Queen Girls is a collection of stories about inspirational women from the past turned into fairy tales. Their mission is to create children’s books that empower girls to follow their dreams and envision them as possible. This is the reason why the stories are based on real women.
‘Often times, classic stories highlight the strength, courage and skills of men while female characters are often stereotyped or one-dimensional. Did you know that 57% of children’s books have male protagonists, while 31% are female?[*1] We believe that we should be telling different stories to our children.’
They also believe in giving back to the community and this is why they stand on a One for One model. Every time you purchase a book, another will be donated to local and international organizations who are fighting illiteracy and empowering girls.
The Collection
The first fairy tale, ‘Bessie, Queen of the Sky’ is inspired by the story of Bessie Coleman, the first African American woman to hold a pilot’s license. The book will be available in English and Spanish and is written for 4-8 year olds.
Future Queens include
- “Isadora, the Rebel Queen!” Inspired by the story of Isadora Duncan, a ballerina who danced away from rigid ballet technique towards what she perceived as natural movement. Influenced by the sea, she started dancing like no one ever did before, imitating the waves of the sea with her arms and feet – She defied conventionalist minds by creating what today we refer to as Modern Dance or “Barefoot Style.”
- “Savi, Queen of Education!” Inspired by the story of Savitribhai Phule, a woman poet, an educationalist and a social reformer, Savi was one of the earliest crusaders of education for girls in India. She defied all odds to become the first female teacher at the first women’s school founded by her and her family.
How Queen Girls was born
As a new mom, Jimena Durán, co creator, started looking for stories to read to her child. She was disappointed when she found books full of stereotypes that didn’t always accurately portray the value of women in society. It appeared there was a lack of empowering content for young girls, a time when they begin to create perspectives and beliefs they will hold for the rest of their lives. Her sister in law, Andrea Doshi, also a co creator as well as speech language pathologist, who has spent extensive time traveling, witnessed first hand that children from all around the world are struggling to dream. Together, these experiences fueled the beginning of the Queen Girls Collection, a collection whose ultimate intention is teach young children that with determination and a dream, you can do anything you want.
How to get involved?
Limited editions are still available on Kickstarter – They have successfully surpassed their goal and they’ll be printing a lot more books than they initially planned. Queen Girls is continuing to connecting with like-minded people who want to be part of the movement. Check out their website to learn more!
Queen Girls Team
This multicultural team is formed by Jimena Durán (Spain), Andrea Doshi (USA) and artist, Chiara Fabbri (Italy). They bring their diverse experiences to this initiative along with tons of love and dedication. Their intention is to open this collection to fellow authors and illustrators that could potentially bring their own Queens on board.
Their handle across social media outlets is @queengirlspubl
[*1] J. McCabe, E. Fairchild, L. Grauerholz, B. A. Pescosolido, D. Tope. Gender in Twentieth-Century Children’s Books: Patterns of Disparity in Titles and Central Characters. Gender & Society, 2011; 25 (2): 197 DOI: 10.1177/0891243211398358
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