Long long ago, princesses slept for years in palaces awaiting their knights, or were banished to the kitchen by wicked stepmothers, only to be rescued by a prince. What if, instead of damsels in distress and dragon-slaying knights, fairy tales were about real people who have inspired generations? This idea created Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls , the most funded original book in the entire history of crowdfunding.
San Francisco-based entrepreneurs Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo, realised that fairy tales often promote gender stereotypes and there was a lack of female role models for children. “We had been working in the children’s media space for the past five years and witnessed from the inside how gender stereotypes still permeate children’s books. Princesses typically need a prince, a brother or a hunter to be saved. They’re never in charge of their own destiny. So they send a very demeaning message to young girls,” says Elena.
They also realised that reading about strong women helped girl children become more confident. “It is important for girls to see female role models,” Francesca adds. “It helps them set bigger goals. We’re both in our early 30s, we’re female entrepreneurs, and we know how hard it is to succeed. Research shows that by the time girls reach elementary school, they already have less confidence in themselves than boys. That is why changing the narrative early on is so important.” And so, they created a book that changed the way fairy tales are told.
Revolutionary stories
Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls features 100 stories about the lives of 100 extraordinary women, from the past and the present, from Queen Elizabeth I of England to Serena Williams. “Telling a child to do or not to do something ‘because you’re a girl’ or ‘because you’re a boy’ is a very harmful message, because it places on them expectations that don’t have anything to do with how they feel personally about something. It forces them to think about what is expected by society,” Elena emphasises.
The book has stories about real women, who achieved success against all odds. “This is different from a lot of goodnight stories about fictional characters. We wanted to feature painters, scientists, dancers, chefs, astronauts, jazz singers, pharaohs, boxers, writers, and political leaders; rebel girls whose actions have changed the course of history,” explain the creators.
It took Elena and Francesca one year to put it all together and they decided to self-publish it through crowdfunding platforms. The campaign was launched in April 2016. “We had tested out the interest for Rebel Girls by sending samples of some of the stories and art in our company’s weekly newsletter. The campaign immediately took off and the book raised more than a million dollars with the help of 20,000 backers from 71 countries. We were excited to see that our idea resonated with so many people,” says Elena. The book has been published in 26 languages already.
Source of hope
And why was this book such a success? “Our stories show examples of real women who achieved extraordinary results in every field imaginable. They are a source of inspiration because they encourage young girls to explore, learn and dream without limits,” reiterates Francesca, while Elena adds, “Not every story has a happy ending. That’s an often forgotten aspect of traditional fairy tales. Sometimes, kids have dark thoughts or bad experiences, and reading about similar experiences of others — as long as they are crafted with attention for their level of understanding — actually helps them heal, feel less alone, and gives them hope.”
Rebel Girls features women from different countries, races, religion and so on. “We selected women whose personal stories had something that could be particularly interesting for a child. For example, the fact that the famous chef, Julia Child, started her career as a spy, cooking shark-repellent cakes during WW2.” Elena and Francesca hope the book ends up on every child’s nightstand. But for now, with requests for a second volume pouring in, they are busy gathering more stories.
