Dear Mai,
The other day we were out shopping for a gift for one of your friend's sixth birthday. We went to a book store to see if we could find something she might like. It's kind of weird, we haven't been to a book store in a long time, since you were little. We go to the library and we have some electronic books but it's been awhile since we actually went to a book store to purchase a book. So it was awesome. We loved it. You are in Kindergarten now and starting to learn how to read. We've always thought you were smart but then again what parent doesn't right? So in Kindergarten, we've been 5-6 year old kids that could already read! Wow, were not expecting that! Turns out, you are doing a pretty good job yourself! You can't read yet but you have about 20 words or so that you know. I think you can spell every single kid's name in your class too! We were practicing a while back at nighttime and you said something to the affect of:
(working through some words)
Maya: "I feel like I'm just guessing at these words. That's not reading!"
Daddy: "Welcome to a lifelong feeling of learning. Life is nothing but educated guesses, guessing wrong and learning to guess right the next time around."
Maya: "Still doesn't feel like reading"
But I digress, we're at the book store and you are going crazy finding all kinds of stuff you want, nothing for your friend of course. You're a loud rambunctious 5-year old. You're hard not to notice in public. I see this book on the end of the aisle: "Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls"
Daddy: (reads the title) "Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls"
Maya: "What does Rebel Girls mean?"
Random Stranger: "I'm guessing it means a whole lot of you"
Daddy: "Yup"
So we buy it and you LOVE it! We read it almost every night since we got it. Each page is dedicated to a non-fiction woman who has been brave, bucked society's norms and made a mark on the world as human being, not to mention a strong, strong woman. It's awesome because it occupies your thoughts outside of the stories. I hear you playing your dolls and you refer to "Ada Lovelace" an inventor. You talk about "Maya Angelou" and brave "Maya Gabeira" the surfer. You are starting to create story books at school and now you want to create a story book for every single woman in this book. You want to do more research, see pictures and videos and learn about them more to create their books. I came home today to find out that you had been talking to Mommy about which ones in the book are alive and dead. You decided that you want to meet every single one of these women that area alive and get them to sign your book. Let's do it kiddo! Let's see if we can find them all. If nothing else, you will learn more about being a brave, independent powerful woman. Who knows, maybe you'll even meet a few of these role models along the way!
Love you my strong, independant little girl,
Daddy
P.S. - If you are a woman and have a story in this book and are willing to sign a 5-year old's copy to make her day, hit us up!