GOOD NIGHT STORIES FOR REBEL GIRLS

#INSP: Books

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls

By: Maja Ravanska, Lice v Lice, INSP.NGO

Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo have a lot in common with the one hundred women featured in their hit book Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: they are tenacious, determined and talented, in addition to being passionate about providing girls with accounts of women who have changed the course of history. Here, they talk about how their book Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls has raised public awareness of gender issues, changed the way children’s books are produced, and why female empowerment is vitally important.

“It is very important for girls to have female role models,” Elena Favilli says. “It helps them become more confident and to set higher goals for themselves..."

THE STORIES

"What balloon do you want—a sword or heart?” The magician asks.

“Sword!” The boy responds quickly. The magician quickly makes a few movements and transforms a blue balloon into the shape of a sword. The magician asks every child at the birthday party the same question.

The boys, almost as though they have been programmed, choose a sword and the girls likewise choose a heart. The magician makes dozens of blue and green swords and pink and red hearts. Lined up one after the other, each child tells the magician what they want, it seems without even thinking about it. Even the magician starts to make the shapes before he has finished speaking to the children: swords for the boys and hearts for the girls.

A girl comes over.

“I don’t want a heart: give me a sword!” She shouts with a smile.

The magician opens his eyes wide with delight, makes a huge sword out of a green balloon,

and hands it to the girl. Then he happily throws his hand up in the air, high, as if he is about to fly upwards. The next girl in the queue, in a shy voice, says that she also wants a sword. The next one says that she would like a sword too.

The boy behind them speaks up.

“Well, I want a heart,” he says.

Suddenly, the balloon game becomes a lot more exciting. All of the children are running and playing with their balloons. Some pretend that they are flying with their swords; some wear their heart-shaped balloons as a necklace; others throw their balloons into the air and catch them. All of them are smiling.

This short story, taken from real life, tells us that it takes only one child going beyond the norm to encourage everyone else to voice their wishes and needs—and to encourage change. This anecdote also tells us a lot about how we teach our children what they should be like from a young age and can often involve falling back on stereotypes. It is gender stereotypes, in particular, that we need to overcome.

Women and girls around the world continue to be victims of violence and discrimination.

Statistically, one in five women will experience physical or sexual violence at the hands of her partner. Outdated narratives — such as those that state that men are heroes, active, and dominant, while women are the “reward”, affectionate, and silent — create gender inequality.

These statistics are precisely why, in the Global Goals for Sustainable Development, the fifth goal is focused on the issue of gender equality.

THE EVOLUTION OF GOOD NIGHT STORIES FOR REBEL GIRLS

The creative team behind Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls are both Italian and they met while working in Silicon Valley in the United States, at the center of the world of innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship. Their first book, Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls has raised public awareness of gender issues, changed the way children’s books are produced, and is spearheading a movement that celebrates women as role models. Their first book was published by Ars Lamina and is available in Macedonian, while a second one is currently being readied for publication. More than two million copies of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls have been sold and the first book holds the record for being the most successful title in the history of crowdfunding.

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is a book for both children and adults that is made up of one hundred accounts about the lives of a hundred women from the past and present, with illustrations created by 60 female artists from around the world. This book inspires girls with tales of the great and powerful women whose works have changed the course of history. It features artists, scientists, dancers, chefs, astronauts, jazz singers, boxers, writers and political leaders; from Cleopatra through to Frida Kahlo, Elizabeth I, Marie Curie, Audrey Hepburn, Serena Williams, and Beyoncé.

The media tends to represent women in a very narrow sense and it is important to us for art to show that femininity can be expressed in many different ways,” the pair says.

“The media tends to represent women in a very narrow sense and it is important to us for art to show that femininity can be expressed in many different ways,” the pair says.

They explain that they decided to respond to popular tales of princesses whose lifelong achievement is to marry the prince who rides in on a white horse. But what was the main catalyst that led them to engage with the issues of sexism and gender inequality? “It is very important for girls to have female role models,” Elena Favilli says. “It helps them become more confident and to set higher goals for themselves. We are both in our early 30s, we are entrepreneurial, and we know first-hand how difficult it is to succeed, to be taken into account, and to be given a chance.”

Francesca Cavallo adds that, according to research, it has been found that by the time girls reach elementary school, they already have lower self-esteem than boys. “That is why changing the narrative at an early age is especially important,” she explains. “Parents are offered few resources to tackle this trend and they are particularly concerned about the lack of strong female examples in children’s media. That’s why we decided to create Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.”

YOUNG GIRLS WITH BIG DREAMS BECOME WOMEN WITH GREAT VISIONS

Cavallo explains that their journey started when they moved to Silicon Valley in 2012 and became a part of 500 Startups, an early stage venture fund and seed accelerator program that is one of the largest startup funds out there.

“We were the first Italians to become a part of this prestigious program and we were able to raise funds to support our children’s magazine Timbuktu,” Favilli says.

The early days were not at all simple. Favilli clarifies that after moving to Los Angeles, despite spending a lot of time developing Timbuktu, she also had to work as a consultant, while Cavallo wrote horror stories in the form of SMS to be able to pay the rent for the small apartment in which they lived.

“We also wrote a weekly newsletter, in which we initially tested the stories that would later be published in Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls,” Favilli adds.

Their company, Timbuktu Labs, created the first iPad-based children’s magazine, Timbuktu, and the first book in the Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls series has gone on to be translated into more than 45 languages in 70 countries around the world. The world media has reported that the pair have shaken up the world of publishing and started a revolution. However, they themselves would say that they have simply done something completely different and that they continue to pioneer and innovate.

"We believe that little girls with big dreams become women with great visions and that this is the most powerful engine we have that can change the world."

“We are bold, fast, and combative,” Cavallo says. “This way, we will continue to disrupt the media industry. Our innovative and fresh approach to publishing will keep us ahead of everyone else and pave the way for us to change the stories we tell our children.”

The pair outsmarted major corporations and instead of proposing their project to major publishers—who would edit their product to suit their own agenda while taking a large share of the profits— the two women decided to secure their financial backing through crowdfunding.

“From the beginning, we have embraced and encouraged the raw and irreplaceable energy of girls around the world who have contributed to our products,” Favilli explains. “We wanted to build something community-driven; to tell stories that would allow every little girl to see herself. We believe that little girls with big dreams become women with great visions and that this is the most powerful engine we have that can change the world. We can achieve this only if we work with them at every step towards building something common and great. So crowdfunding was simply something we didn’t think about much and it was an obvious solution. The support we received was overwhelming because we were not working in an isolated way. Our supporters have been — and continue to be — here every step of the way.”

A new product that they now also have brought to market is I Am a Rebel Girl: a diary that helps girls train their rebellious spirit, embrace their own potential with joy and determination and become agents of change.

“We wanted to create a tool that would allow girls to find in themselves by identifying the features that they admire in other women, which are included in the book,” says Cavallo. “We believe we did that.”

I Am a Rebel Girl allows the new “rebel” generation to create appropriate action plans that will continue to move the world forward.

“We would absolutely do all of this again, if given the chance,” Cavallo smiles. “The feedback we get from our audience proves that these stories had to be told and remind us that girls need real-life heroes.”

The two proud founders of Timbuktu Labs say that their innovative company exists to inspire a whole generation.

“Our product is constantly evolving in order to meet the demands of our community,” Cavallo says. “Be it space-specific games in various settings or a revolutionary book for all ages.”

Translated from Macedonian by Tatijana Kostovska. Courtesy of Lice v Lice / INSP.ngo