Books about inspiring women which young children must read !

Lately we have been reading lots of non-fiction picture books about inspiring women, who broke the norms and didn't let anyone hold them back from achieving what they aspired to. Thus, sharing few titles we read and fell in love with in this blog-post ☺

1. Fantastically Great Women Who Saved the Planet by Kate Pankhurst

( Get your copy here)

(PS: This is a complete series with other titles too) 

• Fantastically Great Women Who Worked Wonders

• Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World

• Fantastically Great Women Who Made History

I had shared in the past too that it's quite tough to get 'A' to read non-fiction and thus I keep looking out for books which can get her excited. This non-fiction is perfectly suitable for 7 years olds & above, as it is informative yet very inviting for a young reader. 

     

The book shares untold stories of women who went off the traditional path to protect our natural world. Along with the well known Jane Goodall & Anita Roddick; you will get to meet many other women rebels in this engaging, playful book with brilliant facts.

Get hitched to ride a 50-foot-long whale shark with Eugenie Clark. Find the secret to what keeps all life on Earth ticking with Ingeborg. Do some ozone research with Edith Farkas. Save birds with Florence Augusta. Last but not the least meet the Indian women from Himalayas who stood strong with nature by starting off THE CHIPKO MOVEMENT.

How are you going to speak up for our PLANET ?

2. Ada Lovelace, Poet of Science: The First Computer Programmer by by Diane Stanley

( Get your copy here)

With famous people biographies flooding the children literature, I found this picture biography of ‘Ada Lovelace’ to be quite engaging, informative & entertaining for young readers.

Ada Lovelace was daughter of famous poet, Lord Byron, and his mathematical wife, Annabella. She always dreamt of doing something very creative and she indeed was an individual with vivid imagination and perseverance. Though it's quite tough to present biographies keeping the timelines intact for children, both the author and illustrator have done quite a wonderful job. I personally loved the illustration style and the reader friendly narrative.

The book wonderfully tracks down Ada Lovelace's childhood, teens, married life, her friendship and professional relationship with Charles Babbage. The main highlight of the book was Ada's pioneering programming work to help promote Babbage's Analytical Machine. Unfortunately she died of cancer at the age of 36 and never wrote more.

This splendid book can certainly be used for children 6 years old and above, to learn about this incredible woman. Also, this would help young children to draw inspiration, get creative, explore and chart out their goals.

3. Building Zaha: The Story of Architect Zaha Hadid by Victoria Tentler-Krylov

( Get your copy here)

This book is a biography about British Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, who was a trailblazer in the field of architecture.

Zaha knew from a young age that she wanted to be an architect. She left her home in Baghdad, and went to study architecture in London. However, it took a lot of persistence on her part to sail through because architecture was and is a field dominated by men. Also, she was deeply inspired by nature in creating her unconventional/distinctive designs and faced lots of resistance at every step.

But, she didn't allow all that to stop her from setting goals and achieving them one by one. She persisted, she followed her dreams and she succeeded in creating innovative ways to build projects that became famous world over. She was the first woman and youngest person, to win the Pritzker Prize in the year 2004. She was also the first woman to design an art museum in the United States. 

This compelling picture book biography is simply perfect for children 6years & older (Primary students) to discuss architecture, creativity, women's history, diversity, perseverance and certainly to get inspired. After reading this book 'A' proclaimed that she would like to explore the profession of architecture for herself.

4. Girls Race ! Amazing Tales of Women in Sports

( Get your copy here)

You won’t trust me if I would tell you that this books celebrates so many awesome women in sports at one place. The female athletes featured in this book are surely going to inspire you and your young readers.

Because the book beautifully explores the lives of these fascinating women, focusing upon their struggles, perseverance, desire to achieve and thrilling victories. The women in this book broke barriers, set world records and changed the world of sports forever. 

This biography is different than usual ones: firstly it talks about multiple people, secondly the layout is very vivid and the information is well supported with actual photographs. Some places information runs into a full spread with detailed timelines and others are short excerpt.

I also fell in love with the introduction page which said “PLAY LIKE A GIRL’ followed by some more stunning words. So go for it if you have a child 6 year and older, though only thing which I missed was it didn’t not cover any Indian Women Athlete.

(PS: This is a complete series with other titles too) 

• Girls Rock ! Amazing Tales of women in music

• Girls Rebel ! Amazing Tales of women who broke the rules 

• Girls Rule ! Amazing Tales of female leaders

For sneak peak into the books 📚CLICK on the VIDEO to watch !