It’s never too early to teach children about the changes brave women have brought to the world. Here are 33 titles to explore with your future leaders, whether they are currently learning to crawl or preparing college applications.
Women’s History Month Books for Age 4 and Younger
3 2 1 Awesome!: 20 Fearless Women Who Dared to Be Different
By Eva Chen
This colorfully illustrated counting book features role models from the past (Susan B. Anthony, Shirley Chisholm) to the present (Megan Rapinoe, Greta Thunberg), culminating in a last-page reveal of the reader as the next to make history.
Baby Feminists
By Libby Babbott-Klein
With sweet and humorous illustrations, this lift-the-flap book reveals that before making history, each of these feminist icons started out life as a baby.
Little Feminist Board Book Set
By Emily Kleinman
The tiny volumes in this set (artists, activists, leaders, and pioneers) each profile—in one sentence and a colorful portrait—four historic women and their achievements. Frida Khalo, Indira Gandhi, Harriet Tubman, and Amelia Earheart are among those featured.
Dream Big, Little One
By Vashti Harrison
This illustrated board book version of Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History proudly profiles 18 women who took a stand and paved the way for those who followed.
This Little Trailblazer: A Girl Power Primer
By Joan Holub
This brightly-colored board book highlights the stories of 10 trailblazing women, “Paving the way / to a future that’s bright. / Helping the world / with their skills, smarts, and might.”
Every-Day Dress Up
By Selina Alko
Rather than reaching for the usual princess garb, the protagonist of this story plays dress-up as different history-makers such as Sonia Sotomayor, Frida Khalo and Marie Curie.
Women’s History Month Books for Ages 5-8
Rad American Women A-Z: Rebels, Trailblazers, and Visionaries who Shaped Our History…and Our Future!
By Kate Schatz
A is for Angela Davis. B is for Billie Jean King. Share this revolutionary alphabet book with your kids and learn about 26 incredible women who have shaped American history. The book features women from a variety of fields, such as sports, activism, the arts, and sciences, as well as varied racial and ethnic backgrounds.
That's Not Fair! / ¡No Es Justo!: Emma Tenayuca's Struggle for Justice/La lucha de Emma Tenayuca por la justicia (Spanish and English Edition)
By Carmen Tafolla
This bilingual picture book tells the story of young Mexican American activist Emma Tenayuca as she fights for the rights of factory workers in 1920s San Antonio.
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race
By Margot Lee Shetterly
Based on the book and film of the same name, Hidden Figures tells the extraordinary tale of the brilliant Black women whose computations were critical in some of NASA’s greatest achievements, like sending humans into space for the first time. Known as “computers” before the word acquired a different meaning, these brave women fought segregation and sexism to accomplish extraordinary mathematical feats.
Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist
By Jess Keating
The story begins with Eugenie Clark’s childhood fascination with sharks, which leads her to a distinguished scientific career. Clark proved to the world that sharks are much more than negative stereotypes, and that curious little girls can grow up to be successful scientists. Jess Keating, the book’s author, is also an acclaimed zoologist.
Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors?
By Tanya Lee Stone
This illustrated picture book recounts the story of Elizabeth Blackwell, who became the first female doctor in the 19th century, crushing stereotypes at every step of her trailblazing path.
Mae Among the Stars
By Roda Ahmed
The story of Mae Jemison, the first Black woman to travel into space, begins with a little girl who dreamed of seeing the Earth from all the way up above.
Are You an Echo?
By Misuzu Kaneko
This book uses a combination of biography, illustration, and poetry to retell the story of the brief life of children’s poet Misuzu Kaneko in early 19th-century Japan. Her poems are reproduced in English and the original Japanese to delight a new generation of poetry fans.
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Buffalo Bird Girl: A Hidatsa Story
By S.D. Nelson
Award-winning author S.D. Nelson, a member of the Standing Rock-Sioux tribe, tells the story of this young native woman in the 19th century. Drawing from her personal accounts, Nelson recounts in the first-person her story of growing up in the Great Plains and the consequences of settlers’ arrival, including the smallpox epidemic that took her parents. Comprehensive notes make this picture book appropriate even for kids who have moved on to chapter books.
Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World
By Susan Hood
This book uses poetry and art to sing the praises of young women, like Ruby Bridges and Malala Yousofzai, whose brave actions have made historic impact.
Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx / Sonia Sotomayor: la juez que creció en el Bronx
By Jonah Winter
The story of the nation’s first Latinx Supreme Court Justice begins humbly, in poverty in the Bronx. But with determination, young Sonia blossoms like a flower and comes to make history. This bilingual book emphasizes Sotomayor’s perseverance in the face of challenges, and includes a long author’s note with more information about the Judge’s life.
Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker
By Patricia Hruby Powell
In shimmering verse and vibrant illustrations that will make you want to dance and sing, this award-winning book tells the life story of the iconic performer and civil rights activist.
Women’s History Month Books for Ages 9-12
Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World
By Rachel Ignotofsky
With engaging color illustrations, this volume contains the biographies of women from ancient Egypt to the late 20th century who made lasting contributions to the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Well-known figures like Marie Curie and Jane Goodall stand beside lesser-known trailblazers whose brilliance has shaped their fields.
Stella by Starlight
By Sharon M. Draper
This award-winning Depression-era tale follows the story of young Stella as she discovers the first signs of Klan violence descending on her segregated town.
I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World
By Malala Yousafzi
In this young readers edition of her bestselling memoir, the world’s youngest Nobel Prize winner traces her journey from schoolgirl to activist. Fighting for her right to an education, Malala was shot on her bus ride home from school. Not only did she survive, but she took her activism to a global level and inspired millions.
The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba’s Greatest Abolitionist
By Margarita Engle
Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda was a Cuban poet who fought against the institution of slavery. Fittingly, Engle renders this biographical novel in verse, telling the tale of de Avellaneda’s escape from an arranged marriage at age 14 and her abolitionist activism. The book includes historical notes to contextualize the story.
Sally Ride: A Photobiography of America's Pioneering Woman in Space
By Tam O’Shaughnessy
Written by Ride’s life partner, this intimate volume recounts Ride’s journey from unenthusiastic high school student to the first American woman in space, including her early success on the tennis court and her Ph.D. in Physics.
The Mighty Miss Malone
By Christopher Paul Curtis
Newberry Award-winner Christopher Paul Curtis brings us this Depression-era tale of survival. Deza Malone, top of her class in Gary, Indiana, takes off with her mother and brother to search for her father, who has left home to find work. The story reveals the pain wrought by the economic crisis and the strength of Deza’s spirit.
Betty Before X
By Ilyasah Shabazz and Renée Watson
Malcolm X’s daughter teams up with decorated YA novelist Watson to recount the early teen years of her mother, Betty Shabazz, as she finds meaning in the church and advocacy work, paving the way for her adult life as a leader in the civil rights movement.
Women’s History Month Books for Ages 13-18
Audacity
By Melanie Crowder
This novel-in-verse tells the story of Clara Lemlich, a Jewish Russian immigrant who became a leader in the fight for labor rights. She organized the women workers in New York’s early 20th-century garment factories, culminating in the Uprising of the 20,000.
Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World
By Pénélope Bagieu
Bagieu uses her skill as a graphic novelist to recount the tales of women across the globe throughout history who have bucked convention and forged their own paths.
Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice
By Phillip Hoose
On March 2, 1955, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat on a segregated city bus in Montgomery, AL. Her action at the time was not celebrated, but that didn’t stop her from continuing to fight for her rights. This award-winning book uses interviews with Colvin and others to faithfully retell the story of this often-overlooked civil rights crusader.
The Cure for Dreaming
By Cat Winters
Olivia Mead is a headstrong young woman, and a suffragist, in early 1900s Oregon. In an attempt to cure her of her rebellious ways, her father has her hypnotized. But the hypnotist gives Olivia a terrible gift: She is now able to see a person’s true nature. The included art and photographs provide a backdrop for this period piece.
Outrun the Moon
By Stacey Lee
Mercy Wong gains admittance to an elite girls school in San Francisco at the turn of the century, determined to escape the poverty of Chinatown. Then the earthquake strikes, and she must camp out in a temporary shelter with her classmates until they can be reunited with their families.
She Takes a Stand: 16 Fearless Activists Who Have Changed the World (Women of Action)
By Michael Elsohn Ross
This volume profiles young activists past and present who have made their mark on the world. Multinational in its scope, the book also includes sidebars, notes, and a list of organizations young women can turn to for more information.
A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers & Other Badass Girls
Edited by Jessica Spotswood
Fifteen notable YA authors take turns telling inspiring tales of bravery in this collection. Each story is based on historical research and includes notes.
Flygirl
By Sherri L. Smith
Set in Louisiana in the 1940’s, the novel tells the story of Ida Mae Jones, an aspiring pilot who, with the start of World War II, must decide if she is willing to pass as white in order to fulfill her dream of flying.
