Stories for Boys who Dare to be Different, by Ben Brooks

I’ve had this book on pre-order since it was announced and was so happy when it arrived this morning, just in time for the spring holidays!

As a household, we’re big fans of the Rebel Girl books but I’m also very aware of the fact that in addition to showing my children strong female role models, I have to give them examples of men and boys who don’t conform to the stereotype that brute-force will always win the day. And despite the amazing resource that is A Mighty Girl , I’ve yet to find one which lists boys defying stereotypes in the same way.

Which is why I was so excited when I heard about Stories for Boys who Dare to be Different by Ben Brooks.

We’ve only read a few of the pages so far, but there are some amazing stories about men I’d never heard of, and equally amazing stories about men whose works I know.

The format is the same as Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls – a beautiful illustration opposite a short text about the subject. So far there’s a few people I might not have included (Steve Irwin, for example, I thought was an odd choice), but disagreement on this sort of thing is never bad – just an opportunity for discussion about their deeds, both those chosen for the book and those which have been omitted. At the moment, Son is too young for these discussions but I’m sure Daughter will have some lively thoughts on the matter…

Whilst the majority of the artwork is wonderful and quite ‘literal’ be aware that if reading to a younger audience there are a few stylised pictures which might cause upset. Son won’t let me read to him about Ai Weiwei as the illustration is a page of sunflowers with faces instead of seeds and he found this distressing. That said, as an adult I love the art – it’s detailed and interesting without being fussy.

Which are your favourite books about Boys who Dare to be Different? And which are your favourite books about Rebel Girls?

Farn ❤