18 APRIL 12, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
50 Queens girls transform into
astronauts, presidents and more in
Forest Hills moms’ book
BY ANGELA MATUA
AMATUA@QNS.COM / @ANGELAMATUA
Forest Hills residents Sharita
Manickam and Jen Bruno are
looking to show young girls that
no career is off limits.
Manickam and Bruno, who live in
the same building, began coordinating
play dates with their children aft er discovering
that they had mutual friends.
Both women are in creative fi elds —
Manickam developed a script for NBC
and Bruno is a photographer — and
are now using their talents to create
“Rad Girl Revolution,” a 30-page photo
book depicting young girls in careers
oft en underrepresented by women.
“When my fi rst daughter was a baby
I had written a poem imagining all the
things she could be when she grew
up,” Manickam said. “Jen had photographed
both my girls, so I approached
her about the idea.”
On April 5, the duo launched a
Kickstarter to raise $15,000 to edit,
print and ship 1,000 copies of their
photo book and to cover expenses for
costumes, props and location fees. In
just fi ve days, $11,591 has been raised.
“It was around the time of the election
when we were able to see kind of
an energy and enthusiasm grow in the
children that we were around,” Bruno
said. “I think for our children, my son
was so completely confused that there
had not been a female president. That
was the start of the fi rst conversation
that we had about an imbalance in
gender in certain positions.”
Bruno has fi nished about half the
portraits needed for the book and
Manickam is writing short descriptive
rhymes for each career. Girls are
depicted in the book as a president,
police offi cer, fi refi ghter, chef, artist,
astronaut, journalist and more. Local
businesses have donated their spaces
for photo shoots and parents have enthusiastically
allowed their children
to participate in the shoots.
In addition to a variety of careers, it
was important to the duo to represent
a diverse array of children.
“Being in a neighborhood where
there are so many children of such
diverse backgrounds we wanted to
make sure that every child that picks
up that book can see themselves in
some way,” Bruno said. “We got models
with Down syndrome, a model that has
a severe hearing impairment, one with
type 1 juvenile diabetes.”
Frankie Lyner, 2, who has Down
syndrome, posed as an artist at a photo
shoot at Little Pulp, a collaborative art
and printmaking workshop for kids
in Glendale.
“This project gives us a platform
to show a child with a disability in a
viable profession and will hopefully
challenge the preconceptions of its
readers and make them say, ‘Why not?'”
said Farah Lyner, her mother.
Parents from around the country
have expressed their support for the
project and both women have been
surprised by the amount of excitement
the book has generated.
“I’m originally from Kansas. Sharita
is from Maryland,” Bruno said. I
think we’ve been so excited about the
response that we’ve seen within our
neighborhood but outside of New York,
as well. We have so many people say,
‘I’m so glad you’re doing this. I wanted
my girls to see this.'”
Those who donate to the Kickstarter
campaign will receive rewards like
a Rad Girl coloring book, a sticker
sheet, a Madam President T-shirt, a
school pack with 10 copies of the book,
sticker sheets and a customized lesson
plan for teachers for pre-K through
second-grade students.
People who pledge $2,000 or more
will get a photo session for their children
with 10 edited photos for up to
two children.
Though there are children’s books
depicting historic women in the
past, Manickam said it’s important
for young girls to think about their
futures.
“As a mother of two girls, I believe it
is very important to teach my children
about the incredible women of the past,
but also feel it’s essential for young
girls to be able to picture themselves
becoming the inspiring women of
the future,” Manickam said. “We also
want our book to appeal to a younger
audience. Gender stereotypes are set
in children as early as age 6, so it is
crucial to expose them to empowering
books and reach them during the
critical developmental ages of 3 to 7.”
The books will be fi nished by November
and though they will print
1,000 books, both Manickam and
Bruno are hoping it impacts more girls
and boys around the country.
“We would love to meet our goal we
would really love to exceed our goal,”
Bruno said. “We want this book in
the hands of little girls and little boys
across the country.”
The Kickstarter campaign will
expire on May 5 and the project will
only be funded if the money is collected
before that date. To donate to this
project, visit the Kickstarter page.
Photos by Jen Bruno
Sharita Manickam and Jen Bruno will release "Rad Girl Revolution," a photo book showcasing girls in careers
underrepresented by women.
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