Children's Books for Parents and Teachers - book reviews and suggestions for parents and teachers.
Women

To prepare your class for Women’s History Month in March, we’ve come up with a collection of great books that focus on women and girls who stand out as models of character, power, and skill. Written about female historical figures, as well as characters from folklore and fiction, these books will help you and your students celebrate women and their diverse accomplishments.

A is for Abigail: An Almanac of Amazing American Women
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Lynne Cheney and Robin Preiss Glasser collaborated on America: A Patriotic Primer, which captured the imagination of American children and became a national best-seller. Now they turn their hands to A is for Abigail: An Almanac of Amazing American Women and bring the great women of American history to life. Filled to the brim with words and pictures that celebrate the remarkable (although often unmarked) achievements of American women, this is a book to relish and to read again and again.


Beautiful Warrior: The Legend of the Nun’s Kung Fu
Publisher: Scholastic, 1998

In an exciting tale set in 17th-century China, a girl who is trained in the warrior arts of kung fu sets out to teach her fighting skills to a princess. While both girls learn to protect themselves against bullies, they also learn that the true meaning of kung fu is more than kicking and punching.


Coretta Scott

Walking many miles to school in the dusty road, young Coretta knew, too well, the unfairness of life in the segregated south. A yearning for equality began to grow. Together with Martin Luther King, Jr., she gave birth to a vision and a journey—with dreams of freedom for all.

This extraordinary union of poetic text by Ntozake Shange and monumental artwork by Kadir Nelson captures the movement for civil rights in the United States and honors its most elegant inspiration, Coretta Scott.


Girls: A History of Growing Up Female in America
Publisher: Scholastic, 2000

This innovative and well-researched book by Penny Colman uses primary source material (journals, letters, photographs, and magazines) to tell the story of real-life girls from pre-Colonial times to the present. Girls will help you inspire your students to keep their own journals and record their own histories.


Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters

Pinkney tells the stories of ten African American women — from Soujourner Truth to Rosa Parks — who faced prejudice and oppression with amazing courage and grace. In the end, all ten women paved the way for changes in the lives of future generations.


Lives of Extraordinary Women

Krull’s book makes it clear that men are not always the ones in charge. In this colorfully illustrated book, she introduces 20 women that have been queens, warriors, prime ministers, revolutionary leaders, and Indian chiefs. She also features first ladies who refused to stand by while others ran the show.


Liza Lou and the Yeller Belly Swamp
Publisher: Aladdin, 1997

Clever Liza Lou has the stuff that makes leaders. In this fanciful tale, she faces off against “swamp haunts,” witches, devils, “gobblygooks,” and more! Not only is Liza Lou victorious against these evil forces, but she gets them to do her chores.


Molly Bannaky

This beautifully illustrated picture book tells the story of Molly Bannaky, a brave but lesser-known figure from Colonial history. Bannaky, a former indentured servant, marries a slave and starts a farm with him.


Not One Damsel in Distress: World Folktales for Strong Girls

In this exciting volume there are 13 “folktales about heroes — regular sword-wielding, spear-throwing, villain-stomping, rescuing-type heroes who also happen to be female.” Feisty and fearless females, ranging from the Greek Atalanta to the Nigerian Nana Miriam, are all represented as strong and resourceful.


Sisters in Strength

Eleven famous leaders — including Pocahontas, Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Helen Keller, and Margaret Mead — are profiled in this picture biography. A women’s history time line and bibliography are included.