Looking to inspire the next generation of women leaders? Consider Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Francesca Cavallo and Elena Favilli.
Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is a crowdfunded book, backed by campaigns on Kickstarter and IndieGogo that raised a staggering $1 million. It contains 100 profiles of extraordinary women from the past up until the present day. By using powerful but simple storytelling, the book is designed to convince young girls that great things are possible.
Artist Frida Kahlo, scientist Marie Curie, Russia's Catherine the Great, England's Queen Elizabeth I, tennis players Venus and Serena Williams, civil rights campaigner Rosa Parks, chef Julia Child, fashion designer Coco Chanel, aviator Amelia Earhart, and Nobel Prize-winning activist Malala Yousafzai are among the notable people to be profiled. The book is designed to be read by "rebels who are 4 to 101 years old."
Each profile is written in upbeat style and accompanied by a color illustration that jumps off the page. Sport, politics, science, the arts and numerous other topics are covered by the achievements of these girls and women.
Francesca Cavallo and Elena Favilli moved to the United States from Italy in 2011, and formed a children's media company called Timbuktu Labs. Elena had been a journalist while Francesca was a stage director and playwright.
Their website says:
Because we are girls. Our entrepreneurial journey made us understand how important it is for girls to grow up surrounded by female role models. It helps them to be more confident and set bigger goals. We realized that 95% of the books and TV shows we grew up with, lacked girls in prominent positions. We did some research and discovered that this didn't change much over the past 20 years, so we decided to do something about it.
Their original plan was to print a thousand copies of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, but the book has gone beyond being a small business venture and become an international phenomenon.
The Rebel Girls' Facebook video - featuring a mother and a daughter combing through a bookshelf for books featuring female characters, female characters that speak and female characters with aspirations - has more than 30 million views.
Find copies of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.
