By Lili Sandler, A Mighty Girl Senior Research Intern

If you’ve ever attended a baby shower for the mama-to-be of a baby girl, you’ve probably witnessed the overwhelmingly pink and princess-themed gifts that are, well, showered upon the guest of honor. In this day and age, the majority of women know the sex of their baby before she or he is born, and thus the heavily gendered gift-giving begins before the baby takes her or his first breath.

If you're looking for alternatives to stereotypical baby shower gifts — ones that celebrate the whole girl, even as they recognize and celebrate the joyous fact that she is, indeed, a girl — you'll find them in this selection of baby gifts perfect for any new mom or dad to share with their baby girl!

For more recommendations beyond those included in this post, you'll find many girl-empowering baby toys and gifts in A Mighty Girl's For Baby section. Continue reading → Continue reading

By Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Senior Research Intern

When your Mighty Girl was young, you probably marveled at her incredible confidence: no matter what she wore, said, or did, she did it with a big grin that said, “This is who I am, like it or not!” But as kids get older, they start to be affected by the opinions of others, especially their peers. So the 3-year-old who proudly declared, “I’m the best!” can turn into a 5-year-old who says, “Nobody at school likes me!” or “I can’t do that — it’s for boys!”

Fortunately, while it’s normal for children to have bumps in the road where they question their worth, parents can do a lot to make sure that the bumps are small and that their daughters pass them quickly! By reading books about girls who face challenges to their self-esteem — either from questioning themselves, or brought on by disapproval from others — and overcome them, parents can teach their daughters that everyone struggles with self-esteem sometimes but that everyone is valuable and special in her own way. Continue reading → Continue reading

By Lili Sandler, A Mighty Girl Senior Research Intern

Amelia Earhart, the aviation pioneer, equal rights activist, and all around courageous heroine for generations of girls and women was born on this day in 1897. An icon of twentieth century bravery — but also that of mystery — Earhart is most well-known as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and to disappear during her attempted flight around the world.

As a child, Amelia Earhart had little to no interest in airplanes, but filled her days by exploring her neighborhood with her younger sister, reading voraciously, or following and collecting various critters found in her explorations. As a teen, Amelia kept a scrapbook filled with stories of women who were successful in careers dominated by men at the time.

After working as a nurse’s aide during World War I, Earhart went for her first ride in an airplane in 1920. It was that very flight — only ten minutes long, but that was all it took to change her life — that made Amelia Earhart say: “By the time I got two or three hundred feet off the ground, I knew I had to fly.”

On January 3, 1921, Amelia Earhart started flying lessons, and six months later, she owned her very own airplane, nicknamed “The Canary”. It was with that plane that she set a world record for female pilots in 1922, being the first to reach an altitude of 14,000 feet. On May 15, 1923, she became the 16th woman to receive a pilot’s license from the Fédération Aèronatique Internationale.

In April of 1928, Earhart received a phone call asking her if she’d like to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. While she was a passenger and not the the pilot of this June 1928 flight, its news coverage helped to promote her to a level of celebrity, leading to her nicknames of “Lady Lindy” or the “Queen of the Air”. Continue reading → Continue reading

We frequently receive questions from people asking for recommendations for specific types of books or movies. In our "Ask A Mighty Girl" feature, we anonymously share select messages that may be of interest to the greater A Mighty Girl community. All messages are shared with the permission of the questioner.

Dear A Mighty Girl,

I have a 4 year-old who is starting to show some needs for a self-confidence boost and help standing up for herself. As parents we empower her on a daily basis, but as she goes into the world of preschool and interactions with friends and peers, we see that she doesn't stand up for herself if she gets cut off in line or if someone takes something she is playing with; instead she starts to cry. Recently she does not want to wear any kind of shorts with a print because "kids will laugh at me."

From conversations with teachers we do not see evidence of this happening, but it is coming from somewhere. I want to get some books that might address these issues directly and am wondering if there are 2 or 3 from the preschool list that you'd really recommend. Continue reading → Continue reading

By Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Senior Research Intern

Since A Mighty Girl launched in April 2012, one question we’ve received from many parents is what parenting books we recommend to help them raise strong, confident, independent, and courageous girls. With that in mind, A Mighty Girl is proud to launch our new parenting section, featuring over 150 carefully-selected books about a wide variety of parenting issues.

A Mighty Girl’s parenting philosophy is that kids should be encouraged to explore their own interests and strengths, rather than following society’s narrow idea of what is gender appropriate. We believe in encouraging girls and supporting the development of their healthy self-image while fostering their compassion and respect for others.

We also believe that kids need to learn basic life skills like financial management, responsible technology use, and stress management so that they can be happy and safe, even as their world expands from childhood life with Mom and Dad to teenage freedom and eventually adult independence. Most importantly, we believe that parents can make all of those things happen. Continue reading → Continue reading