Published in 2016, Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls remains a favorite of ours, a book that our children still enjoy very much (reading as well as gifting to others).
Written by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo, this book introduces little readers to famous women, such as Cleopatra, Elizabeth I, Florence Nightingale, Helen Keller and many more.
The short one-page biographies tell the inspirational tales of past and present extraordinary women, from activists, mathematicians, painters, astronomers to doctors or prime ministers - more than one hundred exceptional heroines from all walks of life who overcame hardship (and odds) to achieve their goal.
With uncomplicated words and narrative, this book does not discuss the character's life in detail but rather aims to introduce children to these inspirational figures of past and present history. In our case, we started reading this book to Josèphine at the age of 4, regularly incorporating it into our evening routine and loved seeing that she knew who Amelia Erhart, Jane Goodall, and Rosa Parks were when asked about it in school - in second grade!
This book is beautifully illustrated, portraying each figure in the most creative, colorful, and unique way - our children would spend many long moments looking at each detail on each page.
While there is a similar book for boys called Stories for Boys Who Dare to Be Different (Vol.1& 2), this book is for all children: while our youngest ones will learn names and stories, our older kids may find themselves in one or the other heroine and (hopefully) be reminded to always
dream bigger, aim higher, fight harder and, when it doubt,
remember you are right.
If you enjoy Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls take a look at the second volume which was released in November of 2017 featuring over one hundred new portraits of extraordinary women.