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 Reading Series kicks off with 40 of our favorite girl-empowering picture books for young children.

With the school year done, plenty of parents are looking for reading material to keep their kids turning pages! Looking for high quality, high interest books during the summer months is a great way to build literacy skills and foster a lifelong love of reading, which makes this a great time to fill kids' shelves with girl-empowering titles starring smart, confident, and courageous girls and women!

To kick off the start of A Mighty Girl's Reading Series, this blog post features 40 favorite picture books that share fun and thoughtful stories about both fictional and real-life Mighty Girls. Our 5-part series will continue with basic chapter books for early readers to more complex titles for tweens and teens to a selection of recommended reads for adults. All of these selections will show readers, both young and old, the power and potential of girls and women — and inspire her on her own journey as a Mighty Girl! Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of books for children and teens about real-life female scientists who changed the world!

"Young girls need to see role models in whatever career they may choose, just so they can picture themselves doing those jobs someday. You can't be what you can't see." — Sally Ride, First American Woman in Space

When someone mentions scientists, chances are good that the face that pops into mind is male: perhaps a picture of Albert Einstein or Neil DeGrasse Tyson, or maybe a more generic man in a lab coat. However, even when women were largely shut out of science, there were still groundbreaking women making discoveries, conducting experiments, and publishing research! And while school curricula and popular culture are slowly expanding to include women beyond a few notable favorites such as Marie Curie and Jane Goodall, many people — young and old alike — still often find themselves struggling to name even a handful of female scientists.

Fortunately, with the increasing availability of great biographies for children and teens, we can show our girls that women in science make contributions every day! And, of course, these titles are just as important to share with boys because all kids need to know that science is for girls! With that in mind, we've showcased our favorite biographies of female scientists for children and teens. From primatology to physics, the expanses of space to the vast floor of the ocean, these women made their mark and changed the way we see the world... just like the budding Mighty Girl scientists of today will one day! Continue reading → Continue reading

A Mighty Girl's top picks of girl-empowering new releases for early spring for children, teens, and adults.

With spring has come a great batch of new Mighty Girl books! From picture books and young adult literature to parenting guides and biographies for adult readers, there have many excellent girl-empowering new releases over the past few weeks. In our new blog post, we've showcased 25 of our favorite newly released Mighty Girl titles. From intriguing biographies — for both kids and adults — to thoughtful realistic fiction to some remarkable flights of fancy, there's something here to please readers of all ages! Continue reading → Continue reading

Our favorite girl-empowering adventure stories to inspire your own Mighty Girl's adventures!

What adventures is your Mighty Girl planning this year? Will she bike to the park by herself, swim for the first time, or learn to ride a horse? Maybe she’s going on a trip with the Girl Scouts, or hiking in the woods near her house to find the perfect place to build her secret hideout. Or maybe her imagination will take her on even bigger adventures — into outer space, magic kingdoms, or realms of fantasy. One thing's for sure: an adventurous child's life will never be boring!

To inspire your Mighty Girl to celebrate her adventurous side,  we’re showcasing our favorite books featuring daring, courageous Mighty Girl characters on adventures of their own. These stories capture all the thrill and excitement of pushing yourself to do something unexpected and new. They might even inspire you to try a new adventure!

Continue reading → Continue reading

A great way to encourage girls' interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields is by sharing stories starring girls and women who love science and technology! Seeing female faces as scientists, whether in the lab or out in the field, is a powerful message to girls that these subjects are open to all. And, while introducing them to real-life women in STEM through biographies is important, fictional stories showing science-loving girls and women are another excellent way to entice girls with the unlimited possibilities before them.

With that in mind, we're showcasing our favorite fictional books for both children and teens starring Mighty Girls who love science, engineering, and math — each in their own thematic section below. With options ranging from the fun and fanciful to the more contemplative, you're sure to discover a title to excite every budding scientist or engineer, girls and boys alike — after all, both need to learn that science is for everyone!

If you're looking for books for children and teens about real-life female scientists, you can find dozens of titles in our Science Biographies section. And, for toys and science kits to further support her interests, check out the recommendations in our blog posts: Wrapped Up In Science: Top 40 Science Toys for Mighty Girls and Building Her Dreams: Building and Engineering Toys for Mighty Girls. Continue reading → Continue reading

By Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Communications Specialist

2015 has been a fantastic year for new Mighty Girl books! We're thrilled to see so many authors, illustrators, and publishers producing books that celebrating brave, intelligent, creative, and confident girls! In fact, our 2015 Year In Review collection features nearly 200 titles!

In this blog post, we're showcasing many of our favorite 2015 girl-empowering releases for toddlers, preschoolers, and early elementary-aged children, including board books, picture books, and early chapter books. With a wide assortment of books featuring diverse characters, engaging stories, and creative artwork, there's sure to be a title to delight every child!

And if you're looking for a tween or teen, stay tuned, check out our blog post,
Top 2015 Mighty Girl Books for Tweens and Teens, for our favorite new releases for older readers. You can also browse our entire 2015 Year In Review collection for options for all ages. Continue reading → Continue reading

By Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Communication Specialist

If realism-based graphic novels amplify and deepen a story grounded in the real world, guess what an author and illustrator can do with a tale of pure fantasy! For young readers, it can be revolutionary to see new worlds, born entirely of someone's imagination, come to life on the page. A good combination of story and artwork can make almost anything seem real and who doesn't love the feeling of being absorbed in a good book?

With that in mind, the second blog post in our graphic novel series features books for children that are set in worlds of fantasy. Whether these stories make just a small tweak to an otherwise realistic setting — like adding friendly robots, escaped doodles, or alligators that really do live in the sewers — or create a completely new world to explore, these books will open kids' minds to the incredible possibilities inherent in storytelling. They might just be inspiring to come up with an amazing new world themselves!

For recommendations of graphic novels that are grounded in real life, check out the first post in our blog series, Life in Pictures: Mighty Girl Graphic Novels for Young Readers about Real Life. You also can browse our entire collection of over 100 graphic novels starring girls and women on a wide variety of themes in our special feature on the Top Graphic Novels Starring Mighty Girls. Continue reading → Continue reading

By Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Communications Specialist

While many people think of graphic novels as "just comic books", the truth is that a good graphic novel doesn't simplify a story: instead, it amplifies it, drawing out details and adding emotional weight. For young or reluctant readers, in particular, a graphic novel format makes it easier to understand more complex stories. In fact, we'd argue that high-quality graphic novels are a key part of any library!

With that in mind, we're showcasing a selection of high quality graphic novels starring Mighty Girls — and since there are so many good titles out there, we are sharing them in a series, not a single post! In this blog post, we're featuring graphic novels for children that are grounded in real life. While some of these titles are non-fiction and explore moments in history or role models of the past, others are fictional stories that capture what it's like to be a girl growing up in today's world. No matter which one you choose, young readers will see that there are plenty of amazing stories within the everyday world.

And stay tuned for future blog posts, where we'll share graphic novels for young readers that are set in fantasy worlds, as well as more challenging graphic novel titles suitable for teens! In the meantime, you can browse our entire collection of over 100 graphic novels starring girls and women in our special feature on the Top Graphic Novels Starring Mighty Girls. Continue reading → Continue reading