A book that rebels

I will have my voice: Indian, Spanish, white. I will have my woman's voice, my sexual voice, my poet's voice. I will overcome the tradition of silence." Author Gloria E. Anzaldua in her semi-autobiographical work Borderlands/La Frontera, instills in our minds the image of a resilient and non-conformist woman. While a number of fairy tales are loved by girls especially during their childhood years, it often makes them believe that a man is required to save them from problematic situations in life. Challenging this notion is Rebel Girls, whose content encourages girls to be strong individuals themselves.

A creation of Francesca Cavallo (33), a playwright and Elena Favilli (34), a journalist, Rebel Girls is a bedtime story book, focusing on the lives of 100 extraordinary women. From Serena Williams to Queen Elizabeth I, the book has a hundred bedtime stories, which sets out to inspire and motivate every girl who reads it.

Based in Los Angeles, both Cavallo and Favilli have worked in the children's media space for over five years. The duo have built a number of mobile applications in addition to an iPad magazine for children called Timbuktu.

"We've observed that gender stereotypes still permeate children's books, and the lack of strong female role models in the media space has left parents with fewer resources to fall back on. That's why we created this book," says Favilli. Realising that girls had less confidence as compared to boys by the time they reached elementary school, Cavallo and Favilli thought that it was important to change the narrative of stories that young girls read from an early age.

The stories are written by Cavallo and Favilli, and are illustrated by 60 female artists. "We intentionally asked female illustrators to help out, as it's our duty to give voice to the amazing work that women artists are creating every day. Also in Rebel Girls, it gives each story its own unique look and personality," says Cavallo. Featured in this book are women who have excelled in their respective professions — painters, scientists, dancers, chefs, astronauts, jazz singers, boxers, writers and political leaders — and whose actions have changed the course of history. Unlike conventional fairytales, not every story in this book has a happy ending. "Children have bad experiences, and these stories will be role models, enabling them to accept failure as a part of life," says Favilli.

Rebel Girls was crowd-funded and its Kickstarter campaign was launched in April 2016. "The book raised more than a million dollars. Our original fund-raising goal was $40,000, which was met in the first 30 hours. We were happy to see our idea resonate with so many people. It is the most funded original book ever in the history of crowd-funding. Our aim is to see this book on every girl's bookshelf," says Favilli.