10 Recommended Feminist Books for Young Readers

Illustrated titles about strong women and self-empowerment for girls from the 2024 Rise Booklist. 

 

Rise: A Feminist Book Project for Ages 0–18 has been promoting quality feminist literature for children and teens since 2002 as a part of the American Library Association’s Feminist Task Force and Social Responsibilities Round Table. This selection from the 2024 Rise booklist is reprinted with permission.

 

Abdul-Qaadir, Bilqis with Judith Henderson. Lion on the Inside: How One Girl Changed Basketball. illus. by Katherine Ahmed. Kids Can. 2023.
Ages 5-8–A Muslim American basketball star shares how she was told she couldn’t play because she wouldn’t remove her hijab.

Babinec, Christine. Want A Hug?: Consent and Boundaries for Kids. illus. by Vivian Mineker. Familius. 2022.
Ages 3-7–This rhyming picture book explains these issues in an age-appropriate way.

Bunten, Alexis. What Your Ribbon Skirt Means to Me: Deb Haaland’s Historic Inauguration. illus. by Nicole Neidhardt. Little, Brown/Christy Ottaviano. 2023.
Ages 5-9–An Anishinaabe and Chamorro girl learns about Haaland (Pueblo Laguna), the first Native person to serve as a cabinet secretary. Haaland celebrates Indigenous cultures by making a ribbon skirt.

Charles, Tami. Ketanji Brown Jackson: A Justice for All. illus. by Jemma Skidmore, S. & S. 2023.
Ages 4-8–An illustrated biography of Jackson, the first Black woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lindstrom, Carole. Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior. illus. by Bridget George, Macmillan/Roaring Brook. 2023.
Ages 4-8–A celebration of Indigenous rights activists and water advocates Josephine Mandamin (Anishinaabe) and Peltier (Anishinaabe), her great-niece.

Lower, Jan. The Brilliant Calculator: How Mathematician Edith Clarke Helped Electrify America. illus. by Susan Reagan. Astra/Calkins Creek. 2023.
Ages 7-10–A biography of the first professional woman electrical engineer in the United States.

Madison, Megan and Jessica Ralli. Every Body: A First Conversation About Bodies. illus. by Tequitia Andrews. PRH/Rise x Penguin Workshop. 2023.
Ages 0-5–A book about different types of bodies, the things they can do, and how they are all worthy of love and care.

Pincus, Meeg. Door by Door: How Sarah McBride Became America’s First Openly Transgender Senator. illus. by Meridth McKean Gimbel. PRH/Crown. 2023.
Ages 4-8–How transgender Delaware Senator McBride dreamed of public office as a child, and how she got there.

Todd, Traci N. Holding Her Own: The Exceptional Life of Jackie Ormes. illus. by Shannon Wright. Scholastic/Orchard. 2023.
Ages 7-10–The story of Ormes, a journalist, cartoonist, philanthropist, and civil rights activist who was the first Black woman cartoonist to be nationally syndicated in the United States.

Wallace, Sandra Neil. Love Is Loud: How Diane Nash Led the Civil Rights Movement. illus. by Bryan Collier. S. & S./Paula Wiseman. 2023.
Ages 4-8–A biography of Nash, a nonviolent civil rights leader who facilitated lunch counter sit-ins and peaceful marches.

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