I'm unusually hot and cold when it comes to Jane Yolen. I don't know if it's her writing style or something, but what I've read from her so far has mainly been lukewarm to me. Her other collection, The Emerald Circus, didn't blow me away, but had a good story here and there. This one, however, did manage to keep my interest and had a more engaging collection of stories. Perhaps it's because I'm more drawn in by fairy tales, especially ones that have been reimagined or flipped on their heads. I was glad to see retoolings of stories I've never heard of before instead of the usual standards, though there are a few of those in here as well, your Cinderellas, Sleeping Beauties and the like. But even those have their own kind of charm as we view them through a different lens. 

Some of my favorites include Godmother Death, Happy Dens or A Day in the Old Wolves' Home, One Ox, Two Ox, Three Ox, and the Dragon King, The Foxwife, One Old Man, with Seals, Great-Grandfather Dragon's Tale, Sule Skerry, and The Woman who Loved a Bear.