''Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls'' is a series of two children's books, aimed at ages six and up. Both were funded through the

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

website

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

, and broke site records for fundraising for literature publication. The books each feature short stories about 100 real women who can be role models to children.

Writing and publication

The first volume of ''Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls'' was written by

Elena Favilli Elena Favilli (born 3 August 1982) is an Italian bestselling author, speaker, entrepreneur and liberal feminist leader. Biography Elena Favilli is the founder and CEO of digital media company Rebel Girls. Favilli is the co-author of the Good ...

and

Francesca Cavallo Francesca Cavallo is an Italian bestselling author, entrepreneur and activist. She is best known as the co-creator of '' Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls'' series, which has broken records on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter for publishing ...

, and it was published in 2016. The first and second volumes of ''Goodnight Stories'' were crowdfunded on

, both breaking records on the website. The first volume was Kickstarter's "most funded children's book", raising over $675,000 (with an original goal of $40,000). The second volume was their "fastest-funded publishing project" ever. Each book in the series dedicates one page to the story of 100 women (all with illustrations by woman artists) who can be role models to children. The women come from different backgrounds, eras, and are culturally diverse and have a wide variety of occupations. Examples of entries include Malala Yousafzai, Alicia Alonso, Manal al-Sharif, J. K. Rowling, Irena Sendlerowa, and Lella Lombardi.

Reception

''Good Night Stories'' has sold over one million copies, and has been translated into more than 47 languages. They have received praise for being an alternative to the stereotypical portrayal of girls and women in fiction (such as the

Disney Princess ''Disney Princess'', also called the ''Princess Line'', is a media franchise and toy line owned by the Walt Disney Company. Created by Disney Consumer Products chairman Andy Mooney, the franchise features a lineup of female protagonists who ha ...

), or books about heroes which primarily focus on male protagonists. It focuses on telling young girls that they can grow up to be whatever they wish, regardless of what other people think. The book series inspired a similar book series aimed at a male audience: Stories for Boys Who Dare to be Different by Ben Brooks, and Illustrated by Quinton Winter. Ben Brooks and Quinton Winter also collaborated on a book aimed at a gender-neutral demographic, containing a mix of male and female role models, Stories for Kids Who Dare to be Different. In September 2019, the Turkish government’s board for the protection of minors from obscene publications ruled that book could only be sold to adults and must be concealed from view in shops, stating that "some of the writings in the book will a detrimental influence on the minds of those under the age of 18." The inclusion of Aung San Suu Kyi in the book has received criticism for her failure to condemn the ongoing Rohingya persecution in Myanmar. Favilli and Cavallo have commented that they are considering (but have not committed to) removing her from future printings of the book. Tricia Lowther criticised the book's title for gender exclusivity, feeling it implies only girls should learn about the women in the book.

Writing and publication

Reception

References

Further reading