By Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Communications Specialist

The love between fathers and daughters can be the inspiration for some incredible music. As part of our celebration of the wonderful Dads out there raising Mighty Girls, we wanted to share our top five father-daughter songs. Whether the song is in the father’s voice, wondering at this amazing girl in his life, or in the daughter’s voice, reflecting on the strength her father gives her, these songs are sure to be a hit this Father’s Day!

We will describe each song here, but for more details, including information for parents  about content in the lyrics or video, and to preview songs via embedded YouTube videos, please click on the links to view the full entries. Most of these songs, like the majority of the titles featured in A Mighty Girl’s music section, are available through Amazon.com’s MP3 download service, via the links on each song's page. By using the links on A Mighty Girl, you also help to support the site at no added cost to you, and can have your Father’s Day playlist set up in no time!

For Mighty Girl books that celebrate the father-daughter relationship, please also check out our first Father’s Day blog, A Father’s Love: A Mighty Girl Celebrates Father’s Day. Continue reading → Continue reading

By Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Communications Specialist

Do you remember having your period for the first time? Were you relieved, scared, confused? Did you know what was happening, or were you told after the fact? Did you think you could bleed to death or make people sick, or believe that you couldn’t swim or go to gym class? Did you hear someone make joking references to women being “on the rag” and think, “I’ll die of embarrassment if anyone knows?” Did you feel like you were prepared?

In a world that is increasingly public about all sorts of previously private topics, menstruation is still a taboo subject. What information girls do hear around them is often negative or incorrect, and even school health classes that discuss the subject often focus on the “nuts and bolts” without ever touching on the real, practical experience of a monthly cycle. As a result menarche — a girl’s first period — is still likely to be disconcerting for her.

But parents, mentors, and friends of Mighty Girls can turn this milestone of womanhood into a much more positive experience. By providing lots of accurate information, real-life experience, and practical advice, girls can learn to view their menstrual cycle in a totally different way: as an important element of their female nature and as a key sign of coming adulthood. In this blog, we’ll help you turn a girl’s first period into an empowering experience. Continue reading → Continue reading

By Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Communications Specialist

It’s played by 250 million people in over 200 countries, and in many nations, it’s the most prominent women’s team sport. Women’s soccer games have been recorded since the late 19th century, and today, 177 nations have national women’s soccer teams. Best of all, the future looks bright for women’s soccer: girls’ soccer leagues continue to thrive, with gender representation among youth soccer players almost exactly 50-50. With such an incredible love of the Beautiful Game out there, it’s no wonder that many Mighty Girls have been eagerly awaiting the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup!

To celebrate this event — and the love of girls and women everywhere for the sport — we’ve collected some of our favorite books, toys, posters, and clothes celebrating the great game of soccer. We hope that these resources will have your Mighty Girl dreaming of her favorite game long after the World Cup is won.

In addition to our recommendations below, there's also a guidebook to everything going on during the 2015 Women's World Cup, FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015: The Official Book. Continue reading → Continue reading

By Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Communications Specialist

Moms can be an incredible source of inspiration, but that doesn’t mean they can’t use a little inspiration themselves! Stories of the incredible women of past and present aren’t just great to share with Mighty Girls: they’re also a great gift when you want to honor the place a woman has filled in your life.

If you’re looking for a good book as a gift for Mother’s Day, we feature a variety of intriguing biographies in our new blog post, including many new releases. These bios tell the stories of a a diverse range of women, from King Peggy, an American secretary who changed the future of an African village, to Nancy Wake, the SOE operative who was the Gestapo’s most wanted person in World War II, to 80-year-old world champion triathlete Sister Madonna Bruder, also known as the Iron Nun. The common thread that connects them all, though, is daring and determination. These are definitely Mighty women!

For even more adult biographies which would make excellent gift options, check out the recommendations in our previous blog post Stories of Mighty Women: New Biographies for Adult Readers.
Continue reading → Continue reading

By Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Communications Specialist

Happy Earth Day! Around the world today, people are taking action to help protect our environment. By demonstrating responsible, green practices today, we hope to inspire people to make environmentally friendly choices throughout the year.

In honor of this day dedicated to awareness and action, A Mighty Girl is sharing the stories of ten female environmental heroes. These girls and women — scientists, activists, and innovators — have each done something that makes us see protecting the Earth a little differently. These heroes are from both past and present; some of them have acted locally, while others are influential around the world; but each of them has discovered a way that we can become better caretakers of our planet. By celebrating them, A Mighty Girl hopes that other Mighty Girls will consider ways that they can make a difference too.

For resources about the environment to share with your children, check out our earlier blogs Mighty Girls Save the World: Environmental Films Starring Girls and Women and Mighty Girls Go Green: 15 Books for Earth Day.

Jane Goodall: Groundbreaking Primatologist and Conservationist

Jane Goodall with orphan chimpanzee Urahara (Photo: Michael Neugebauer)

Jane Goodall was remarkable enough for breaking into the male-dominated world of wildlife biology, and for her astonishing discoveries regarding chimpanzee behavior. However, her work to draw global attention to the protection of chimpanzee habitat, and to conservation in general, is just as remarkable! Today, just after her 81st birthday, Goodall still devotes the vast majority of her time to conservation efforts, traveling as many as 300 days a year to speak about environmental issues.

The Jane Goodall Institute, which she founded in 1977, works to help individuals around the world make informed, environmentally responsible decisions as they engage in growth and development; the Institute’s Roots and Shoots youth program, founded in 1991, began with a group of 16 teenagers and now has 10,000 groups in over 100 countries. There is no doubt that Goodall has fulfilled her self-proclaimed mission “to create a world where we can live in harmony with nature.”

If you'd like to introduce your children to Jane Goodall's incredible story, here are a few of our favorite books about this inspiring role model: The Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps (age 4 to 8), Me... Jane (age 3 to 8), Who is Jane Goodall (age 8 to 12), an autobiography by Goodall entitled My Life with the Chimpanzees (age 8 to 12), and a graphic novel Primates (age 12 and up).

For more books, a documentary, and other resources, visit our Jane Goodall Collection. Continue reading → Continue reading

By Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Communications Specialist

“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 (which we recommend for ages 11 and up) 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.

When the facts and figures of Holocaust history — the vast numbers of displaced or dead — are inconceivable, the life of this one girl, hiding with her family in a desperate effort to save themselves, is strikingly real.

And yet the inspiring thing about Anne Frank’s life and writing is that she was never beaten down by the hatred directed at her. Instead, she continued to see the best of humanity. As she wrote, “It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.” Her astounding optimism and resiliency have inspired girls — and the world — for generations, ever since the loose pages of her diary left Otto Frank’s hands to be published in 1947.

To honor this amazing spirit, A Mighty Girl has put together this collection of our favorite resources for young people about Anne Frank. This selection features books, movies, and even a poster that make tribute to the girl whose optimism and hope lasted through it all.

Of course, in addition to reading about Anne Frank, it is important that your child has an understanding of the Holocaust as a whole. You can find reading recommendations for children and teens about other aspects of Holocaust history in our first Holocaust Remembrance Week blog post, Yom HaShoah: A Mighty Girl Recognizes Holocaust Remembrance Week, and in our World War II / Holocaust section.

Continue reading → Continue reading

British suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst being arrested by police outside Buckingham Palace in 1914

By Jennifer de Beer, A Mighty Girl Senior Research Intern

Do you know the name of the Polish social worker who rescued 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII? How about the name of America’s first female self-made millionaire? Can you name a British suffrage movement leader who Time Magazine declared to be one of the most important people of the 20th century? Or the name of a real-life woman pirate?

While we always delight in hearing about the achievements of women in history, there are some names that get much more attention than others. Children and adults of today are likely to be very familiar with the experiences of Rosa Parks, Amelia Earhart, and Helen Keller -- and rightly so. However, there are many other talented, courageous, and remarkable women who also deserve to have their stories told, but whose names are far less familiar.

We have gathered together a list of ten of these women, whom you may not recognize, but whose journeys are more than worthy of your attention. Sometimes these women have been relegated to the footnotes of history books, their experiences almost entirely glossed over. Yet, each woman made significant contributions or noteworthy strides in her lifetime.

In addition to the descriptions listed below, you will find their stories within our collection of over 400 biographies of remarkable girls and women. We also share many stories of Mighty Girl heroes of yesteryear and today on our Facebook page.

Continue reading → Continue reading

By Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Communications Specialist

Few things are as fascinating to a child as realizing that the amazing “character” and “story” she just read are true — that these things really happened, and that the person who did them was real. Not only is it a great way for kids to learn about historical figures, both famous and obscure, but it’s tremendously inspiring to know that they, too, could grow up to change the world.

So what better way to celebrate Women’s History Month with your child than with some great picture book biographies? We’ve put together a list of great picture books about figures in women’s history, which we selected based on the high quality of their writing and illustrations. We’ve also included quite a few new releases: books that you may not have discovered yet, but are sure to become a cherished part of your picture book library.

Of course, great biographies are available for readers of all ages! You can always go to our biography section and then use the menu on the left to sort by age to find the perfect biography for your Mighty Girl.

Just Being Audrey, by Margaret Cardillo, illustrated by Julia Denos: She was a child in Nazi-occupied Europe, then a movie star and a fashion icon. But most importantly, she had a spirit of kindness and compassion that shone through everything she did. This biography of Audrey Hepburn explores how a little girl growing up through a war would become a beloved celebrity and humanitarian. Continue reading → Continue reading

By Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Communications Specialist

February is National Eating Disorder Awareness Month, which makes it the perfect time to begin a conversation with your Mighty Girl about body image, self-esteem, and unhealthy eating patterns. The most well-known of these disorders are anorexia (the severe restriction of calorie intake) and bulimia (binge eating and purging), but there are many other ways in which people can develop an unhealthy relationship with food and a distorted image of their body — and, at least at present, girls, especially teenaged girls, are the most prone to these disorders.

If you've been looking to have this conversation with your tween or teen, this post will provide a variety of resources you can use to discuss eating disorders with your Mighty Girl and the real effects these unhealthy behaviors can have on the body.

Please note that the fictional books and autobiographies featured below are not intended to be self-help books for youth with disordered eating problems. Such works are intended to provide fodder for discussion and exploration of this issue. They are best read under the guidance of a parent or teacher and are not recommended for those currently experiencing or predisposed to an eating disorder. You can read more about the merits and potential problems with books about eating disorders in a NY Times article on The Troubling Allure of Eating-Disorder Books.

Continue reading → Continue reading

By Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Communications Specialist, and Carolyn Danckaert, A Mighty Girl Co-Founder

Earlier this month, we shared our top picks of 2014 Mighty Girl stories for toddlers and young children in our post, 2014 Mighty Girl Books for Younger Readers. Now, it’s time for the tweens and teens! This year’s releases range from fascinating stories of real-life women from history to thought-provoking realistic fiction to imaginative, daring fantasy and science fiction. No matter what your Mighty Girl enjoys reading, there’s a title here that will grab her attention!

For our favorite picture books and early chapter books from 2014, visit our post on the Top 2014 Mighty Girl Books for Younger Readers. You can view our entire collection of recent Mighty Girl releases in our special feature 2014 Mighty Girl Books: A Year in Review.

As with all of the books and other resources featured in our blog posts, you can click on any book link below to learn more about an individual title, read reviews, order a copy, or save a book to your wishlist to refer back to later.

2014 Mighty Girl Fiction for Tweens and Teens

The Return of Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke (age 7 - 12): Zita the Spacegirl is back in the exciting conclusion to this graphic novel trilogy. Wrongfully jailed on a prison planet, Zita discovers that the evil prison warden has a villainous plan! If she’s going to rescue the galaxy, though, she’ll have to plan a daring jailbreak — with friends old and new — first.

The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm (age 8 - 12): Ellie is shocked when she learns that her immortality-obsessed grandpa Melvin has reverse-aged himself to 13 and will be joining her at middle school! Ellie rather enjoys connecting with her grandfather about science and discovery, until she realizes that many of the greatest scientific advances had unforeseen negative consequences.

A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd (age 8 - 12): 12-year-old Felicity sees words everywhere, but Midnight Gulch is the only place she’s ever seen words like “friend” and “home”. But if she wants to convince her wandering mother to stay there, she’ll have to bring the magic back to Midnight Gulch and figure out how to help heal her mother’s broken heart. Continue reading → Continue reading