![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() And it’s equally important that boys imagine women in the roles of scientist, Formula One race car driver and president. It’s a great idea to celebrate and inspire young girls to show them how powerful they can be, but the stories are just as interesting for boys to read. If there’s any criticism of the book, it’s that its title makes it seem like a book for girls. You’ll read about a poet who published her first book at age 75, a ballet dancer who danced with her leg broken in six places and a woman from Kenya who planted 40 million trees with her friends. You’ll learn about a girl who only learned to read and write at age fourteen but became the first female president of her country. Women who fought for their rights, women who broke rules, women who refused to fit into the roles society gave them. If you read the book, you can start to replace those images with women of all colours and ages. If you close your eyes and imagine an inventor, an orchestra conductor and a warrior, the picture that comes into your mind is probably of men. Society has often chosen to reward and celebrate the achievements of men more than women. For example, Charles Babbage is called the ‘father of computers’ but it was a woman – and friend of his – Ada Lovelace who wrote the first computer program.įor many of the others, there is no obvious explanation for why we haven’t learned about these women before. In other cases, it’s because a man’s name became more famous. But after her death, some of her statues and official records were removed by men who came after her. Like Hatshepsut, one of the most successful pharaohs of Egypt who brought peace and wealth to Egypt and ruled for a long time – about 25 years. In some cases, it’s because people tried to erase them from history. You probably haven’t heard of most of the women but, by the time you finish reading, you’ll be wondering why. She fought against waves as tall as buildings in New York, she woke up to the most beautiful sunrises, spotted blue whales, and watched shooting stars above her boat.’ It begins ‘Once upon a time, there was a girl called Jessica who was afraid of water.’ We learn how Jessica sailed solo around the world at age 16. They paint a picture of the life, dreams and achievements of each of the women and girls like in this story about sailor Jessica Watson. Some of the stories begin ‘Once upon a time’ just like a traditional fairy tale. It’s not just boring biographies but is told in the style of fairy tales. The magic of the book lies in the way it is written. And each one comes with original art by sixty different female artists. The book tells the stories of one hundred inspiring women from 1500 BC in the time of Ancient Egypt to the modern day. But what if the girl was clever, creative, brave or strong instead of beautiful? What if she wanted to be an astronaut, a politician, a pirate or a spy instead of a princess? And what if she didn’t need a prince to make it happen? That’s the idea behind the book Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, a book of fairy tales with a difference: all the stories are true. A beautiful girl waits for a prince to come and rescue her and then she marries him, becomes a princess and lives happily ever after. A spread at the back invites readers to "Write Your Own Story" and "Draw Your Own Portrait.We all know how fairy tales go. Facing each page is a quote from the featured person and a stylized color portrait by one of 60 contributing female artists from around the world. The brief biographical sketches spotlight a telling anecdote about each woman or girl told in simple language, generally in four to six paragraphs in a relatively large font size, making them highly readable. One story features a transgender American girl who broke barriers at her elementary school. And some are lesser known (at least in America), such as Matilde Montoya, Mexico's first female doctor, and Sonita Alizadeh, a 20-year-old rapper from Afghanistan who refused to be sold into marriage and whose song "Brides for Sale" went viral on YouTube. Some are well known (at least to parents) and well chronicled, including Cleopatra, Frida Kahlo, Harriet Tubman, Jane Goodall, Joan Jett, and Jane Austen. Parents need to know that Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is a collection of 100 one-page stories about women throughout history who broke barriers and achieved great things. ![]()
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