As a little girl who loved history and learning about the past, I was constantly fascinated by famous figures and all the things and places they discovered. I loved to read Horrible Histories and find out about Julius Caesar, Henry VIII, and Canute the Great, or dive into stories about great inventors and scientists. Yet what I didn’t realize at the time is that I was mostly reading about men.
Throughout my childhood, I followed the stories of these great men avidly, but never stopped to question where all the women were. As an adult, I realize how limiting this was and wished there had been books around when I was a child shining a list on trailblazing women. Thankfully, these books now exist! So, on World Book Day, I’m doing a roundup of my top 3 favourite children’s books all about the inspiring women:
Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo. This number 1 best-seller is one of my favourite books that is on my bookshelf. It is beautifully illustrated by female artists and is the perfect book to flick through for short bite-size stories that will empower and inspire you. This is just one of the many empowering books in the Rebel Girls series.
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison. If women are forgotten by history then this is even more so for women of colour. I love that this brilliant book spotlights forty trailblazing black women from the past and the present, meaning girls can have some current badass role-models, as well as learning about black women’s important contributions throughout history. Little Leaders also has lots of other inspiring books in this series.
Little People, Big Dreams: Rosa Parks by Lisbeth Kaiser. There are so many incredible books in this series of children’s books but the Rosa Parks one is my favourite. These beautiful books are suitable for young children and are a wonderful way to tell the story of inspiring figures, like Rosa Parks, in a way that is easily accessible for children. Plus they have beautiful illustrations, extra facts & timelines to go with the story!
Hopefully the next time you are in a bookstore and you see one of these brilliant books, you will pick it up and think about how you might use it to inspire children in your life to dream big and never let their gender hold them back.
-Tia Shah
Contributing Writer
Girl Museum Inc