Stories have power. They are a reflection of our societal values, and they are a powerful tool for passing on the lessons we want to teach to others in our society. This is why it is so problematic when people aren’t featured in stories, or when they only ever appear in certain roles. For example the way that princesses in many children’s tales either only want to find a prince or are the object the prince wins when he has completed his quest and slain the monster…or whatever it is the princes do.
Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo, the co-founders of Timbuktu Labs, have started a project that is meant to challenge that narrative. Their book, Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, is a collection of tales about famous women from all throughout history who pursued all kinds of different careers. The stories of these real-life women are told in the style of fairy tales, and each story is accompanied by a full-page portrait each one drawn by a different modern-day female artist. The collection is meant to provide inspiration for young girls and show them that they should dare to pursue any path they choose.
I think this is a really awesome project as it provides young girls with role models they can look up to and will open their eyes to some of the great things women have achieved in our world. It’s very easy for boys to find examples of different men who have contributed to society or have done amazing things, but I think the contributions of women are not highlighted enough. It’s important that all young people can be told stories in which they can see something of themselves and which will inspire them by telling them that they are important.
Favilli and Cavallo are looking to fund this project on Kickstarter, and as of writing this post they have already reached their funding goal only two days into the campaign. If you want to get your hands on a copy of the book, or you want to support the company, then I think it’s definitely still worth your time to contribute. As they’ve already reach their goal, I’m sure that they will soon be posting some amazing stretch goals as well, so you probably want to look out for those and see what they are.
If you don’t think you can afford to contribute to the campaign, you can also get some free e-books by actually sharing the campaign page. Look at the page itself for more details, but there are some free e-books available for your trouble. Personally I think this is a really cool idea; I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone giveaway product for sharing their Kickstarter page.
We need more diverse stories in the world and Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls certainly fits into that category. I’m happy that the campaign has been a success, and I’ll be curious to see what Timbuktu Labs does in the future.
