It’s important to me that my kids see examples of people who are strong and brave, especially people who aren’t traditionally represented as such. That’s the focus of this week’s stack- girls who are inspiring. There are so many titles that belong in this post that I’m planning to do multiple rounds of inspirational female stories. This stack is our current list of inspirational girl faves.
She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger shares the stories of women through history who have had a significant impact. Some of the stories my kids have enjoyed the most have been Harriet Tubman, Virginia Apgar, Nelly Blythe, and Ruby Bridges. We love that the messages center around how these women persisted through challenges.
Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by David Roberts is one of our faves from the Questioneers collection. In this one, when Ada finally begins to speak, she asks all kinds of curious questions, sometimes to the annoyance of her family. She illustrates the power of questioning to solve problems, which was fun for my kids who have a lot of questions to ask.
Don’t Touch my Hair by Sharee Miller is both a lesson on respecting personal space and using your voice to advocate for yourself. In this one, Aria has beautiful hair that many people want to touch it. They do so without asking. Aria feels like she has to hide to escape the unwanted touching, but then she feels lonely. At her peak frustration, Aria gets so frustrated that she yells to leave her hair alone! She explains that people need to ask before touching others. Her friends and neighbors are more respectful after that. We love this one because Aria works through her frustration and uses her words to ask for what she needs.
We love love love the Grace books by Mary Hoffman and Caroline Binch. Amazing Grace was our first introduction to the books. Grace is described as an imaginative kid who loves to act out the stories she hears. Her teacher tells the class that they will put on the play Peter Pan, and Grace is eager to take the lead. Her classmates tell her she can’t be Peter because she’s a girl and because she’s black. She shares her confusion and sadness with her mother and grandmother, who tell her that she can be anything she wants to be if she works hard. She earns the role and does an amazing job. We love this one because it helped my kids hear that just because something has been done one way doesn’t mean it has to be that way always. I personally appreciated the reinforcement that working hard pays off and that race and gender should not limit a person’s opportunities.
The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad and illustrated by Hatem Aly with S.K. Ali contributing, is the subtly powerful story of Faizah and her older sister, Asiya, on Asiya’s first day of hijab. Asiya chooses a beautiful blue hijab, and Faizah is enthralled with how beautiful her sister is in hijab. When they get to school, some of Asiya’s classmates make rude comments to her, and while Faizah, Asiya, and their friends are angered, they find strength within and in each other. The day ends with Faizah and Asiya walking home together to tell their mother about their day. This one is a fav of our family because we value the difference in others, and this book helped to see that our words matter and our differences are beautiful and important.
Violet the Pilot by Steve Breen is about a girl who is a mechanical genius- fixing appliances for her family at the age of two- and loves to build flying machines. She is teased at school because her interests are different, but sticks to herself. She decides to enter a flying contest, and on her way to the contest, she flies past a group of boy scouts in danger. She saves them, sacrificing her opportunity at the winning the flight competition. She goes home feeling dejected, only to be recognized later by a crowd of people, including the mayor, for her heroic act. This one won our hearts because Violet is brave and works hard, two of our family mottos!