By Lili Sandler, A Mighty Girl Senior Research Intern

Happy Earth Day! Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd in almost 200 countries all over the world as a day to support and protect the Earth. Many communities have volunteer opportunities during the entire week -- often referred to as Earth Week -- so that individuals can take part in environmental activities to help care for the Earth.

At A Mighty Girl, our Earth Week focus is on the Mighty Girls and women of the environmental movement. How have girls and women contributed to our global understanding of ecology, recycling, alternative energies, and many other environmental issues? More ways than you can count!

Below you’ll find many of our favorite books and films about real-life environmentalists to share with the eco-kids in your life! And, if you missed the first two blogs in our Earth Day series, you can learn more great fictional stories about the environment starring Mighty Girl in our post on Ten Mighty Girl Books to Inspire Young Environmentalists and about toys to teach children about the environment in our post on post on Eco-Toys, Games, and Gear for Green Girls. Continue reading → Continue reading

By Lili Sandler, A Mighty Girl Senior Research Intern

As we prepare for Earth Day, we’re excited to share a selection of ecologically-focused toys, kits, and gear for the young environmentalist in your life. Whether she’s interested in science, prefers artistic pursuits, enjoys a game or puzzle, or shows her Earth pride by choosing reusable products, we at A Mighty Girl are thrilled to support every girls’ dedication to protecting the Earth. And, for those children who aren't yet sure what it means to 'go green,' there are plenty of toys and games to help them learn about protecting the environment -- all while having fun!

For the first part of our Earth Day series on environmental-themed stories, visit our post on Ten Mighty Girl Books to Inspire Young Environmentalists.

SCIENCE, GONE GREEN!

If you haven’t yet heard of Snap Circuits, you’re in for a treat. Consistently very highly-rated by parents and teachers alike, Snap Circuits are like Legos in that they’re plastic shapes that snap together, but unlike Legos, the goal is to create an electrical circuit or device. With the Snap Circuits Alternative Energy Kit, young electrical engineers can experiment with creating 125 project focused on learning about electricity and alternative energy. Highly recommended for ages 8 and up, Snap Circuits are sure to be a hit!

With the Power House: Green Essentials Edition, young environmentalists can learn all about alternative energy, sustainable living, and replenishing resources by building energy-related models and conducting experiments. Projects include, but are not limited to: a greenhouse, a wind turbine, a hydrometer, a lemon battery, and the power house itself. Recommended for ages 10 and up, this kit also includes a diary with entries from a young group of explorers on an island who are learning to live a sustainable existence. Continue reading → Continue reading

Today in Mighty Girl history, Anne Sullivan, famously known as the teacher and companion of Helen Keller for 49 years, was born today in 1866. The child of poor Irish immigrants, Sullivan herself went blind as a child due to untreated trachoma and was sent to the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston. Though her vision was partially restored after surgery, she remained visually impaired throughout her life.

After Sullivan graduated as class valedictorian, the school director recommended the 20-year-old for a position teaching 6-year-old Helen Keller in the small town of Tuscumbia, Alabama. Keller, who had been left blind and deaf due to disease as a toddler, had very limited means of communication but her young teacher soon helped her break out of, as Keller later described, the "silence and darkness that surrounded me." Continue reading → Continue reading

Today in Mighty Girl history, champion of the New Deal and labor rights pioneer, Frances Perkins was born in 1880. Perkins was the first woman U.S. Cabinet member and served as U.S. Secretary of Labor throughout President Franklin D. Roosevelt's long presidency.

As one of the most trailblazing women in the history of the U.S. government, Perkins is largely responsible for many of the New Deal reforms including the creation of child labor laws, social security, unemployment insurance, and the federal minimum wage.

After attending Mount Holyoke College and Columbia University, Perkins became head of the New York Consumers League in 1910 and sought better working conditions and hours during a time when labor rights and factory safety standards were nearly nonexistent. The following year, she personally witnessed the horrific Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in which 146 garment workers, most of them young girls and women, perished; many of whom jumped to their deaths out of windows because the doors and stairwells of the factory were locked. Continue reading → Continue reading

by Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Senior Research Intern

Today we continue our Mighty Girl Creators Series with our latest installment: an interview with esteemed author and illustrator Jeanette Winter. Ms. Winter is the creator of numerous highly regarded picture books, many of which feature the true stories of amazing women.

Ms. Winter loves writing about artists, since her own desire to be one growing up has resulted in a fascination with the artistic process, though she also writes about any story that captures her interest. Her latest book, due for release in the summer of 2013, is Henri’s Scissors, the story of Henri Matisse’s work in his later life.

On A Mighty Girl’s website, we feature several of Winter’s books, including the picture book biographies My Name Is Georgia, about artist Georgia O’Keeffe; The Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life with the Chimps; and Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa about Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai. Her book The Librarian of Basra: A True Story From Iraq tells the amazing story of Alia Muhammad Baker’s rescue of the books during the invasion of Iraq. And Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan is a testament to the power that reading and books can have to heal even the deepest wounds.

Winter lives in New York City with her husband, painter Roger Winter. You can read more about Winter’s life and writing at her Macmillan author page or her Simon and Schuster author page. Continue reading → Continue reading

By Jennifer de Beer, A Mighty Girl Senior Research Intern

We are pleased to continue our new blog series, A Mighty Girl Creators, with our latest installment: a conversation with author Doreen Rappaport. An award-winning creator of nearly forty books for children and young adults, Ms. Rappaport often shares the true stories of remarkable individuals from over the course of history. In particular, she likes to feature those figures whom she calls “not-yet-celebrated.” She is an especially appropriate subject for Women’s History Month, as her writing so often celebrates the lives and contributions of women while making their stories accessible to young readers.

On A Mighty Girl’s website, you will find multiple books from Ms. Rappaport’s pen, and the selections cover a wide range of non-fiction territory. There are picture books presenting engaging biographies of Eleanor Roosevelt and Helen Keller, and a gripping tale of female baseball legends. Older children will be invited to read stories of danger and bravery in Escape from Slavery: Five Journeys to Freedom, a collection of five true tales, four of which focus on girls or women. A young adult audience will discover fascinating historic content within the covers of The Flight of Red Bird: The Life of Zitkala-Ša and American Women: Their Lives in Their Words, two publications that heavily feature primary source material. Continue reading → Continue reading

By Lili Sandler, A Mighty Girl Senior Research Intern

Here in the northern hemisphere, tomorrow is the first day of spring! There is something very special about the days getting longer, the birds chirping from the trees, and those first daffodil buds peeking through the cold soil. It’s a reminder that the cold is coming to an end and that days of sunshine and warmth are just around the corner.

Whether you’re celebrating spring’s arrival by going for a walk in the rain, planting seeds for a flower or vegetable garden, or peeking in birds’ nests in search of hatchlings, one thing is certain: there are many wonderful books to share with the young people in your life that celebrate spring and all that comes with it.

EXPLORING YOUR WORLD IN SPRING

The youngest outdoor explorers are sure to love Gerda Muller’s Spring, recommended for ages 2 - 4. In board book format, this book is without text, but the detailed and beautiful illustrations provide endless opportunities for little ones to make up their own stories, or to simply identify all of the wonderful signs of spring shown throughout this book.

In The Listening Walk author Paul Showers and illustrator Aliki reveal all the wonderful things you can hear in the outdoors. From the “zoooom” of a lawnmower, to the “twick twick” of a dog’s nails or the “dop dup, dop dup” of her father’s shoes on the sidewalk, each sound in this story is observed with a relaxed quiet by a happy little girl. Best for ages 3 - 7, this book is sure to inspire other Mighty Girls to take “listening walks” of their own.

Sometimes, spring can be wet. Really, really wet. But this is not always a bad thing! In Who Likes Rain?, by Wong Herbert Lee, a little girl suits up in her rain gear and heads out into the wet spring world in search of the answer to her question: Who likes rain? With lyrical text and delightful illustrations, we join the young heroine as she splashes in puddles and discovers how different plants and animals react to a spring rain. Recommended for ages 2 - 5, you’ll almost feel the rain falling as you read this lovely book. Continue reading → Continue reading

If you like to include a small special present or two in your Mighty Girl's Easter basket, we've created our Empowering Easter Gifts collection to make it easy for you to find fun and original gifts perfect for the children in your life.

You can choose from an array of girl-empowering science toys, finger puppets, card games, sticker books, action figures, sports equipment, Lego minifigures, musical instruments and much more -- and the vast majority of the toys in this collection are small enough to fit into an Easter basket. We've also sought out toys that were very affordable. Nearly everything in the collection is under $25 and over half of the toys are under $10.

If you’re looking for something for the littlest Mighty Girls, consider the baby-friendly Freddie the Firefly Take-Along Toy, the popular PBA-free Sophie Giraffe Teething Toy, or the Wonder Woman Invisible Jet. Continue reading → Continue reading

Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese opposition politican. Photo credit: Htoo Tay Zar

Happy International Women’s Day! Today countries around the world celebrate the contributions of women past and present. A Mighty Girl has chosen to mark the day with this blog post featuring eight amazing women from around the world. Some of them will be familiar, but some of them will be new to you; all of them have left their mark on the world.

We have included reading recommendations for children and youth about each of the featured women. To view our complete selection of over 350 inspiring biographies of remarkable girls and women, visit our biographies collection.

Alia Muhammad Baker (b. 1953)

Baker was the chief librarian of Al Basrah Central Library in 2003 when the war in Iraq began. When she was denied permission to move the books, even after government offices moved into the library, she started smuggling books home; and when the officials fled the British advance and looters started to enter the library, she convinced the owner of the restaurant next door to allow her -- and eventually neighbors who joined her mission -- to store books safely in the dining room. Thanks to her efforts, 30,000 books were saved and became the core of a rebuilt library in 2004.

You can read more about Baker in The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq (ages 5 to 9) or in Alia’s Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq (ages 8 to 12). Continue reading → Continue reading

Today in Mighty Girl history, we mark the birthday of American athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Considered by many to be the best all-around female athlete in the world and voted by Sports Illustrated for Women as the Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th century, Ms. Joyner-Kersee’s story is one of determination and drive in pursuit of excellence.

Born Jacqueline Joyner in 1962 in East St. Louis, Illinois, to a family of limited means and resources, her path to fame and success was not always a given. However, named after then-First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Joyner family lore says that a grandmother predicted, “Some day this girl will be the first lady of something.”

Forbidden to date until the age of 18, Jackie and her brother, Al (a star athlete in his own right), focused their time and energy on sports at the local community center, and then high school. In addition to academics, she excelled at track, basketball, and volleyball, and ended up receiving a full basketball scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles. Before long, however, with strong encouragement from assistant coach (and future spouse) Bob Kersee, she switched her athletic focus to training for the Olympics, and specifically for the heptathlon. Continue reading → Continue reading