Now, I will be the first to say, I don’t think books should be gendered. I am well aware I will get flack for that. I understand and am used to it. Putting that aside for a minute, at the library this past week I stumbled on a treasure trove of wonderful girl books. As a rule I don’t push any agenda on my daughters, wanting them to make up their own minds, but I do continuously empower them with messages of they can do anything, because well, that is what any good parent will do.
And with those two things being known, let me tell you about these three books that shout girl empowerment, but also happen to just be really good books.
Two of them were by Ashley Spires who writes really fun stories about not giving up. About trying and failing and then trying again. I highly recommend them both, my daughters (5 and 9) both enjoyed them. I also really liked the illustrations here, and will be on the lookout for more by her.
The third was Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty, and this is maybe my favorite because not only was she a girl scientist but she had a family that encouraged her. That learned with her. That held her up instead of holding her back. Which, I think is huge for boys or girls and we definitely need to see more of it in books for the elementary age set.
So I would highly recommend any of these three books if you have kids in this age range. Boy or girl, cause I really continue to hope that kids read more. All kids.
sherilyn putnam 