The 23-year-old secret agent hid her codes in knitting to avoid detection by the Nazis.

In May 1944, a 23-year-old British secret agent named Phyllis Latour Doyle parachuted into occupied Normandy to gather intelligence on Nazi positions in preparation for D-Day. As an agent for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), Doyle – who passed away in 2023 at the age of 102 – secretly relayed 135 coded messages to the British military before France's liberation in August. She took advantage of the fact that the Nazi occupiers and their French collaborators were generally less suspicious of women, using the knitting she carried as a way to hide her codes. For seventy years, Doyle's contributions to the war effort were largely unheralded, but she was finally given her due in 2014 when she was awarded France's highest honor, the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. Continue reading → Continue reading

The Mighty Girl activist leading a movement for inclusive coloring.

Bellen Woodard was only 8 years old when she noticed that her classmates often asked for the "skin color" crayon, when what they really meant was peach. That simple observation led her to becoming the world's first crayon activist! Since then, Bellen, who's now 11, has founded the More than Peach Project, created her own line of art supplies with more inclusive colors for skin, and written a picture book. Now, she's released a new interactive guide, Change The World: Activities for Colorful Activism, designed to help kids build confidence, help their communities, and create a more inclusive world. "Don't shrink," she tells her readers. "And as the world swirls and whirls you grow. And grow." Continue reading → Continue reading

Our favorite books for children and teens starring adventurous, sword-wielding Mighty Girls!

When it’s time for the brave young adventurer to pick up a sword and save the day, who says that adventurer has to be a boy? Sword-wielding Mighty Girls make for thrilling, dramatic fiction! If you have a child or teen who loves action, adventure, derring-do -- and a well-honed blade -- then there’s sure to be a perfect title for them in our new blog post showcasing our favorite books starring girls and women who are at home with a blade in hand. Continue reading → Continue reading

The best new books for children and teens about incredible girls and women for Women's History Month 2023.

Every year, we at A Mighty Girl are thrilled to see the number of new books that are released introducing children and teens to inspiring women of history! As the bookshelves of women's history titles continue to grow, our kids — both girls and boys — have even more opportunities to learn about the women who have changed our world, giving them a more diverse and nuanced perspective on our past. Better yet, these books provide terrific role models for the next generation of bold, determined, and pioneering women! Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of girl-empowering graphic novels for teens.

We've already shown how graphic novels for young readers can explore real life issues and take readers on amazing flights of fancy — but, of course, graphic novels are not just for young readers! Graphic novels aimed at teens can tackle even more challenging material, exploring more complex worlds and characters that are more understandable for an older audience. Continue reading → Continue reading

"Emphasize that since catcalling itself is the opposite of polite, there’s no need to smile, laugh, or engage in conversation with the harasser."

Catcalling and other forms of sexual harassment start much earlier than many people think: a recent study found that 1 in 10 girls have been catcalled before their 11th birthday and a recent study has found that 1 in 6 girls in elementary and secondary school have experienced sexual harassment. And while some people say that girls should just ignore catcalling, Dr. Andrea Bastiani Archibald, the Girl Scouts’ Developmental Psychologist, explains that it has detrimental effects on girls, often making them feel unsafe and ashamed of their bodies in public. Continue reading → Continue reading

"This type of bullying is marked by crimes of omission... yet the pain, humiliation, and isolation are unmistakable."

The world of friendship and social status can be a challenging one for girls. Bullying prevention expert Signe Whitson observes that "adults often struggle with the question of, 'Should I intervene in a child's friendship problems?'" However, she asserts, "Kids need adult support and insights when it comes to navigating the choppy waters of friendship, disguised as a weapon." In an insightful Psychology Today article, Whitson, a child and adolescent therapist, provides tips for parents who want to help their girls through friendship conflicts and teach them how to find good friends. Continue reading → Continue reading

The best books for children, teens, & adults about Anne Frank

“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” — Anne Frank

Stories about the Holocaust can seem very distant to a child today: decades of time and, more importantly, vast differences in life experiences separate them from the life of a persecuted girl suffering from the Nazi regime. And then, at some point, she will read Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl and, suddenly, there is a face to this painful history: the face of a girl her age, whose dreams, thoughts, and emotions are like her own. Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of books for young children about their bodies, body privacy, appropriate touch, and more.

Since the moment someone said, “It’s a girl” or “It’s a boy”, sex has been part of your child’s life. Sooner or later, every child will notice how their body is the same, or different, from other bodies. But while conversations about bodies and sex can be awkward for parents, they’re important even for a preschooler or elementary aged child.

There are many reasons why you should start talking to kids about sex and bodies in age-appropriate ways. One is to take the mystery away from genitalia: if you cheerfully label “ear”, “arm”, and “knee” but refer vaguely to “private parts” or use euphemisms, children may think that there is something wrong, dangerous, or scary about this part of their bodies. Another is to give your child clear language for health issues: if your child says she is “itchy down there” after a summer day trip, a care provider may be looking for poison ivy and not a yeast infection from a wet bathing suit.

Equally importantly is preparing your child to talk about puberty (which we discuss in the second part of this blog, Talking with Tweens and Teens about their Bodies) “Puberty!?” I can hear you thinking. “She’s only 5!” And yet approximately 25% of girls experience breast budding, the first stage of puberty, at age 8 or 9 — third grade — and her first period will generally follow two to three years after the appearance of breast buds. If the girl in your life is an early bloomer, she may experience these changes before you are expecting them. But if you have been open and forthcoming with information about her body in the past, she will know that she can approach you with her questions. Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of new biographies about Mighty Women for adult readers.

If you've been using the holidays as a chance to stock your Mighty Girl's bookshelf with books about inspiring women, don't forget the adults in the family! It's been another terrific year of exciting new releases of biographies and memoirs starring women trailblazers past and present. From compelling biographies to deeply personal memoirs of love and loss to intriguing collections of oral history, there is something for just about everyone! Continue reading → Continue reading