For the first time in its 34-year history, The Magic School Bus is getting a feature film — and Elizabeth Banks will star as the iconic teacher Ms. Frizzle!

For the first time in its 34-year history, The Magic School Bus is getting a feature film — and Elizabeth Banks will star as the beloved Ms. Frizzle! Banks, who is also producing the film with her company Brownstone Productions, is best known for roles in The Hunger Games franchise and in Pitch Perfect. Now, she's excited to be stepping into the famous school bus to teach a new generation of kids about science. "We are delighted to bring to life the iconic Ms. Frizzle and her zest for knowledge and adventure in a fresh new way," says Scholastic Entertainment’s president Iole Lucchese. "[We hope the movie] inspires the next generation of kids to explore science and supports the dedicated teachers who help make science real and accessible for young learners every day." Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of movies to stream for free celebrating mighty women!

Just because we're stuck at home, doesn't mean we can't celebrate women's history! In fact, the extra hours at home offer a perfect chance to check out an inspiring film or two about groundbreaking woman from history. To that end, in our new blog post, we've showcased nine acclaimed movies about mighty women, which are each available to stream for free on Amazon Prime. Continue reading → Continue reading

Our favorite costumes based on popular Mighty Girl characters and photos of Mighty Girls in costume shared by our community!

Halloween is all about imagining yourself as someone else so if there's a character that speaks to you, why not dress up as them? Most kids have a favorite character, and whether that character is from a book, TV show, or a movie, Halloween provides a great opportunity to become the character they love — at least for a day! Continue reading → Continue reading

Six extraordinary women who deserve the "Hidden Figures" film treatment.

A few years ago, the names of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson were little known — but thanks to the blockbuster movie Hidden Figures, millions of people around the world could tell you the story of these groundbreaking African American mathematicians and the way they changed the history of American space travel! But, of course, NASA's "human computers" are just the tip of the iceberg of inspiring women of history... there are thousands of 'hidden' women whose stories would astound and inspire audiences, just like Hidden Figures did. Continue reading → Continue reading

With Captain Marvel, Anna Boden has become the first woman to direct a live-action movie that grossed over $1 billion.

Marvel Studios' Captain Marvel has soared to blockbuster success, becoming the first female-led superhero film to pass $1 billion at the box office! It has also made history as the first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie to feature a female solo lead. While the film's themes of perseverance and discovering your own power have spoken to a wide audience, this lead character is particularly meaningful for girls and women, who rarely see themselves as the heroic lead of a superhero film. Continue reading → Continue reading

"This weird idea that women maybe can’t open movies or are not important to storytelling or the female story is not high art, it’s bogus."

Captain Marvel soared past $1 billion global box office sales this month! As of April 12 — a little over one month after its release — the film had earned $380 million domestically and $664 million internationally. Only 37 other films in history have earned at least $1 billion and Captain Marvel marks the first time that a female superhero has driven this level of ticket sales. The movie's success is one more reminder that, contrary to commonly-held attitudes, female-led films do draw in viewers. "A lot of times in our business there is a lot of bias disguising itself as knowledge," observes Christy Haubegger, an agent with the Creative Artists Agency and part of a research team that conducted a recent study that found female-led films have higher box office returns at every production budget level. "The perception that it’s not good business to have female leads is not true.... They’re a marketing asset." Continue reading → Continue reading

The best girl-empowering books from February 2017 for kids, teens, & adults.

With so many new books constantly being released, it can be challenging to stay up on all of the great new titles for you and your Mighty Girl! After all, we add dozens of new releases to A Mighty Girl's vast collection of girl-empowering books every month. To help make it easier for you to discover new favorites, we've showcased our top new releases from February 2017 in a new blog post. With 20 books for all ages, from young children through adults, there's something for everyone looking for a new book to dive into!
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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

“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.

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By Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Communications Specialist

With all of the amazing girl-empowering books out there it might seem like book lovers are easy to buy gifts for, but what if you want to get them something other than more titles for their library? Fortunately, there’s a whole world of gift options to help your Mighty Girl -- or the adult book lovers in your life -- celebrate their love of books, literature, and reading.

You could find the perfect literary-themed T-shirt or a beautiful book-themed poster. Maybe she’s crazy for a particular book character or she just loves to play with words and stories. This blog will provide you with some inspiration for almost any reader, whether she’s still enjoying story time on Mom or Dad’s knee or she’s sharing her childhood favorites with a new generation of Mighty Girls.

For more books, toys, and other resources to encourage your Mighty Girl's interest in storytelling and creative writing, check out our blog post on Fantastic Adventures and Amazing Tales: Encouraging Creative Writing and Storytelling.

To learn about more of our favorite toys of all varieties for Mighty Girls, check out our Girl Empowerment Toy Blog Series or visit our 2014 Holiday Guide. Continue reading → Continue reading