The Restless Girls

A magical modern retelling of an old fairytale – the exquisite text and illustrations work in perfect harmony * Jacqueline Wilson *
It’s critical what we read our kids ... Jessie Burton has very cleverly has taken a fairytale that was already standing and loved, but has reframed it. It’s asking you to think of yourself and value yourself in terms other than the way you look, and just that – that one tiny aspect of the book – alone, was, to me, just a complete revelation * Thandie Newton *
The Restless Girls is wild, wise, generous, ferocious kind of story. It’s a tale to read to your children (of both genders) over and over, and for them to read to theirs. It’s a book that glows * Katherine Rundell, author of The Explorer *
A beautifully realised, whirling adventure full of the dark glitter of growing up, The Restless Girls is a fierce fairytale for the rebel girl – and boy – generation * Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The Girl of Ink & Stars *
A story of love, loss, grief, and a desperate yearning for freedom, told with breathtaking compassion and wisdom * Louise O’Neill, author of The Surface Breaks *
[Burton] fleshes out this traditional fairytale with personality ... Angela Barrett’s illustrations, meanwhile, add an exotic visual richness to Burton’s painterly descriptions of the princesses’ enchanted underworld * Irish Times *
A riveting feminist retelling, filled with excitement, imagination, magic, and just the right touch of darkness. These twelve fierce heroines will be a pleasure to return to again and again * Madeline Miller *
This re-telling was refreshing and empowering and utterly impossible to put down … An exciting and magical tale of joy, love and the courage of twelve girls to be wholly themselves * Dr. Alaa Murabit *
A feminist fairytale about finding one's inner lioness and about picking a battle very much worth fighting …This brilliant reimagining of Grimms’ tale The Twelve Dancing Princessescompletely subverts the fairytale genre. Gone are insipid, demure ‘weaker sex’ princessy-princesses and enter feisty and passionate girls who trail-blaze their way into a better life ... This would be perfect for children in upper key stage 2 and would work well alongside our sequences for The Sleeper and The Spindle, The Lost Happy Endings and The Princess’ Blankets * The Literary Curriculum *
I have spent years reading princess books to my daughter but changing the words as I go along so they make the female characters stronger and representative and basically not victims. This book did it for me so I can just relax and read the book without worrying about what negative images I am putting into my daughter's brain whilst she can enjoy a book about princesses. This was refreshing and wonderful and a joy to read! * The Green Parent *