“You educate a man, you educate a man. You educate a woman, you educate a generation”
- Bringham Young
While we agree that women must be celebrated everyday but today is indeed a special day - to acknowledge, respect and appreciate women and all that they have done though generations. We live in a time where gender equality is on a rise. This has become true thanks to stupendous contributions by millions of women who fought against the society to give women the place that they, today, enjoy.
Here are our top picks to celebrate a handful of them.
Read them to and with your child for these are stories of dreams, inspiration and hope.
Tell your little girls that nothing is impossible for her to achieve. And tell your little boys to respect and value all the girls and women around him. Start them young!
1. Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13
Written by Helaine Becker, Illustrated by Dow Phumiruk
Gist: You've likely heard of the historic Apollo 13 moon landing. But do you know about the mathematical genius who made sure that Apollo 13 returned safely home?
As a child, Katherine Johnson loved to count. She counted the steps on the road, the number of dishes and spoons she washed in the kitchen sink, everything!
From Katherine's humble beginnings as a gifted student to her heroic accomplishments as a prominent mathematician at NASA, this is an inspirational story of an American woman pioneer who not only calculated the complex course of moon landings but, in turn, saved lives and made history.
Recommended for: 4-8-year-olds
2. Little People, BIG DREAMS: Amelia Earhart
Written by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara, Illustrated by Mariadiamantes
Gist: Young Amelia was always fascinated by birds and loved to imagine that she could stretch her wings and fly, too.
As a grown woman, she defeated all odds as she set a new female world record for flying up to 14,000 feet. She also flew across the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans, and eventually undertook the most dangerous mission of all: to fly all the way around the world.
Recommended for: 3-7-year-olds
3. Malala's Magic Pencil
Written by Malala Yousafzai, Illustrated by Kerascoet Kerascoet
Gist: A story to full of hope and a strong will to make dreams come true.
As a girl child in Pakistan, Malala made a wish for a magic pencil. She would use it to make everyone happy, to erase the smell of garbage from her city, to sleep an extra hour in the morning. But as she grew older, Malala saw that there were more important things to wish for. She saw a world that needed fixing. And even if she never found a magic pencil, Malala realized that she could still work hard every day to make her wishes come true.
Beautifully illustrated, this book is perfect to inspire young kids to hold on to hope even in the most difficult of times, just like Malala did.
Recommended for: 4-8-year-olds
4. Tales of Brave and Brilliant Girls from Around the World
Published by Usborne
Gist: Girls were always brave, women were always the leaders. This book takes you on a fantasy ride where instead of being portrayed as damsel-in-distresses, women are free-thinking, independent, strong characters who don’t need helping but are the ones to help!
Meet a girl who fights dragons, a brave warrior queen, and a daughter in search of her Samurai father... This beautifully illustrated collection brings you eight fantastic fairy tales from around the world. Full of wit, charm, compassion and courage, these heroes will inspire and empower a new generation of readers.
Recommended for: 5-8-year-olds
5. The Girl Who Went to the Stars: and Other Extraordinary Lives
Written by Ishita Jain. Illustrated by Naomi Kundu
Gist: An Indian woman is a force to reckon with and these 50 inspirational Indian women will prove just that!
An unbelievable journey through outer space, the voice of a nightingale, a climb up the highest mountain, a leader of the nation. These are the incredible stories of fifty phenomenal Indian women, such as Amrita Sher-Gil, Arundhati Roy, Kalpana Chawla, Mary Kom, Indira Gandhi, Tessy Thomas and more!
Recommended for: 7-12-year-olds
Read these amazing books with your little ones and let us know which one they like best. Have more to add to the list? Share your favorites with us via DM on our Instagram handle - @happy.pudle
