In honor of Women’s History Month, we’ve been sharing so many ways to help get our kids excited about historic female heroes both past and present.
It made me think to take some time this past weekend to browse through my bookshelf and pull out some inspiring books about historic women for my kids. And that includes my sons too, because it’s so important to me that my boys grow up with the inherent understanding that women are an important part of history and will continue to change the world in so many ways.
From Malala to the Queen of Katwe to the underrated women of science of all kinds, take it from this mom of four and avid reader: these are the stories that have been popular with all the kids in my home.
Let’s hope more of them make it into our next roundup of free Women’s History Month printable coloring pages.
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Despite being a rather hefty collection of 50 female pioneers in the world of STEM, the hip illustrations and fabulously told stories of women’s accomplishments in Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky make this book accessible to any tween.
This advanced children’s book is really about those who were doing STEM before it was STEM, which is so cool.
And if your kids get as obsessed with this collection as ours did, go ahead and pre-order Ignotofsky’s upcoming sequel, Women in Sports: 99 Fearless Athletes Who Played to Win, (at top), which continues with the theme of fearless women.
Related: She Persisted: Chelsea Clinton’s new children’s book that everyone’s talking about.
My kids seem to learn a lot about our Founding Fathers at school — but not so much the Founding Mothers. So I’m loving Women Heroes of the American Revolution by Susan Casey, which shows another side to our country’s fight for independence.
Love that this children’s book about women in history features a group of diverse women with one thing in common: their names and accomplishments never even made it into our history books.
Well, we’ll sure know their names now.
Malala Yousafzai’s story is full of danger, resistance, power and freaking incredible courage, making I Am Malala one of the most essential books for our children about important women in history. Especially because she’s still young and working hard today, making her eminently relatable.
I’m sure that’s why my sons are as inspired by her story as are my daughters (and my husband and I). IMHO, her story should be required reading for every kid.
Related: Cool artwork for girls who admire strong, empowered heroes too
Jacqueline Woodson’s remarkable novel in poetry, Brown Girl Dreaming, has won pretty much every award possible, including our own list of the best children’s books of 2015. And for good reason.
It’s the incredible retelling of the author’s experience growing up black during the Civil Rights era between her two homes in South Carolina and New York City, and a powerful story that any kid of any background or race will be able to learn from.
Related: The best lists of the best children’s books of 2016, all in one place
My kids were all mesmerized by the true story of Phiona Mutesi’s rise from the slums of Kampala, Uganda, to become an international chess master. Now they want to know more about her life, so The Queen of Katwe by Tim Crothers is next on our reading lists.
PS: Have your kids read it before they see the 2016 movie!
There are tons of easy reading biography series for kids out there, but I happen to love The Women Who Broke the Rules series, which focuses on women who (ahem) persisted.
From Judy Blume to Coretta Scott King to Sacajawea, these are children’s biographies about historic American women, written with a healthy dose of attitude, making them fun and memorable.
Related: A cool photo series of kids as women through history
Your kids may not be ready for the original adult version of the book that inspired one of our favorite movies of the year, but the Hidden Figures Young Readers’ Edition by Margot Lee Shetterly is perfect for kids from about third or fourth grade and up.
If they loved the movie, put this children’s book about historic women in their hands right away.
The Rad Women series by Kate Schatz and Miriam Klein Stahl is one of our favorites, thanks to the broad range of wonderful activists and accomplished women brought to life with short, readable bios accompanied by very cool, modern illustrations.
Rad American Women A to Z and Rad Women Worldwide are both so great — don’t choose! Get both for your kids and you’ll find bios on everyone from Venus and Serena Williams to Frida Kahlo to Bessie Coleman. No matter what your kids’ interests are, they’ll find a remarkable woman here to captivate and inspire them.
Finding Wonders by Jeannine Atkins is a based-on-a-true-story novel that, like Brown Girl Dreaming, is told in verse. It’s not nearly as well-known as the other children’s books about historic women that I’ve included here, but it’s also one of my favorites.
The book revolves around three women who made cool scientific discoveries your kids may not know about, including the metamorphosis of insects, the importance of fossils, and the discovery of a new comet. Kids who love science will love it.
And yet, if your kids aren’t entirely interested in science yet, I think that reading about these women in novel form might just be the thing to get them hooked.
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