The Smartest Girl
Author: منيرة سليمان
Category: Children's Stories
The story The Smartest Girl (Sitt Al Shuttar) is inspired the popular Egyptian folktales revolving around the adventures of el shatir Hassan (smart Hassan). In this tale, the writer presents a character called The Smartest Girl and her adventure of delivering the King’s ring to the brave messenger. The story is written by the She Said: Gender Sensitive Storytelling Workshop in the Women and Memory Forum. This workshop is comprised of a group of women writers who use storytelling as a means of empowering women in stories and giving them positive and effective roles. Their aim is to present women in a more realistic light and to battle the stereotypical and prescribed roles assigned to them in traditional storytelling.
Download file
In this story, the heroine’s name, Sitt al-Shuttar, meaning the smartest girl, already points out her intelligence, resourcefulness and honesty. For such positive traits, the King of the rich land asks for her help to deliver provisions to the King of the poor land. He also entrusts her with the ring of the Kingdom.