A Mighty Girl's top picks of the best new biographies for children and teens about incredible women from around the world.

If you flip through a typical history book, you might think, as historian Gerda Lerner once wrote, that "ostensibly one-half the human race is doing everything significant and the other half doesn’t exist." Far too often, women's contributions have been neglected in history books and school curriculums — fortunately, there are growing numbers of wonderful books being published for young readers about girls and women who made their mark on history. And, there's no better time to share these stories and make sure that the next generation — girls and boys alike — appreciates the important and diverse roles that women have played in history than during Women's History Month!

With that in mind, in this blog post, we've collected the best biographies on remarkable women that have been published in the past 12 months, since the last Women's History Month. These books for children and teens feature girls and women who excelled in science, politics, the arts, athletics, and other fields. And, they serve as an excellent reminder that women's stories deserve to be told, not just during Women's History Month, but all year long.

For more books of inspiring girls and women from around the world, check out the hundreds of biographies and works of historical fiction in A Mighty Girl's History & Biography Collection. Continue reading → Continue reading

Simple actions you can take to show support for refugees in your community.

This week, in honor of Valentine's Day, we're spreading love by helping refugees in our local communities. Right now, the world is in the midst of the greatest refugee crisis since WWII. According to UNHCR, there are 21 million people worldwide who have been forced to seek safety in a new land due to war or conflict — and half of all refugees are children.

When refugees arrive in a new country, often with few belongings and not speaking the language, staring a new life can be challenging. Support from the local community, however, can made a tremendous difference, especially at making people feel welcome during these times when anti-refugee/anti-immigrant rhetoric has become all too common.

In this blog post, we've shared a number of simple actions that you can take to show support for the refugees in your community, both in the US and in Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Since refugee resettlement in the U.S. has also been the subject of significant confusion recently, we've also provided a short overview of how it works and an update on recent events. Finally, if you'd like to talk to children about refugees and why supporting them matters, you can find books to share with both children and teens in our blog post, Seeking Safety in a New Land: 15 Books About Mighty Girl Refugees.

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Over 150 photos of Mighty Girls standing up for girls and women's rights at the historic Women's Marches held worldwide on January 21.

Millions of people took to the streets at Women's Marches around the world on January 21, 2017 in an unprecedented show of solidarity and support for the belief that women's rights are human rights. At the 914 Women's Marches that were held in all 50 states and over 60 countries, girls and young women participated in vast numbers. This day gave these girls an unforgettable life lesson about the power of their own voice in creating change – and the responsibility of every citizen to use that voice to stand up for their rights and the rights of others.

In this blog post, we're showcasing just a small fraction of the incredible photos of Mighty Girls at Women’s Marches worldwide that have been shared with us. Thank you to the many people who have shared their march stories and photos on A Mighty Girl's Facebook page. And, most importantly, thank you to everyone who participated in a Women's March – while the fight for girls and women's rights will continue, our voices on this inspiring day of action were powerful and sent the clear and unmistakable message: "We're not going away."
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75 New & Classic Girl-Empowering Books for Holiday Gift Giving!

"I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book." — J. K. Rowling

When you’re looking for a gift for a book lover of any age, the natural choice is a good book! And, while the hundreds of titles in A Mighty Girl's book collection have been vetted to ensure they are both high quality and girl empowering, we understand that during the busy holiday season a 'cheat' sheet of the best Mighty Girl books for gifting can make choosing a book for a special child or young person much easier. To that end, in this blog post, we've complied a selection of enduring Mighty Girl favorites, alongside a number of the best 2016 new releases (which are marked by a brand new icon below). From gorgeously-illustrated picture books to thought-provoking teen fiction, these titles will delight, intrigue, educate, and inspire girls and boys alike!

To discover more 2016 releases, stay tuned for our annual 'Year in Review' round-up of the best Mighty Girl books of 2016, which we'll be releasing in early January.

Of course, you can also find many more reading recommendations in our entire collection of nearly 2,500 Mighty Girl books for all ages. And, for anyone looking for reading recommendations for adults, don't miss our new blog post Stories of Mighty Women: 2016 Biographies for Adult Readers. Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of empowering dolls and action figures for all ages!

Dolls and figurines have been favorite pretend play toys for hundreds of years, but there are a lot more choices now than there were in the past! Today, dolls and action figures can represent historical figures; popular book, TV, and movie characters; or people from around the world. With more options available, kids can imagine themselves as just about anything!

If you’ve been looking for a unique doll or exciting action figure for your Mighty Girl, you'll find dozens of our favorites in this blog post. From cuddly plushes for the littlest kids to highly detailed action figures and collectibles for older kids, teens, and even adults, there’s something here for everyone!

For more empowering toys of all varieties, from science to active play, visit our 2016 Girl Empowerment Holiday Gift Guide and our 2016 Holiday Guide blog series. Continue reading → Continue reading

Every day, this mom draws a famous woman from history alongside an inspiring quote for her daughter's lunch - all on a napkin.

Meaghan Elderkin from Glocester, Rhode Island, has always left little notes in her 9-year-old daughter Holden’s lunchbox: “They’ve progressed over the years from hearts and silly drawings to bad jokes and groan-worthy puns,” she says. But this month, Elderkin decided to give her napkin art a girl-empowering twist -- by drawing images of famous women, past and present, and including one of their powerful quotes. After sharing the images on the private Facebook group Pantsuit Nation, she was met with such a tremendous response that she decided to share them publicly. As one group member wrote: “You are a star. Thank you for the reminders of how strong women ARE!”
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Win an autographed copy of the first-ever picture book biography of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- and a copy for the school of your choice.

For A Mighty Girl's latest book giveaway, we're thrilled to present I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark, the first-ever picture book biography of an American icon and champion for justice, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg! Thanks to its publisher, Simon & Schuster, we have three I Dissent packages to give away to A Mighty Girl supporters. Each gift package contains a copy of the picture book autographed by author Debbie Levy, a cloth tote bag featuring an original illustration of Justice Ginsburg on the front and the book's title on the reverse, and a 17" x 22" poster of an illustrated inspirational quote from the book. Additionally, a second copy of I Dissent will be donated to a school designated by the winner so that more children can be inspired by its empowering message.

35 Posters for Children With Uplifting Messages of Support & Solidarity.

Over the past few days, children's book illustrators have been creating images featuring their beloved characters coupled with messages of love and support. Many of these images show their characters with a safety pin (#KidLitSafetyPin), others show the characters hugging (#HugsfromKidLit), but all are symbols to kids feeling vulnerable or being targeted with harassment that they are not alone -- that they are loved and valued. Moreover, these drawings, which the artists hope teachers and librarians will post in schools (you can click on any image below to open a printable version), send an important message to all students that now is the time to come together with friends and classmates to stand against any hateful speech or actions motivated by differences in gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, country of origin, or ability.

Along with sharing these messages of love, hope, and solidarity with children, author Kate Messner also expressed the importance of taking the next step: "If this is something you plan to share with students, please also take time to talk about what it means to have someone's back when it comes to fighting bullying and bigotry. Wearing a safety pin (or putting up a poster) doesn't really help unless it's accompanied by a promise of action. Speaking up and standing beside people who are being targeted requires courage, commitment, and planning. Here's a resource [from the Southern Poverty Law Center] that I think is great for talking with middle grade kids and older."

With young children, picture books offer an excellent way to emphasize the importance of kindness and acceptance of others. And, of course, literature is also a powerful way to explore topics ranging from misogyny to bigotry to xenophobia with older children and teens, as well as a vehicle for encouraging discussion on how we can build a more just and inclusive society now and in the future. In the resource section below, you can find a variety of such reading recommendations for all ages.

We hope you will print the images below, share them, and let all of the kids in your community know: they can find safety, hope, and love in books and with you. Continue reading → Continue reading

Win an autographed copy of the companion to "Rosie Revere, Engineer" For A Mighty Girl's first-ever book giveaway, we're thrilled to announce that we have three autographed copies of the new companion to the much beloved Rosie Revere, Engineer -- Ada Twist, Scientist! In this lighthearted soon-to-be-released picture book, Rosie's... Continue reading

50 Biographies about Inspiring Women for Older Teen & Adult Readers

When we share stories about famous women from history, adults in our community often comment that they’re amazed that they’ve never learned about these world-changing women. And, while people love the biographies we post for children and teens, many adults would also like to learn more about these inspiring women. To that end — just in time for the peak of summer vacation season — we've showcased 50 books for adult and older teen readers about incredible women of the past and present.

The stories of women from all walks of life — scientists and entertainers, writers and rebels, athletes and adventurers — show the remarkable and often unrecognized contributions that women have made to our world. Equally importantly, their determination to pursue their dreams is profoundly inspiring, a reminder that each of us can make our own contributions. Since A Mighty Girl's website does not have a book section for adult readers, you won't find these recommendations on our site; however, we've included links below to Amazon so you can order individual titles or learn more about each book.

And, if you're looking for reading recommendations for the children and teens in your life, we shared many of our favorite new and recent releases as part of our Summer Reading Series -- to learn more, visit our blog posts on picture books, early chapter books, books for tweens, and books for teens or browse our entire collection of over 2,500 girl-empowering titles. Continue reading → Continue reading