A Mighty Girl's 2017 Halloween Gallery is now live! A small sample of the nearly 2,000 photos submitted can be viewed in our Halloween Highlights post.

Thank you to everyone who submitted photos of their Mighty Girls in costume to our 2017 Halloween Gallery! We received nearly 2,000 photo submissions to this year's gallery and were awed by the creativity and variety of these Mighty Girls' amazing costumes. As we've always said, Mighty Girls know that their costume possibilities are limited only by their imaginations and with costumes ranging from ones based on favorite superheroes to ones inspired by historic role models, these Mighty Girls clearly know no bounds!

In this blog post, we've showcased a small sample of these incredible costumes -- to browse all of the amazing costume photos submitted, visit our 2017 Halloween Gallery. And, to help you and your Mighty Girl learn more about the wonderful historic figures and characters depicted, we've also linked to our character collection and biography section where relevant.

And, if you're seeking girl-empowering dress-up clothing or costumes anytime of year, visit our extensive costume collection with options for all ages from infants through adults in A Mighty Girl's Halloween Costume Guide. You can also find Mighty Girl stories for many of the upcoming holidays, including Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas, in our Holidays & Celebrations collection. Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's favorite stories for young children starring black Mighty Girls.

All children love seeing faces like theirs within the pages of their picture books. While for many years it was often challenging to find books starring kids of color, there has been an explosion in the number of diverse books published in recent years. A study by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that 14.2% of children's books starred African American characters in 2022 compared to only 3.3% of children's books in 2012— a percentage now higher than the African American share of the population in the United States at 13.6%. Greater diversity in books not only gives children of color an opportunity to see themselves in stories but also helps broaden the perspective of all children by fostering children's sense of empathy and connection with characters who might look different from themselves. Continue reading → Continue reading

Our favorite books for children and teens starring adventurous, sword-wielding Mighty Girls!

When it’s time for the brave young adventurer to pick up a sword and save the day, who says that adventurer has to be a boy? Sword-wielding Mighty Girls make for thrilling, dramatic fiction! If you have a child or teen who loves action, adventure, derring-do -- and a well-honed blade -- then there’s sure to be a perfect title for them in our new blog post showcasing our favorite books starring girls and women who are at home with a blade in hand. Continue reading → Continue reading

By Aaron Smith and Carolyn Danckaert, A Mighty Girl Co-Founders

If you think Disney has scrapped the Merida Makeover, think again. When 230,000 supporters signed A Mighty Girl’s petition to Keep Merida Brave, Disney came up with a convenient story. Disney Consumer Products, the division of Disney behind the Disney Princess merchandise line, contacted the industry blog Inside the Magic to "to set the record straight" in an effort to "to create some calm in the communities who are up in arms over the matter."

According to Inside the Magic:

“[Disney] had no intention of changing who Merida is. The artwork that has circulated online depicting the new 2D rendering of Merida was intended to be used only on a “limited line of products” as a “one-time stylized version.”

Inside the Magic further noted:

“Disney does admit that there are a few other variations of this rendering out there, supplied to Target for use on a limited line of products.”

But is the Merida makeover really just a “one-time stylized version” to be used only on a “limited line of products” only to appear at “Target for use on a limited line of products”?

Based on the evidence, the answer unfortunately appears to be no. Continue reading → Continue reading

By Carolyn Danckaert and Aaron Smith, A Mighty Girl Co-Founders

Campaign Update: (5/19/13) The Target Disney Princess Collection page featuring the madeover Merida has been removed.

Campaign Update: (5/17/13) A Mighty Girl has launched a special Keep Merida Brave campaign page!

Statement Update: Appended on 5/17/2013 addressing redesign being a part of limited line of products.

Since launching our petition on May 4, A Mighty Girl -- along with more than 200,000 petition signers -- has been calling on Disney to "Say No to the Merida Makeover and Keep Our Hero Brave!" Despite the overwhelming response from both parents and children -- and contrary to reports in various news outlets that Disney has pulled the madeover design -- Disney continues to promote the redesigned, sexier Merida and this version is emblazoned across Target’s Disney Princess Collection website.

In one of their first public statements on the Merida makeover to the Disney industry blog, Inside the Magic, Disney claimed that the madeover Merida is a "one-time stylized version" for the Target Disney Princess line but, as Ricky Brigante writes, "they could not say exactly how she would be depicted alongside the other Disney Princesses." They further asserted, Brigante notes, that Disney "had no intention of changing who Merida is." However, the madeover version of Merida, as seen on the Target website, shows that Disney has already radically changed the beloved character into a pale reflection of her former self. Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's favorite new releases and old time favorites to keep her reading all summer long!

Even if your Mighty Girl is past the stage where reading is a brand-new skill, it's important for her to keep practicing over the summer! Tween readers are ready for increasingly complex books, from unique and original flights of fancy to realistic fiction that addresses some of the more difficult issues around us every day — and the longer length of middle grade books allows kids to become totally absorbed in a really fascinating story.

With that in mind, we've put together a list of forty books suitable for tween readers that will pique their curiosity, get them turning pages for hours, and keep them thinking long after the book is done! These books show middle readers that girls can be the star in a longer story, and explore how the courage, intelligence, and determination of the Mighty Girls in these books help them find their own version of happily every after.

For recommendations books for younger readers, check out the earlier blog posts in our Summer Reading Series: 40 Girl-Empowering Picture Books and 40 Mighty Girl Books for New Readers. Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of books about girls and their love of animals!

For many Mighty Girls, a beloved animal provides a treasured relationship. And whether an animal is large or small, wild or domesticated or maybe even imaginary, sometimes it’s a Mighty Girl who cares for them or even comes to their rescue! If your Mighty Girl is an animal lover, she’ll love these stories about fictional Mighty Girls who take care of the other creatures around them.

Continue reading → Continue reading

Our top picks of Mighty Girl books about mermaids!

For hundreds of years, and in ocean-bordered countries around the world, people have dreamed about mysterious creatures — part human, part fish — that live under the waves: mermaids! Many traditional fairy tales turn mermaids into passive figures, waiting around to be discovered or to fall in love with a human man. But there are much more engaging and empowering mermaid stories to be told, ones that play with the myth to tell stories of secret underwater worlds, exciting adventures, and magical friendships! Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's 2021 Halloween Gallery is now live! A small sample of the many hundreds of photos submitted can be viewed in our Halloween Highlights blog post.

Thank you to everyone who submitted photos of their Mighty Girls in costume to our 2021 Halloween Gallery! We were awed by the creativity and variety of the Mighty Girl costumes submitted to the gallery. As we've always said, Mighty Girls know that their costume possibilities are limited only by their imaginations and with costumes ranging from ones based on favorite superheroes to ones inspired by historic role models, these Mighty Girls clearly know no bounds! Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's 2020 Halloween Gallery is now live! A small sample of the many hundreds of photos submitted can be viewed in our Halloween Highlights blog post.

Thank you to everyone who submitted photos of their Mighty Girls in costume to our 2020 Halloween Gallery! We were awed by the creativity and variety of the Mighty Girl costumes submitted to the gallery. As we've always said, Mighty Girls know that their costume possibilities are limited only by their imaginations and with costumes ranging from ones based on favorite superheroes to ones inspired by historic role models, these Mighty Girls clearly know no bounds! Continue reading → Continue reading