10 Kids Books About Incredible Women
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Little Ruth’s mom taught her to be a lady—which meant to be her own independent self. Ruth promised herself she would do everything her mother didn’t get the chance to do. And she excelled: at school, as a law professor, and later on the supreme court fighting gender discrimination.
Mother Teresa
Agnes (later to become Mother Teresa) was born in Skopje, Macedonia. From an early age, she knew she wanted to dedicate herself to religion. She was fascinated by stories of missionaries helping people and wanted to do the same. She spent the rest of her life caring for the sick and poor around the world and is now remembered as Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
Michelle Obama
Young Michelle grew up on the South Side of Chicago in a close-knit family. She loved school, achieving A’s, and worked hard to blaze trails at the universities of Princeton and Harvard. Then, at the beginning of her legal career, she met Barack Obama. As first lady, she used her platform to advocate for women and girls and continues to inspire many with her powerful voice, and best-selling books.
Anne Frank
Anne Frank was born in Germany to a loving family. But when World War II broke out, Anne and her family had to hide in a secret annex in Amsterdam. Here, Anne wrote her famous diary, describing her belief in people's goodness and her hopes for peace. After the war, her diary captured the hearts of the public and she became one of the most important diarists of the 20th century.
Kamala Harris
Little Kamala used to accompany her parents to civil rights marches in California, strapped into her stroller so she wouldn’t get lost. From an early age, she dreamed of becoming a lawyer to help people in need. In school, Kamala felt like she could do anything and everything. She earned a law degree to make sure the most vulnerable were protected by justice. Kamala’s life was full of firsts, including becoming the first woman, Black woman, and South Asian American to be elected vice president. As Kamala stated to little girls everywhere in her speech—she may be the first but she won't be the last.
Mary Anning
When Mary was little, her family was very poor. She used to help her dad to comb for shells and bones up high on dangerous cliffs. After receiving a book as a gift from a kind benefactor, Mary learned all about fossils. She continued to hunt for them and made the startling discovery of a complete skeleton of an ichthyosaur. Sadly, she wasn't allowed to study along with all the other men, but she carried on making her own discoveries—including dinosaur poo!—and advising the Geological Society when they needed help. It took a lifetime to receive recognition but we all remember her now as the mother of paleontology.
Marie Curie
When Marie was young, she was unable to go to college because she was a woman. But when she was older, her scientific work was respected around the world. Her discoveries of radium and polonium dramatically helped in the fight against cancer, and she went on to win the Nobel Prize for Physics!
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks grew up in Alabama, where she learned to stand up for herself at an early age. Rosa went on to become a civil rights activist. In 1955, she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated bus, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Her courageous decision had a huge impact on civil rights, eventually leading to the end of segregation on public transport. She never stopped working for equal rights.
Amelia Earhart
When Amelia was young, she liked to imagine she could stretch her wings and fly away like a bird. As a grown woman, 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.
Harriet Tubman
Little Harriet was born into slavery on a plantation in Maryland. Though life was hard, Harriet persisted. She used all of her strength and bravery to escape slavery and journey north on the Underground Railroad. Harriet made the dangerous mission back to the South many times, fighting her whole life to bring others with her to freedom.