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

A Mighty Girl's favorite Hanukkah stories starring Mighty Girls!

This year, Hanukkah, the winter Festival of Lights, begins on December 7. To help you celebrate the miracle of eight days of light, we're sharing our favorite Hanukkah books starring Mighty Girls. These books celebrate this special holiday and how it brings families together for eight special nights every winter. Full of joy, fun, and the importance of family tradition, these stories are a perfect way to remember this special holiday.

You can also learn about our favorite books celebrating Christmas in our blog post, Christmas is Coming: Mighty Girl Christmas Stories.
Continue reading → Continue reading

"We are so busy teaching girls to be likable that we forget to teach them that they have the right to be respected."

Most parents talk to their children about their emotions, but there's one emotion that people often leave out when talking to girls: anger. "I don’t remember my parents or other adults ever talking to me about anger directly," observes Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger, "Sadness, yes. Envy, anxiety, guilt, check, check, check. But not anger.... While parents talk to girls about emotions more than they do to boys, anger is excluded." In fact, from an early age, parents, caregivers, and teachers expect girls to regulate their emotions more effectively than boys, teaching them that expressing "negative" emotions like anger is socially unacceptable. In this blog post, we'll explore why it's important to let girls be angry – and how to teach girls to channel their anger productively. Continue reading → Continue reading

"The kids who are getting this process praise, strategy and taking on hard things and sticking to them, those are the kids who want the challenge."

We all want to motivate Mighty Girls to be their best, but did you know that how you praise girls can make a big difference to their resilience and self-confidence? Stanford professor Dr. Carol Dweck, one of the world's leading researchers in the field of motivation and the author of the bestselling book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, has found that there is a strong praise paradox for girls: "Praise for intelligence or ability backfires," she asserts. By understanding why telling a girl things like "you're so smart" can actually make her less confident, and by finding more effective ways to praise girls instead, parents and teachers can help foster an attitude that keeps them striving for success — even when the going gets tough. Continue reading → Continue reading

After witnessing the violent round-up of Jewish children by the Nazis, Marion Pritchard became an active resister who helped save the lives of 150 Dutch Jews.

While riding her bicycle to class at her university in Amsterdam in 1942, Marion Pritchard chanced upon a group of Nazi soldiers liquidating a Jewish children's home and watched helplessly as they violently threw young children into a truck. This encounter transformed the life of the young Dutch woman forever, leading her to become an active resister to the Nazi regime and ultimately save the lives of 150 Jewish children during World War II. Over three years, she risked her life numerous times by hiding Jewish refugees, arranging falsified identification papers, finding non-Jewish homes to take in Jewish children, and performing what was known as the "mission of disgrace" by falsely registering herself as the unwed mother of newborn babies to conceal their Jewish identity. "Most of us were brought up to tell [the] truth, to obey the secular law and the Ten Commandments," Pritchard reflected in 1996 during a lecture about her wartime experience. "By 1945, I had lied, stolen, cheated, deceived and even killed." Continue reading → Continue reading

Our top picks of Mighty Girl fantasy adventure series for tweens and teens who loved the Harry Potter books.

It's no wonder that so many kids — and adults — love the Harry Potter series: an epic struggle between good and evil, a world full of magic, fantasy, and adventure, and a powerful coming of age story make a captivating combination! However, while Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley, and other strong female characters populate the Harry Potter universe, many girls would love to read a similarly thrilling book or series with a girl at the heart of the story. Continue reading → Continue reading

Dr. Patricia Bath was an early pioneer of laser eye surgery whose cataract-removal invention has saved the vision of millions of people around the world.

A Renaissance woman in the world of vision, the pioneering ophthalmologist Dr. Patricia Bath not only founded the discipline of community ophthalmology to help underserved populations  have better access to vision care, she invented a device that quickly and easily dissolves cataracts, becoming the first African American female physician to receive a medical patent. Her invention of the Laserphaco Probe was recognized by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2014 as "one of the most important developments in the field of ophthalmology" for having "helped restore or improve vision to millions of patients worldwide." A trailblazer for both women and African Americans in medicine, Bath always considered the people she helped her greatest accomplishment, asserting that "the ability to restore vision is the ultimate reward." Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of picture books about girls who love to dance!

For many Mighty Girls, nothing is more fun than moving to music! Maybe she takes formal ballet lessons, or maybe she and her family just take joy in putting on their favorite tunes and dancing together for fun. Either way, a love of dance is a great way to get exercise, have fun, and express your creativity!

If you have a child who loves to step, twirl, plie, and more, in this blog post, we've put together a collection of our favorite picture books starring dance-loving Mighty Girls that are sure to inspire and delight dancers of all ages!

For books about real-life women dancers for children and teens, visit our Creative Arts book section. Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's favorite Christmas books, from beloved classics to new releases -- all starring Mighty Girls!

With December fast approaching, the Christmas season is almost here! And what better activity is there to prepare for the holidays than curling up and reading a beloved Christmas story together? For many families, reading holiday stories — whether old favorites or new finds — is a treasured part of the season. And, what better way to get in the holiday spirit than with a Mighty Girl Christmas story! Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top books for Thanksgiving!

Every November, families in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving — a special day of family, feasting, and thankfulness! In celebration of the upcoming holiday, we're sharing our favorite Thanksgiving stories starring girls and women. Of special interest to many of our supporters will be a children's biography about Sarah Hale, the woman responsible for Thanksgiving becoming a national holiday. Continue reading → Continue reading