expect from fairy tales. There are wise (and foolish) rulers, difficult quests, devoted lovers, and magic used for both good and evil, brought to life through vivid characterizations and punchy dialog. While the book is being marketed to middle grade readers, adults may find that it makes a thrilling read-aloud for younger ages as well.
The publisher, Penguin, has already made the 2023 U.K. edition of the book a part of its venerable Puffin Classics series, recognizing the time-honored nature of these stories, even as Wood does what humans have done with fairy tales for millennia—adapted them to delight, inspire, and resonate with a new generation. Highly recommended.
