02 Mar The best kids books about women who made history
Kids books that inspire girls are so important when it comes to raising girls to be confident, empowered and ambitious.
* Books about the most inspiring women in history
* Books about women in science
* Books about women who changed the world
They all act as an important reminder to girls about what they can achieve, especially when they’re facing a patriarchal world.
Kids books about inspiring women can also be a great tool to educate boys and show boys that girls are clever, strong and should be respected.
Here’s my list of the best books to inspire girls and educate boys, all about women who changed the world…
Written by Kate Pankhurst, who is a direct descendant of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, this is a fantastic children’s book to inspire girls and demonstrate to boys just what women are able to achieve.
I really like it because it includes the real life stories of great women in history including Amelia Earhart, Rosa Parks, Coco Chanel, Jane Austin and nine other inspirational women. It’s got fun illustrations, accompanied with an overview of each inspirational woman’s main achievements, as well as some, ‘did you know’ facts.
I’d say this book is best for ages five and up. I really enjoyed learning from it too!
And if you like this book, there are three other books from the series celebrating women who changed the world…
This board book is a brilliant choice for little girls and little boys. If you’re wanting to raise a little feminist then this is a great place to start. It will help inspire girls to break rules in all the right ways.
The lovely bold pictures, with simple, easy-to-read wording for toddlers, makes me absolutely love this book. The reasons that make these inspirational women special are captured perfectly for younger minds to enjoy and learn from.
If you’re looking for a great feminist baby shower gift, this hits the mark!
In these fairy tales it’s the girls that get the adventures. It’s full of girls smashing gender stereotypes and breaking away from the traditional roles usually put on them in fairy tales.
You’ll find heroines who outwit giants and fight evil, girls who are brave and wise, and for once the girl being the one to rescue the prince. Lots of happy endings, but on the girl’s terms this time!
I think it’s most suited for kids aged 5 and up, just because the stories are fairly long, but a perfect option to tire them out for bed.
This book is packed with 40 inspirational black women who changed the world. It of course features iconic figures of black history, but what’s great about this book is, it also includes lesser-known black women and tells their inspiring stories.
Definitely not a book just for girls. I think this book should be read by everyone because it really opens your eyes to the struggles and achievements of black women in history.
It’s a great book to inspire little leaders of the future with real stories of trailblazing black women who helped change the world. I’d say it’s great for kids up to about 9 years old.
The illustrations in this book are just beautiful and it’s a brilliant celebration of 100 women in history who challenged the status quo and changed the rules for all the girls that followed.
What’s wonderful about this book is the inspirational women are scientists and activists, pirates and daredevils, warriors and artists, amongst many, many more.
“Well-behaved women seldom make history” said Pulitzer prize-winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and this book is a perfect example of that! If you’re looking to raise a feminist, be that your daughter or son, then is a great kids book for your book shelf.
This book is different to the others in my list and features poems about inspirational women who’ve changed the world.
It includes inspiring women from a range of jobs and roles, such as firefighting, palaeontology, civil rights, athleticism, journalism and many more. With each poem there’s a bio on each of the women.
What I think is especially great is this book features inspirational women who had their first achievements when they were a similar same age as your daughters. For example, there’s Ruby Bridges, who was six when she helped end segregation and Mary Anning who unearthed a prehistoric fossil at 13 years old. What a fantastic way to inspire the next generation.
If your son or daughter needs a public speaking or reading aloud piece of literature about feminism, then this is a fantastic option.
It’s vital for us to encourage more girls to get into science and not be put off by outside influences suggesting it’s, “just for boys.” A great way to start this mission is by showing our girls what has been achieved by amazing women in science and in this book you’ll find 50 examples.
The inspirational women featured are from a range of backgrounds, nationalities and social classes, showing that women can achieve anything, no matter where they come from.
The number of women working in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Manufacture) is slowly increasing, but we need to do all we can to boost that, so girls don’t feel they’re unable to access that world.
I would say this book about women in science is great for kids aged about 8 and up, but this is also definitely a book you’ll enjoy reading too!
Another brilliant book for young children you’re raising to be feminists.
This book features an inspirational woman for every letter of the alphabet. Not only does it feature poignant ladies from history and today, but it includes a speech bubble from each of them giving advice on how to succeed and be a powerful woman in a patriarchal world. All great words for your little ones to hear!
The whole feeling from the book is about ambition and strength, to not let the world tell you no. Definitely the type of thing I want to teach my daughter!
Another book that’s a fantastic baby shower gift for feminists. I know I would love to receive it for my baby!
Like with all the books I’ve featured this is a great book about inspiring women for boys too. It’s never too early to teach them about powerful women.
You can buy the individual books from the, ‘Little People, Big Dreams’ series, but this is the version with all the stories in one place. It makes it better value for money buying them all together, and to be honest, I wouldn’t want to miss out on showing my daughter all the inspirational women who changed history that feature in this range.
Probably better for the older kids, so aged seven or eight upwards I would say, this book gives you detail about these historical inspirational women. The stories are short and concise, so never boring, and means they can fit more women in the contents.
You also get a timeline in this version, which features extra information, important dates and real photos, so kids can put it into context and get a real feel for what these women achieved and how they changed the world.
It’s such a lovely, high quality book I imagine you’ll keep hold of it and pass it down the generations, as it’s just so good.
If you have a budding athlete or a girl who just loves sport, then this is the perfect book for them.
Inside is 50 examples of inspiring women who had great achievements in sport. These sporty role models for girls will encourage them to aim for their own dreams in sport.
It hasn’t always been easy for women in sport, and so often their achievements are overlooked when compared to men’s sport. This book will help to put that right and make sure all kids know just how brilliant women are at sport and what they can achieve.
With the author being American, there are a lot of American athletes who feature. However, I think it’s the type of sport and the achievements made that matter when it comes to inspiring our girls, so still an awesome book for your bookshelf.
Hi, I’m Kat, mum to Leo and Emily. I set up Simply Gender Free because the sea of pink and blue in shops was driving me mad. I love pink, love blue, but our kids should be encouraged to enjoy so much more! Gender stereotypes are rife in kids products and they create limitations to what kids want to enjoy and be in life. So I wanted to make it easier for parents like you to find kids products that suit their personalities, not their gender.