Feminist Reads for Little Ones

March is Women’s History Month and the Library joins readers of all ages in honoring the strength and contributions of women worldwide. Check out our spotlight on Women's History Month to find out how you can join the library in celebrating all month long. Because we know it’s never too early to read to your little one, the early literacy team has compiled a list of our favorite feminist reads! 

Angela Johnson and Amy Crews’s A Girl Like Me is an empowering ode to girls of color, richly illustrated with Crews’s trademark collage style, that will inspire your little one to dream big. Your Mama, written by NoNieqa Ramos and illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántar, twists classic “your mama” jokes into an ode to mothers everywhere. In Nana Akua Goes to School by Tricia Elam Walker and illustrated by April Harrison, Zura is excited to take her Nana Aku to school on Grandparents Day but is nervous about how her classmates will react to her Nana’s tattoos.

In a village in the Dominican Republic, Anita watches the dragons soar above her and is never scared—but soon she will leave for a new land, and she must embrace new adventures. Check out the imaginative Anita and the Dragons, written by Hannah Carmona and illustrated by Anna Cunha. More magic abounds in Phoebe Wahl’s Little Witch Hazel: A Year in the Forest, a delightful story about a young witch and her relationship with nature, seasons, and friendship.

There are so many inspiring books about women and girls in history and we chose to highlight just a few! Girl on a Motorcycle, written by Amy Novesky and illustrated by Julie Morstad, retells the true story of Anne France Dauthville, the first woman to travel the world alone by motorcycle! Osnat and Her Dove, by Samuel Sigal and Vali Nitzi, is the true story of the first female Rabbi who lived almost five hundred years ago when many girls were not taught to read. But Osnat convinced her father to teach her, and she grew up to become the first female Rabbi.

Finally, there’s nothing we like more than a story about an inspiring librarian! Jeanette Winters’s The Librarian of Basra: A True Story From Iraq is a story about a librarian’s brave struggle to save her community’s books during a time of war, reminding us that books are truly priceless.

Happy Women’s History Month!