Buffy Sainte-Marie on Sesame Street

When I was a little girl I was taught that there were no Indians. The only time I ever saw Indians was when we visited the stupid natural history museum and they were dead and stuffed like the dinosaurs.... [When Sesame Street] called me up and said that they wanted me to recite the alphabet like everybody else does, and count from one to ten....I said that I wasn’t interested in doing that, but I asked if they had ever done any Native American programming.... I was doing essentially the same thing that I was doing all along, in trying to raise consciousness and spotlight Native America, because it’s fascinating and interesting.” — Buffy Saint-Marie, Canadian-American Cree songwriter, educator, and social activist, in an interview with Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict, June 2009

Since Buffy Sainte-Marie’s episodes of Sesame Street aired in 1975, representation of Native American and Indigenous Peoples in media has significantly improved, especially in recent years. The Cooperative Children’s Book Center, which tracks representation in children's books, found that while only 0.6% of children's book featured Native American or Indigenous characters in 2012, that number increased to over 2% in 2022, a percentage akin to the current day Native American population in the United States.

Fortunately, among these titles, there are numerous great books available featuring Native American and Indigenous Canadian Mighty Girls! November is Native American Heritage Month in the United States, during which time we recognize the contributions and cultures of the Indigenous Peoples of North America.

To celebrate this heritage month, we’ve put together a selection of wonderful books starring Native American and Indigenous characters to share with your children. Whether reading a great piece of historical fiction, a fascinating biography, or a story that features modern Native American girls in their day-to-day lives, they’ll love these stories. And who knows? You might just learn a thing or two yourself! Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of books for tween and teen girls about puberty, sexuality, and their changing bodies.

You knew it would happen one of these days: your daughter is a tween. Maybe you just realized that she’s looking eye-to-eye with you, or perhaps you’re seeing breast budding or other early signs of puberty. Or, your daughter is a teen, and while she thinks she knows everything about her changing body, you want to make sure that she has accurate information and good resources to consult.

Fortunately, in this post, we have many great books to recommend for both tweens and teens — in addition to numerous helpful resources for parents themselves. If your Mighty Girl is a bit younger, check out our previous post on Body Smart, Body Safe: Talking with Younger Girls about their Bodies for resources for preschoolers and younger elementary students. You can also learn about our recommendations on menstruation-related resources in our post Teaching Your Mighty Girl About Her Menstrual Cycle.

Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of books for kids about voting and the political process.

With an election upcoming this November, there's no better time to teach kids about how elections work and the importance of voting! Kids are often fascinated by the steps of a democratic election — from naming candidates to running a campaign to casting a vote — and it's even more exciting for them to know that they could be part of the process someday, helping to write laws and change their city, state, or country for the better. Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl tribute to Judy Blume in honor of Banned Books Week.

For decades, Mighty Girls have devoured the works of Judy Blume, from Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret to Forever... to Just As Long As We’re Together. Her characters are compelling to readers because they face real issues — issues like puberty, struggles with friends, sexuality, divorce, and bullying. There’s even a book, Everything I Needed To Know About Being A Girl I Learned from Judy Blume, which features a collection of essays by twenty-four notable women authors about the impact Judy Blume’s novels have had on their lives and writing. Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks for children and teens about 9/11 on the terrorist attacks' 22nd anniversary.

On September 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people were killed in four coordinated terrorist attacks by the militant Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda. To this day, 9/11 remains the largest terrorist attack in history and most adults can still clearly recall where they were and what they were doing on that terrible day. And yet for today's kids, 9/11 can feel like a tragic event in the distant past with little relevancy to their lives. The 9/11 attacks, however, have had a profound impact over the past two decades on both the families of those immediately impacted and on the country and world at large. Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of girl-empowering bilingual board and picture books in English and Spanish.

From the moment they're born, kids are like sponges for language, and many parents decide to take advantage of that natural ability by introducing more than one language early. Whether you speak multiple languages at home or want to teach your child a second language, bilingual books are a fun way to introduce kids to new vocabulary and develop fluency! And in the United States, where millions of people speak Spanish as a first or second language, there's a huge demand for high-quality books that incorporate both English and Spanish text. Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of books for children and teens about real-life girls and women who fought for a more just, equal, and peaceful world.

When people think about what it means to love their country, some assume patriotism requires unwavering support, and that questioning or disagreeing with their government's choices is unpatriotic, disruptive, and even dangerous. But the truth is that dissent makes countries stronger: when citizens demand the best from their leaders and their countries — justice, accountability in government, and equal rights for all — everyone benefits. In fact, throughout history, progress for every country has come from people's willingness to stand up for what they believe in and insist on being heard, even if their beliefs counter those of the people in power. In other words, dissent isn't distracting or divisive: it's patriotic! Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of books for children and teens on understanding and managing emotions to build their emotional intelligence.

Whether you have a preschooler struggling to name how she feels, a tween wrestling with newly complex emotions, or a teenager who needs to find ways to incorporate her emotional life into adult decision-making, parents can do a lot to help kids navigate their emotional world. But sometimes, it’s hard to know where to begin. Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of girl-empowering chapter books for young readers.

There's little that compares with the amazing moment when a young reader realizes she can read on her own! It's a tremendous accomplishment when a child gets through her own book from cover to cover. The best way to encourage that practice is to fill your young reader's shelves with fun, exciting, and just-challenging-enough books to read, but finding those books — especially girl-empowering titles — can often be difficult. Sometimes you need a leveled reader that suits your child's ability, and sometimes you're looking for the perfect early chapter book. Whatever you're looking for, you want it to be entertaining enough to catch their attention but of sufficient quality to properly exercise their reading skills. Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top books for children and teens about the refugee experience.

With heart-wrenching photos and videos of mothers and children fleeing Ukraine filling television and computer screens, many children will be understandably curious and concerned about what is happening and what it means to be a refugee. As millions of people have been forced to leave Ukraine following the Russian invasion — sparking the fastest and largest displacement of people in Europe since World War II — it's more important than ever to talk to kids about refugees and the importance of the world opening its arms to help those in need. Continue reading → Continue reading