September 29, 2020Curated Content, Diversity

Strong Women, Real Change

Inspired by the life and work of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the CBC has gathered a list of children’s books about strong and courageous women in recent history who have been central to change and social justice. We also found books about some unsung heroes like Pauli Murray and Frances Perkins.

This list is gathered from new books submitted to the CBC for a social justice podcast and the CBC-Goddard Social Justice award, to be announced this October.

¡Solo pregunta!: Sé Diferente, Sé Valiente, Sé Tú (Spanish Edition), by Sonia Sotomayor; illus. Rafael López (Penguin Young Readers/Philomel Books)
50+ African American Women Who Changed the World, by Cheryl Hudson; illus. Erin K. Robinson (Random House Children’s Books)
Ada Lovelace (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Zafouko Yamamoto (Quarto Children’s Group)
Agatha Christie (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Elisa Munso (Quarto Children’s Group)
Amelia Earhart (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Maria Diamantes (Quarto Children’s Group)
Anne Frank (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Sveta Dorosheva (Quarto Children’s Group)
Aretha Franklin (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Amy Blackwell (Quarto Children’s Group)
Astrid Lindgren (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Linzie Hunter (Quarto Children’s Group)
Audrey Hepburn (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Amaia Arrazola (Quarto Children’s Group)

Be Bold, Baby: Michelle Obama, by Alison Oliver (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
Be Bold, Baby: Sonia Sotomayor, by Alison Oliver (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
Be Bold! Be Brave! 11 Latinas who made U.S. History (English and Spanish Edition), by Naibe Reynoso; illus. Jone Leal (Con Todo Press)
Before They Were Authors: Famous Writers as Kids, by Elizabeth Haidle (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
Beyonce: Shine Your Light, by Sarah Warren; illus. Geneva Bowers (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
Billie Jean King (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Miranda Sofroniou (Quarto Children’s Group)
Coco Chanel (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Ana Albero (Quarto Children’s Group)
Corazon Aquino (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Ginnie Hsu (Quarto Children’s Group)

Dangerous Jane: The Life and Times of Jane Addams, Crusader for Peace, by Suzanne Slade; illus. Alice Ratterree (Peachtree Publishing)
Dissenter on the Bench: Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s Life and Work, by Victoria Ortiz (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers/Clarion Books)
Dolly Parton (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Daria Solak (Quarto Children’s Group)
Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl’s Courage Changed Music, by Margarita Engle; illus. Rafael López (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, by Jeri Cipriano; illus. Scott R. Brooks (Red Chair Press)
Ella Fitzgerald (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Bàrbara Alca (Quarto Children’s Group)
Emmeline Pankhurst (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Lisbeth Kaiser; illus. Ana Sanfelippo (Quarto Children’s Group)
Evonne Goolagong (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Lisa Koesterke (Quarto Children’s Group)
The Extraordinary Life of Malala Yousfzai, by Hiba Noor Khan; illus. Rita Petruccioli (Kane Miller)

Fight of the Century, by Barb Rosenstock; illus. Sarah Green (Boyds Mills & Kane)
Finding a Way Home: Mildred and Richard Loving and the Fight for Marriage Equality, by Larry Dane Brimner (Boyds Mills & Kane/Calkins Creek)
Finish the Fight, by Veronica Chambers and the Staff of the New York Times (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt BFYR/Versify)
Florence Nightingale, by Catherine Reef (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers/Clarion Books)
Fly GirlsYoung Readers’ Edition: How Five Daring Women Defined All Odds and Made Aviation History, by Keith O’Brien (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
Frida Kahlo (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Gee Fan Eng (Quarto Children’s Group)
Georgia O’Keeffe (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Erica Salcedo (Quarto Children’s Group)
The Girl Who Drew Butterflies, by Joyce Sidman (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
Girlhood: Teens Around the World in their Own Voices, by Masuma Ahuja (Workman Publishing)
Girls Think of Everything, by Catherine Thimmesh; illus. Melissa Sweet (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
Give Us the Vote!: Over Two Hundred Years of Fighting for the Ballot, by Susan Goldman Rubin (Holiday House)
Greta Thunberg (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Anke Weckmann (Quarto Children’s Group)
Greta’s Story: The Schoolgirl Who Went On Strike To Save The Planet, by Valentina Camerini; illus. Veronica Carratello (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers)

Harriet Tubman (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Pili Aguado (Quarto Children’s Group)
Harriet Tubman, by Jeri Cipriano; illus. Scott R. Brooks (Red Chair Press)
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race, by Margot Lee Shetterly; illus. Laura Freeman (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
Hillary Rodham Clinton: Some Girls Are Born to Lead, by Michelle Markel; illus. LeUyen Pham (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
How Women Won the Vote, by Susan Campbell Bartoletti; illus. Ziyue Chen (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
I am Sonia Sotomayor (Ordinary People Change the World), by Brad Meltzer; illus. Christopher Eliopoulos (Penguin Young Readers/Dial BFYR)
I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsberg Makes Her Mark, by Debby Levy; illus. Elizabeth Baddeley (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers)
I Look Up To… Ruth Bader Ginsburg, by Anna Membrino; illus. Fatti Burke (Random House Children’s Books)
Jane Austen (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Katie Wilson (Quarto Children’s Group)
Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray, by Rosalind Rosenberg (Oxford University Press)
Jane Goodall (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Beatrice Cerocchi (Quarto Children’s Group)
Josephine Baker (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Agathe Sorlet (Quarto Children’s Group)
Just Ask!, by Sonia Sotomayor; illus. Rafael López (Penguin Young Readers/Philomel Books)

Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice, by Nikki Grimes; illus. Laura Freeman (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers)
L. M. Montgomery (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Anuska Allepuz (Quarto Children’s Group)
Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters, by Andrea Daivs Pinkney; illus. Stephen Alcron (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
Lift As You Climb, by Patricia Hruby Powell; illus. R. Gregory Christie (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers)
The Lightning Dreamer, by Margarita Engle (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
Lizzie Demands a Seat, by Beth Anderson; illus. E.B. Lewis (Boyds Mills & Kane)
Louise Bourgeois (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Helena Perez Garcia (Quarto Children’s Group)
Make Trouble, Young Readers Edition, by Cecile Richards (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Malala: Activist for Girls’ Education, by Raphaële Frier; illus. Aurélia Fronty (Penguin Young Readers)
Marching with Aunt Susan, by Claire Rudolf Murphy; illus. Stacey Schuett (Peachtree Publishing)
Maria Montessori (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Raquel Martín (Quarto Children’s Group)
Marie Curie (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vergara; illus. Frau Isa (Quarto Children’s Group)
Mary Shelley (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Yelena Bryksenkova (Quarto Children’s Group)
Maya Angelou (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Lisbeth Kaiser; illus. Leire Salaberria (Quarto Children’s Group)
Michelle Obama, by David Colbert (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
Mother Teresa (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Natascha Rosenberg (Quarto Children’s Group)

National Geographic Readers: Sonia Sotomayor (Readers Bios), by Barbra Kramer (National Geographic Kids)
No Steps Behind: Beate Sirota Gordon’s Battle for Women’s Rights in Japan, by Jeff Gottesfeld; illus. Shiella Witanto (Creston Books)
No Truth Without Ruth: The Life of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, by Kathleen Krull; illus. Nancy Zhang (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
Only Woman in the Photo, by Kathleen Krull; illus. Alexandra Bye (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Pasando páginas: La historia de mi vida (Spanish Edition), by Sonia Sotomayor; illus. Lulu Delacre (Penguin Young Readers/Philomel Books)
Path to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist, by Sylvia Acevedo (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers/Clarion Books)
Power of Her Pen, by Lesa Cline-Ransome; illus. John Parra (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Princess Ka’iulani, by Sharon Linnea (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing)
Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson, by Amy Ehrlich; illus. Wendell Minor (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
Rosa Parks (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Lisbeth Kaiser; illus. Marta Antelo (Quarto Children’s Group)
Ruby Bridges, by Jeri Cipriano; illus. Scott R. Brooks (Red Chair Press)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R.B.G. vs. Inequality, by Jonah Winter; illus. Stacy Innerst (Abrams Books for Young Readers)
Ruth Objects: The Life of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, by Doreen Rappaport; illus. Eric Velasquez (Scholastic)

She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World, by Chelsea Clinton (Penguin Young Readers)
She Stood for Freedom, The Untold Story of a Civil Rights Hero: Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, by Loki Mulholland and Angela Fairwell; illus. Charlotta Janssen (Shadow Mountain Publishing)
Simone de Beauvoir (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Christine Roussey (Quarto Children’s Group)
So Tall Within: Sojourner Truth’s Long Walk Toward Freedom, by Gary D. Schmidt (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)
Sojourner Truth, by Jeri Cipriano; illus. Scott R. Brooks (Red Chair Press)
Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx / La juez que crecio en el Bronx (Spanish and English Edition), by Jonah Winter; illus. Edel Rodriguez (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers/Atheneum Books)
Spring After Spring: How Rachel Carson Inspired the Environmental Movement, by Stephanie Roth Sisson (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)
Superheroes Are Everywhere, by Kamala Harris; illus. Mechal Renee Roe (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers)

Thanks to Frances Perkins: Fighter for Workers’ Rights, by Deborah Hopkinson; illus. Kristy Caldwell (Peachtree Publishing)
Turning Pages: My Life Story, by Sonia Sotomayor; illus. Lulu Delacre (Penguin Young Readers/Philomel Books)
Unsinkable, by Jessica Long (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
Vivienne Westwood (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara; illus. Laura Callaghan (Quarto Children’s Group)
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, by Carole Boston Weatherford; illus. Ekua Holmes (Candlewick)
The Voice that Challenged a Nation, by Russell Freedman (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers/Clarion Books)
Wangari’s Tree of Peace, by Jeanette Winter (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?: The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, by Chris Barton; illus. Ekua Holmes (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers)
White Rose, by Kip Wilson (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt BFYR/Versify)

Who Is Ruth Bader Ginsburg?, by Patricia Brennan Demuth and Who HQ; illus. Jake Murray (Penguin Young Readers)
Who Is Sonia Sotomayor?, by Megan Stine; illus. Dede Putra (Penguin Young Readers/Workshop)
The Wild Book, by Margarita Engle (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
Wilma Rudolph (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vergara; illus. Amelia Flower (Quarto Children’s Group)
Wilma Unlimited, by Kathleen Krull; illus. David Diaz (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)
Women in Art: 50 Fearless Creatives Who Inspired the World, by Rachel Ignotofsky (Random House Children’s Books/Ten Speed Press)
Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World, by Rachel Ignotofsky (Random House Children’s Books/Ten Speed Press)
Women in Sports: 50 Fearless Athletes Who Played to Win, by Rachel Ignotofsky (Random House Children’s Books/Ten Speed Press)
Women Who Dared, by Linda Skeers; illus. Livi Gosling (Sourcebooks)
Zaha Hadid (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vergara; illus. Asun Amar (Quarto Children’s Group)
Zora! The Life of Zora Neale Hurston, by Dennis Brindell Fradin and Judith Bloom Fradin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers/Clarion Books).