16 Trailblazing Female Environmentalists Who Have Changed the World.

In celebration of Earth Day, we're celebrating sixteen incredible women who are working to protect the environment and all of the creatures which share our planet. From groundbreaking primatologists to deep-sea explorers to determined activists, each of them has changed the way that we see the world — and our role in protecting it. Equally importantly, these women have shown all of us that we have an effect on the health of our plant: from the smallest decisions of our day-to-day lives to international policy — each of us can make a difference. Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of books for children about trailblazing female environmentalists of the past and present.

With Earth Month comes a special opportunity to teach kids about the people all around the world doing important work to care for our environment and the life within it! In addition to the day-to-day activities that we can all do to reduce our impact on the planet, it's important to recognize the scientists and activists, both past and present, who have encouraged us to see our planet in a new way: not as a set of resources for us to extract when we please, but as a precious and delicate system that sustains all life that we must strive to protect. Continue reading → Continue reading

The Detroit mother of five answered Dr. King's call for volunteers and traveled to Alabama to help during the Selma March.

On the final day of the historic Selma to Montgomery March on March 25, 1965, civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo was helping shuttle marchers from Montgomery, Alabama back to Selma in her car, along with a fellow activist, 19-year-old Leroy Moton. When she stopped at a red light, a car filled with local Ku Klux Klan members pulled up alongside them. When they saw Liuzzo, a White woman, and Moton, a Black man, together, they followed them, pulled a gun, and shot directly at Liuzzo. She was killed by a bullet to the head; Moton, who was covered in her blood and knocked unconscious, was assumed to to be dead by the Klan members who investigated the crashed vehicle. The murder of the 39-year-old Liuzzo, a Detroit housewife and mother of five, shocked millions of people around the country and, along with the outrage at the violent treatment of many of the Selma protesters, helped to spur the signing of the historic 1965 Voting Rights Act five months later. Continue reading → Continue reading

Dorothy Height was the "the only woman at the highest level of the Civil Rights Movement," though her contributions are largely unknown today.

When Dorothy Height showed up at Barnard College in 1929 with her admission letter in hand, she was told by a college dean that they had already reached their quota of "two Negro students per year." Height, who had just graduated with honors from an integrated high school in Rankin, Pennsylvania, says that she was crushed, recalling, “I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep for days." Unwilling to defer her dreams, she visited New York University with her Barnard acceptance letter and they admitted her on the spot. It was this determination that would drive Height through the following decades as she became, as President Barack Obama observed, "the only woman at the highest level of the Civil Rights Movement — witnessing every march and milestone along the way." Continue reading → Continue reading

At 8 years old, Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins joined the "Capitol Crawl" with other disability rights activists demanding passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

On March 12, 1990, over 1,000 disability rights activists marched from the White House to the U.S. Capitol to demand the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which had been stalled in Congress. To illustrate the barriers that many people with disabilities faced every day, over 60 activists cast aside their wheelchairs and crutches and began crawling up the 83 stone steps that lead to the Capitol building — among them was Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins, an 8-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who declared "I’ll take all night if I have to" as she pulled herself up the steps. In honor of the anniversary of the historic "Capitol Crawl" — which helped drive the successful passage of the ADA, the world's first comprehensive civil rights law protecting the rights people with disabilities — we're sharing the story of this determined young activist whose actions helped transform the lives of people with disabilities across the nation. Continue reading → Continue reading

Eight downloadable posters celebrating women of STEM perfect for displaying in kids' rooms and classrooms!

The saying, "If she can't see it, she can't be it," speaks to the importance of introducing girls to female role models, especially in areas where women's accomplishments were often overlooked or minimized such as in science, mathematics, and technology. A new poster collection aims to bring more of these women's stories to light — and inspire today's Mighty Girls with the knowledge that she can be whatever she aspires to be! Continue reading → Continue reading

The best books for kids, teens, and adults about women who dared to fly!

From the earliest days of aviation, women have played a role — but few people know the stories of the daring women who opened the throttles, pulled back on the stick, and soared into history! Even when a name like Amelia Earhart or Bessie Coleman comes to mind, many kids don't know exactly how they made history, and few of them have heard of other groundbreaking women like Sophie Blanchard or Jerrie Mock. So it's time to celebrate these women who founds ways to take flight, even when the world told them they were reaching too high. Continue reading → Continue reading

The best new books for children and teens about incredible girls and women for Women's History Month 2024.

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 celebrates Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg!

Supreme Court Justice, lawyer, women's rights advocate, and pop culture icon: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in 2020 at the age of 87, meant so much to so many people. Whether you first encountered her name in discussions of women's rights court decisions or on websites proclaiming her Notorious RBG, there's no doubting her influence on today's world. In memory of this influential — and inspirational — lawyer, activist and Supreme Court Justice, we're sharing her powerful story, as well as our favorite books and films about this trailblazer for both children and adults. We've also highlighted a few resources, from t-shirts to music albums, that pay tribute to her inspiring life. Justice Ginsburg may be gone, but her legacy lives on — both in the law and in the minds and hearts of Mighty Girls and women who follow in her footsteps.
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In celebration of International Women's Day, we're featuring a collection of 50 books about global girls and women from Afghanistan, Chile, the Philippines, China, and many other countries around the world!

When we highlight children's books about real-life Mighty Girls and women, they often focus on individuals from Western countries such as the US, Canada, UK, and Australia. While kids' books about remarkable women from elsewhere around the world are often harder to find, there are fortunately growing numbers of titles celebrating the accomplishments of girls and women worldwide. Continue reading → Continue reading