News & Media
7 Smart Gifts for Go-Get-‘Em Girls: Great Books to Give!
Let’s hear it for all the young people out there who are brilliant, ambitious, resilient, courageous, tireless, and strong!
Support and inspire these future leaders by sharing the stories of the trailblazing women who paved the road for innovation, knowledge, social change, and justice. Here are seven perfect gifts to give go-get-’em girls (and all kids who want to make a difference!) this holiday season.
1. Dazzlin’ Dolly: The Songwriting, Hit-Singing, Guitar-Picking Dolly Parton
Written by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham
Winner of the Eureka! Nonfiction Silver Honor Award (California Reading Association)
This inspirational and dazzlin’ story of Dolly Parton—noted singer, songwriter, and humanitarian—follows her rise to fame, from her beginnings in East Tennessee to performing to thousands at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
View the book trailer and listen to the Dolly Parton playlist
Download the free discussion guide
2. The Leaf Detective: How Margaret Lowman Uncovered Secrets in the Rainforest
Written by Heather Lang, illustrated by Jana Christy
2022 Green Earth Book Award Winner
NCSS Septma Clark Award, Elementary Level Honoree
NSTA/CBC Best STEM Book
Junior Library Guild Selection
John Burroughs Association Riverby Award
Honorable Mention, Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award
This picture book biography tells the story of Meg Lowman, a groundbreaking female scientist called a “real life Lorax” by National Geographic, who was determined to investigate the marvelous, undiscovered world of the rainforest treetops.
View the book trailer
Download the free discussion guide
3. Born Hungry: Julia Child Becomes “the French Chef”
Written by Alex Prud’homme, illustrated by Sarah Green
Junior Library Guild Selection
How did Julia Child become one of America’s most celebrated and beloved chefs? Her grandnephew reveals her story in this picture book that Jacques Pepin calls a “vivid portrait . . . an enjoyable read.” Julia’s kid-friendly recipe for Oeufs Brouillés (Scrambled Eggs) is included!
Julia Child was born hungry, but she was not born a chef. In fact, Julia didn’t discover her passion for cooking until she had a life-changing luncheon in France and became determined to share her newfound love of food with everyone.
In Paris, Julia devoured recipe books, shopped in outdoor markets, consumed all kinds of foods, and whipped through culinary school. And although she wasn’t always successful in the kitchen, she was determined to “master the art” of French cooking. Through perseverance and grit, Julia became a chef who shared her passion with the world, making cooking fun, and turning every meal into a special event.
View the book trailer
Download the free discussion guide
4. Molly, By Golly! The Legend of Molly Williams, America’s First Female Firefighter
Written by Dianne Ochiltree, illustrated by Kathleen Kemly
Here is the story of Molly Williams, an African American cook for New York City’s Fire Company 11 who is considered to be the first known female firefighter in U.S. history.
New York City’s Fire Company Number 11 is in trouble. A deadly snowstorm is blowing, and many of the volunteers are sick in bed. When the fire alarm sounds, who will answer the call? Who will save the neighborhood? Molly Williams, the company’s cook, for one! Clapping a weathered leather helmet on her head, strapping spatterdashes over her woolen leggings, and pulling on heavy work gloves —it’s Molly, by golly, to the rescue. Young readers will enjoy plucky Molly Williams’s legendary adventure as they learn how fires were fought in the early 1800s.
5. Wood, Wire, and Wings: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane
Written by Kirsten W. Larson, illustrated by Tracy Subisak
NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book
NSTA Best STEM Book List
This riveting nonfiction picture book biography explores both the failures and successes of self-taught engineer Emma Lilian Todd as she tackles one of the greatest challenges of the early 1900s: designing an airplane.
Emma Lilian Todd’s mind was always soaring–she loved to solve problems. Lilian tinkered and fiddled with all sorts of objects, turning dreams into useful inventions. As a child, she took apart and reassembled clocks to figure out how they worked. As an adult, typing up patents at the U.S. Patent Office, Lilian built the inventions in her mind, including many designs for flying machines. However, they all seemed too impractical. Lilian knew she could design one that worked. She took inspiration from both nature and her many failures, driving herself to perfect the design that would eventually successfully fly.
Download the free discussion guide
6. Queen of the Track: Alice Coachman, Olympic High-Jump Champion
Written by Heather Lang, illustrated by Floyd Cooper
When Alice Coachman was a girl, most White people wouldn’t even shake her hand. Yet when the King of England placed an Olympic medal around her neck in 1948, he extended his hand to Alice in congratulations. Standing on a podium in London’s Wembley Stadium, Alice was a long way from the fields of Georgia where she ran barefoot as a child. With a record-breaking leap, she had become the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal. This inspirational picture book is perfect to celebrate Women’s History Month or to share any day of the year.
7. Nellie vs. Elizabeth: Two Daredevil Journalists’ Breakneck Race around the World
Written by Kate Hannigan, illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon
In this real-life adventure, daredevil and groundbreaking journalists Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland race against each other–and the clock–as they circle the globe by ship, train, and foot.
Join these two stereotype-shattering reporters as they prove that not only is traveling around the world possible, but that women are just as curious, capable, and courageous as any man.
Coming soon! Two more books about women who changed our world… both in stores in March, and both available for preorder now at your favorite bookstore.
The Brilliant Calculator: How Mathematician Edith Clarke Helped Electrify America
Written by Jan Lower, illustrated by Susan Reagan
Hidden Figures meets Rosie Revere, Engineer in this STEM/STEAM picture book about Edith Clarke, the innovator who solved an electrical mystery and built the first graphing calculator—from paper!
Long before calculators were invented, little Edith Clarke devoured numbers, conquered calculations, cracked puzzles, and breezed through brainteasers. Edith wanted to be an engineer—to use the numbers she saw all around her to help build America.
Josephine and Her Dishwashing Machine: Josephine Cochrane’s Bright Invention Makes a Splash
Written by Kate Hannigan, illustrated by Sarah Green
Celebrate the inventor of the dishwasher in this inspiring STEM/STEAM picture book biography about Josephine Garis Cochrane, the brains behind one of the world’s most-used kitchen appliances.
Many Americans have a dishwasher in their kitchen. But who invented it?
Meet Josephine Garis Cochrane: entrepreneur, innovator, girlboss. Washing dishes is a pain—it leaves Josephine’s cups cracked, her dishes dinged, and her chowder bowls chipped. She’d rather be picking flowers, frosting cakes, or playing piano than dealing with cracked crockery. What to do about a chore that’s icky, destructive, and time-consuming? Josephine tackles this task the modern way: she makes a machine to do it for her! She tinkers and tests, and perseveres through fizzles and flops—until she has a government patent for her invention, and there are whirring, whizzing, bubbling dishwashers making a splash across America.
