A Mighty Girl's top picks of books about friendships between girls and boys.

Books about girls who are best friends forever are easy to find — but what about girls who are friends with boys? Mixed-gender friendships are all too rare in children's literature, and often those that do exist develop into a romance story, creating the impression that romance is the inevitable conclusion of all relationships between a girl and a boy. But in an ideal world, people are friends with anyone who shares their interests, and gender isn't a factor! Providing a model for these girl-boy friendships in children's books is a great way to show that friendships form with many different people — and reading about these friendships encourages kids to build and maintain mixed-gender friendships as they grow.

In this blog post, we're featuring a variety of stories about girl-boy friendships. These girls and boys adventure together, care for one another, and provide the support that everyone needs to get through tough times. It's the perfect way to encourage young readers to focus not on the gender of a friend, but on the quality of the friendship. Continue reading → Continue reading

Easy conversation starters to show Mighty Girls that you care about her mind, her feelings, and her fascinating self!

'Tis the season for holiday gatherings, which means starting conversations with friends and family you don't see very often — including little girls. At such times, no matter how dedicated you are to girl empowerment, it's all too easy to fall into the stereotypical, appearance-based comments as a way to break the ice, especially with younger girls. After all, we've all spent years being taught by society that the best way to start a conversation with a little girl is to praise how pretty her dress is, how sparkly her nails are, or how cute she looks. However, with many girls developing body image concerns as early as 1st grade, it's time to move past a fixation on girls' appearances. And, of course, as we all know, girls have so much more to contribute to the conversation — all we have to do is ask! Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of STEM-themed games for all ages!

"Science is not a boy's game, it's not a girl's game. It's everyone's game." — Nichelle Nichols

When a baby drops a block over and over, she's doing what humans do naturally: turning science into a game! Playful experimentation is the first step to a lifetime of STEM learning. As kids get older, however, they can lose that creative spirit and start seeing learning about science and math as a chore, rather than a fun and exciting way to discover the wonders of the universe. Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of books and toys for teaching kids about money management.

Financial literacy is an essential skill for every child to learn! Money is an integral part of modern life, and whether your child is a preschooler counting coins, an elementary school child saving for a new toy, a tween learning about investing, or a teen budgeting for school expenses or their first full-time job, there are plenty of opportunities to teach kids how to earn, save, spend, donate, and invest. And yet a recent study from the Girl Scouts found that only 12% of girls aged 8 to 17 feel very confident making financial decisions, proof that we need to do more to improve kids' financial literacy.

In this blog post, we've showcased our favorite resources to help kids (and maybe parents too!) learn more about money and how to manage it. From play money that helps young kids learning to identify coins and bills, to books that introduce concepts like debt, entrepreneurship, and investing to older kids, and even a few titles to guide parents in money conversations, these resources will help you give your Mighty Girl the confidence to manage her money successfully — and use it to plan for her future. Continue reading → Continue reading

Our top picks of empowering books celebrating adoption and adopted Mighty Girls!

“If the standard route for creating a family had worked for me, I wouldn't have met this child. I needed to know her. I needed to be her mother. I know now why all those events happened. Or didn't happen. So I could meet this little girl. She is, in every way, my daughter.” — Nia Vardalos, Instant Mom

Today is National Adoption Day, a day for “celebrating a family for every child.” Around the the world, there are millions of children who have found the home and love they deserve through adoption — and millions of parents who have found joy and love in return! Continue reading → Continue reading

"My daughter's body is actually hers, not mine."

The many gatherings of family and friends during the holiday season give parents a special chance to teach their daughters an empowering lesson: you don't owe anyone your physical affection. "The ritual of demanding affection from children on cue is one of those tiny, everyday little lessons in which we teach children — especially girls — that they are to tailor their emotional responses to please others," observes blogger Kasey Edwards in a Daily Life op-ed. By letting kids decide whether to greet someone with a hug or a kiss, parents can teach the basics of consent and bodily autonomy as early as the toddler years. And, such lessons can have an impact for years to come as Girl Scouts' development psychologist Andrea Bastianai Archibald explains: "The notion of consent may seem very grown-up and like something that doesn’t pertain to children, but the lessons girls learn when they’re young about setting physical boundaries and expecting them to be respected last a lifetime." Continue reading → Continue reading

Before Sara Josephine Baker took charge, a third of children died before their 5th birthdays.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the pioneering physician Sara Josephine Baker revolutionized public health care for children in New York City. When Baker started her public health work, the impoverished slums of Hell's Kitchen on the city's West Side were among the most densely populated places on Earth, and epidemics killed an estimated 4,500 people each week in the overcrowded immigrant tenements, including 1,500 babies. With a third of children born there dying before their fifth birthday, Baker famously remarked that "It is six times safer to be a soldier in the trenches than a baby in the United States." Thanks to her initiatives, the death rate plummeted, and Baker became famous as doctor who had saved 90,000 children in New York City and countless others as her reforms were replicated across the United States and in other countries. Continue reading → Continue reading

Remembering the forgotten history of the Women's Suffrage Movement's "Night of Terror"

The Silent Sentinels picketing the White House in 1917.

When we tell our children about the fight for women's suffrage in America, we often tell a sanitized version of the story. We talk about letter-writing campaigns, activist conferences, and stirring speeches — and occasionally, we mention defiant suffragists being hauled to jail. But we often shy away from the darker truths about the sacrifices and suffering many suffragists had to endure in the fight for women's right to vote. Continue reading → Continue reading

16 Trailblazing Female Wartime Heroes Who Belong in the History Books

Often, the popular image of women in wartime is worried wives, girlfriends, sisters, and daughters, pining at home for the men they love who are risking their lives on the battlefield. The reality, though, is much different! Women have always made significant contributions to war efforts — both on the homefront and on the front lines. While women's contributions at home, especially during WWII, have become more widely known, the stories of their heroism on the battlefield are rarely told. In every war there have been women who dared to spy across enemy lines; treat wounded soldiers in the midst of the fighting; report from the front as journalists, and fight shoulder to shoulder with their male peers. And although we don't hear of them often, women also fought for an equally important cause: peace. Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl honors women veterans of past and present with reading recommendations for children and teens.

“If the nation ever again needs them, American women will respond.” — Byrd Howell Granger, WASP pilot

On November 11, 1918, World War I formally came to an end with the signing of armistice but despite the hopes that this would mark the war to end all wars, conflict has stayed with us throughout the decades. Today, countries around the world choose November 11 to honor the service of those who fought abroad or worked tirelessly at home and those who continue to do so today. With Veterans Day in the US, Remembrance Day in Commonwealth countries, and Armistice Day in other nations, we take a few precious minutes of time to pay tribute to the living veterans of war and remember those who died in it. Continue reading → Continue reading