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Meet The Writers Behind The Most Original Crowd Funded Book In History

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Amrita Paul
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Young girls around the world grow up reading fairy tales where there is (more often than not) a damsel in distress who is saved by a prince charming, she inevitably falls in love with him, and the convenient turn of events ensures a happily ever after. But women of all ages (including real-life princesses) are capable of fighting their own battles, holding their ground and achieving great things for themselves. When a young mind is fed with a narrative that they need someone else’s assistance to overcome adversities, they think it is perhaps unimportant to fend for themselves. 

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Italian journalist, Elena Favilli and director, playwright Francesca Cavallo's book Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is here to change that thought process. The book featuring the stories of 100 fierce and strong women from all around the world - from Rani Lakshmi Bai to Hillary Clinton, Malala Yousafzai to Serena Williams, has reinvented the fairytale genre so that a young girl has many a female role models to look up to when reading a story book. The authors speak to us about bringing together the most crowd funded original book in history and about the genuine dearth of good story books for young girls. 

Also Read: Moana Is Disney’s Most Feminist Film

Tell us a bit about your respective backgrounds and how did the idea of writing this book come about?

We are from Italy. We moved to California at the end of 2011 to start a company and now we live in Los Angeles. We met in Milan and built the first iPad magazine for children in the world, Timbuktu, in our kitchen. We wanted to feature women from as many countries as possible because children’s media productions don’t just lack diversity in terms of gender, but also in terms of race, sexual orientation, religious background.

Why did you choose to crowd fund it? Did you anticipate that it would become this massive?

We wanted to self-publish. We used Kickstarter and then Indiegogo to raise funds to create the book. We launched the campaign in April 2016 so we could self-publish the book. Before the launch, we had tested out the interest for Rebel Girls by sending samples of some of the stories and art in Timbuktu’s newsletter. The campaign immediately took off and the book became the most funded original book in the entire history of crowd funding.

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We worked for eight months on the campaign. We rewrote the script 16 times, and we built a community interested in girls empowerment in the months leading to the campaign. The book raised more than a million dollars with the help of 20,000 backers in 71 countries. Our original fundraising goal was $40,000, which was met in 30 hours. During the 29 day campaign, we raised $675,614 and then we continued on Indiegogo's platform InDemand where it passed one million dollars. We were excited to see that our idea resonated with so many people. 

Being the most crowd funded book in history, this book proves that there was a genuine dearth of good story books for young girls. Why do you think that was the case? And why did it take so long to address it?

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. 

A lot of books for young girls focus on characters like princesses. 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. That’s why parents should read Good Night Stories For Rebel Girls to their daughters. They are a tremendous source of inspiration because they encourage young girls to explore, learn and dream without limits.

Good Night Stories For Rebel Girls Good Night Stories For Rebel Girls, Pic Credit: Amazon.co.in

Stories are what humans are made of. As kids, we understand ourselves and the world around us through stories. The stories we have told girls so far offered them a very narrow representation of who they can be. The illustrations accompanying those stories have offered them an even narrower representation of the way they should look like. This reflects in a lot of self-doubt and the feeling of being constantly wrong, which plagues girls in school first, and later in the workplace. Studies show that girls start having less self-confidence than boys in first grade, despite having better grades on average! We feel the time has come to start changing the narrative around femininity, this is what Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is about.

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In terms of the women featured - the book is quite diverse. Take us through the curation process.

We wanted to feature women from as many countries as possible because children’s media productions don’t just lack diversity in terms of gender, but also in terms of race, sexual orientation, religious background… We also wanted to feature women in as many careers as possible: we wanted to have trombonists, marine biologists, judges, Presidents, spies, chefs, surfers, poets, rock singers. Finally, 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.

Image from the book A page from Good Night Stories For Rebel Girls

How did you come up with the idea of letting one illustrator visually represent one woman from the book? Was it difficult choosing the artists and managing the logistics of the project?

The book features original artwork from 60 female artists commissioned to illustrate stories that reinvent fairy tales to inspire girls and boys. The decision to seek out female artists was intentional. We think it’s our duty to give voice to the amazing work that female artists are creating every day, in every corner of the globe. We also wanted to have a huge variety of styles so that each woman could emerge in her own unique personality. Media tend to represent women in a very narrow way, for us it was important to showcase that femininity comes in many different ways and that there is not only one way to be a woman, and a rebel girl.

Also Read: Ten Fiction Books which are Essential Feminist readings by Kiran Manral

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What is the most amazing feedback you have received so far?

Some of the featured women have reached out to us after discovering the book. We're in touch with Ann Makosinski, Eufrosina Cruz, Amna al Haddad, Manal Al Sharif, and Sadumo Dayib. Hillary Clinton also sent us a note after receiving our book. Also, we get amazing feedback from families, girls and boys every day! We love to hear how they are reading the book at home.

Naysayers might dismiss the initiative saying that why couldn't the book be for 'rebel children' instead of specifying 'girls'? What would you have to say to them?

 "For so many girls and women all over the world being rebels is their chance of surviving, not just fulfilling their dreams."

For so many girls and women all over the world being rebels is their chance of surviving, not just fulfilling their dreams. Because they have to rebel against violent husbands, child marriage, families that don't want them to study, bosses who won't promote them in fear that they may get pregnant... so yeah, we encourage girls to learn how to rebel against injustice, because it's an important skill in a woman's life. Also, there is not one single way to be a rebel, as the women in the book demonstrate!

What is the road ahead after the phenomenal success of this book? Are you guys working on a second instalment?

We are! http://bit.ly/kickrebel. The Kickstarter for Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls Volume 2 is out right now! It will be released in the fall.

Also Read: No More Damsels in Distress

Read More by Amrita Paul

Women Authors Elena Favilli Francesca Cavallo Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls
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