OUT NOW: 12 children’s tales reframing masculinity
“Stellar Stories for Boys of the Future” is now available in English! Read the intro in this post.
Happy Pub Day!
Today marks the publication day of the first anthology of original fairytales designed to offer all children a healthier, more wholesome perspective on what it means to become men. You can find Stellar Stories for Boys of the Future on Amazon, and soon you’ll be able to order it also at other retailers.
12 Tales, set on 12 Imaginary Planets
Each focused on a key aspect in the formation of the masculine identity
Dedicated to…
Introduction
DEAR GROWN-UPS,
Stellar Stories for Boys of the Future was born out of a deep desire to investigate one of the most controversial topics of our time: masculinity.
At its core, my book is a love letter to our boys, and to the men they will become, but it is also a testament to a journey through my own prejudices.
In 2016, I wrote a book of bedtime stories about the lives and adventures of real-life women.
The first copies of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls were shipped on the day after we learned Donald Trump had won his first presidential election. The book flew off the shelves and sparked a global movement: parents everywhere, it seemed, wanted their girls to be rebels, to challenge gender stereotypes affecting them, to build a new world.
For anyone wanting change, after all, girls had to be the only hope: why would boys want to change a system that appeared to cater so effectively to their wants and needs?
If the past had been male, the future had to be female.
BUT WHAT ABOUT BOYS?
Parents raised the question at presentations, and on social media, and - for many years - I simply refused to answer. I was even applauded for ostensibly ignoring it.
As much as I shrugged it off, though, the feeling that boys had to be part of the conversation started creeping in.
Then my first nephew was born, and the question became impossible to ignore.
I realized that while the space for girls to explore their identities has steadily expanded (and rightly so!), the space for boys has shrunk. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Equality isn’t a zero-sum game, and it certainly isn’t a battle between genders.
It’s a journey of mutual liberation.
We have traveled far, but if we want to go further, we must go together.
We must acknowledge the limits of a culture that tells girls they can be anything, and tells boys that… it’s okay to cry.
That’s certainly an important message, but it’s not enough.
Over the past few years, I have felt the urge to learn more about masculinity. I wanted to understand how the stories boys are told shape our understanding of what it means to be a boy, and to become a man.
To find answers, I went back to traditional fairy tales. While working on Rebel Girls, I spent a long time analyzing princesses, and now it was time to turn my attention to princes.
THE DISCOVERIES I MADE LEFT ME AGHAST.
Male characters in fairy-tales - and even in modern narratives - are far less free than I had assumed. Princes exist to fulfill one role: ensuring the survival of the kingdom, no matter the cost to their well being.
The inner life of men is virtually non-existent in the stories we grew up with. Consider Snow White’s father: he loses his wife, marries an evil woman who forces him to give up his only daughter… What do we know about how he feels? Absolutely nothing.
In contemporary stories, this dynamic persists. From superheroes to action heroes like James Bond, men are often portrayed as emotionally impenetrable. Their strength lies in their silence, their ability to suppress their vulnerabilities. They live double lives, banished to solitude, where their doubt, pain, and uncertainty remain hidden not just to others but also to themselves.
Even Inside Out, Pixar's brilliant dive into human emotions, couldn’t resist the cliché: Riley’s dad’s control center is basically a frat house of bumbling dudes glued to the game.
We’ve convinced ourselves that boys are simpler than girls, their needs more basic. But this misconception prevents us from truly seeing them. It blinds us to their struggles and keeps us from offering them the support they desperately need to cultivate rich emotional and spiritual lives.
WHAT CAN WE DO THEN?
Stellar Stories for Boys of the Future is my answer to that question.
Each story in this collection tackles a fundamental theme in the formation of masculine identity. From navigating relationships with father figures to confronting unequal power dynamics, from exploring emotions beyond anger to embracing a broader understanding of gender identity, these tales offer readers a new way to see themselves and the world.
The protagonists in these stories aren’t just adventurers. They’re survivors of rejection, learners from mistakes, seekers of help. They are vulnerable because they don’t have to be heroes to be loved. They are honest because they don’t have to conceal parts of themselves to be accepted.
I chose to set these stories on twelve imaginary planets near and far, in a boundless space: the space that opens up inside our heart whenever we’re capable of seeing others with courage, compassion, and honesty.
It is that space that I’m eager to conquer along with every one of you, and especially with the young people who read these stories.
The rebel girls I respected the most weren’t the ones who took power, but the ones who changed it.
In a time that is difficult to navigate, often disappointing, challenging, my question for you isn’t “how do we take power?” But rather “how are we going to change it?”
With love and compassion is the most convincing answer I found.
These stories are not about condemning masculinity, they are about reclaiming it as a space full of care, honesty, honor. As a space full of light, connection, and love.
May we look at all our children with boundless compassion.
May love be the force that shapes their future, and ours.
With all my heart,
Francesca Cavallo
Credits
The book is written by me, illustrated by Luis San Vicente, edited by Paola Quintavalle, translated from Italian by Antony Shugaar, art directed by Francesca Zucchi, copy edited and proofread by Acadia Klepeis, and it boasts an afterword by
.This book needs YOU
Stellar Stories for Boys of the Future is already out in Brazil, Italy, Denmark and Germany, and it will be out later this year in Spanish, Catalan, Croatian, and Polish but - despite having my previous books for more than 100 weeks in the NYT bestsellers list - it proved difficult to find a publisher in the US.
Traditional publishers don’t see “boys” as a market segment they want to focus their energy on, and especially they don’t see it as a market segment they want to take risks for. This is part of the problem.
“Boys don’t read” easily becomes a way to justify our lack of effort to bring them content that addresses their needs. The space we leave empty is filled by man influencers, alt-right politicians, and vicious opinion leaders who are eroding the foundation of democracy.
This is why, when I realized that I was not going to find a partner for this in the US, I chose the same route I had chosen for Rebel Girls: self production.
It means that - just like in the case of Rebel Girls - it’s you who can make all the difference here: there aren’t big companies behind this, nor expensive marketing campaigns, or big interest groups. There’s just a ton of work, of passion, of love. And a ton of trust in people, and in our ability to make big ideas travel far and wide.
If you can, talk about the book in your newsletters, buy it for your friends’ kids, tell your local bookshop about it (it will be available on Ingram soon).
I believe that we can and we will make a difference together. I believe we can free each other and build the foundation for a world that - perhaps - we haven’t even dared to imagine, until now.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Ordering it now!! The world is desperate for more content like this. Deeply grateful to you for writing this!!! ❤️
Please keep us booksellers posted as to when it will be available on Ingram!