March is Women’s History Month! Here’s a list of the books we’ll be reading, chosen because they are written by a female identifying author, illustrated by a female identifying illustrator, and/or featuring a female identifying character. In no particular order, themes in this list include art, music, Native American characters, STEM, LGBTQ and gender identity, nature and environmentalism, bullying and kindness, sports, Purim, friendship, natural disaster, dance, firefighters, immigration, school, international settings, special needs, and more.
I may receive a commission if you choose to make a purchase through the links below (thanks!). As always, check your local library first.
These are generally great for preschoolers up through about age 6. I’d love to hear your recommendations too!
Quick list of all the books (scroll down to read more about each one):
- A is for Audra: Broadway’s Leading Ladies from A to Z (Amazon, Bookshop)
- And That’s Why She’s My Mama (Amazon)
- The Bug Girl: A True Story (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Buffalo Bird Girl: A Hidatsa Story (Amazon, Bookshop)
- Bunheads (Amazon, Bookshop)
- Danbi Leads the School Parade (Amazon and Bookshop)
- The Doctor with an Eye for Eyes: The Story of Dr. Patricia Bath (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl’s Courage Changed Music (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Grandmother School (Amazon and Bookshop)
- The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish (Amazon, Bookshop)
- I Walk With Vanessa (Amazon, Bookshop)
- Just Bunny and the Great Fire Rescue (Amazon, Bookshop)
- Neither (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Malala’s Magic Pencil (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Marvelous Margaux (Amazon or buy directly and support a good cause!)
- Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines (Amazon, Bookshop)
- Me and the Sky: Captain Beverley Bass, Pioneering Pilot (Amazon and Bookshop)
- The Mess That We Made (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Queen Vashti’s Comfy Pants (Amazon and Bookshop)
- The Quickest Kid in Clarksville (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Rani in Search of a Rainbow: A Natural Disaster Survival Tale (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Send a Girl!: The True Story of How Women Joined the FDNY (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Seven Golden Rings: A Tale of Music and Math (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist (Amazon and Bookshop)
- She’s Got This (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Superluminous (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Thank You, Miyuki (Amazon and Bookshop)
- There Goes Patti McGee!: The Story of the First Women’s National Skateboard Champion (Amazon and Bookshop)
- Usha and the Stolen Sun (Amazon and Bookshop)
A is for Audra: Broadway’s Leading Ladies from A to Z (Amazon, Bookshop) by John Robert Allman and illustrated by Peter Emmerich. We absolutely LOVED Boys Dance! from the same author and this is another fast favorite.
And That’s Why She’s My Mama (Amazon) by Tiarra Nazario. Written with nontraditional families in mind, this book talks about how your mom might not look like your or have carried you in your tummy, but that’s not what makes a mom. Dare you not to cry when you read it.
Buffalo Bird Girl: A Hidatsa Story (Amazon, Bookshop) by S. D. Nelson is inspired by the real life Buffalo Bird Woman who helped keep alive the traditions of the Native American Hidatsta peoples of the Great Plains.
The Bug Girl: A True Story (Amazon and Bookshop) by Margaret McNamara and Sophia Spencer, illustrated by Kerascoët. The true story of how, when some mean kids said girls shouldn’t be into bugs, hundreds of scientists came to Sophia’s very public support with #BugsR4Girls.
Bunheads (Amazon, Bookshop) by Misty Copeland, illustrated by Setor Fiadzigbey. Totally standout book, great for kids who adore ballet and for kids who need a little encouragement to try something new.
Danbi Leads the School Parade (Amazon and Bookshop) by Anna Kim. If your kid is new at school, or learning another language, you’ll love this one.
The Doctor with an Eye for Eyes: The Story of Dr. Patricia Bath (Amazon and Bookshop) by Julia Finley Mosca and illustrated by Daniel Rieley. A fun-to-read rhyming book that brings the incredible true story of Dr. Bath to life. She fought through racism and gender stereotypes and income inequality and so much more. As someone who has had cataracts surgery in both eyes, I have a personal debt of gratitude to Dr. Bath. Absolutely love her message at the end!
Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl’s Courage Changed Music (Amazon and Bookshop) by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Rafael López, is a glorious picture book about Millo Castro Zaldarriaga who used music to break gender norms in Cuba.
Fishing with Grandma (Amazon and Bookshop) by Maren Vsetula and Susan Avingaq, illustrated by Charlene Chua. A simple #OwnVoices story of kids spending the day with their grandma in the Arctic.
Grandmother School (Amazon and Bookshop) by Rina Singh and illustrated by Ellen Rooney. Such a good one, about a literal school for grandmothers in India who weren’t allowed to learn reading and writing because of despicable gendered laws. You’ll be cheering along by the end!
The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish (Amazon, Bookshop) by Lil Miss Hot Mess, illustrated by Olga de Dios Ruiz is SO MUCH FUN! You sing it like “the wheels on the bus.” Wonderful for kids who love Drag Queen Story Hour, for expanding your OwnVoices library. Haven’t been to a Drag Queen Story Hour? Check to see if your local library hosts one, or visit https://www.dragqueenstoryhour.org and sign up for updates on virtual events. They also post events on Facebook!
I Walk With Vanessa (Amazon, Bookshop) by Kerascoët. A wordless book about seeing someone being treated poorly and doing something about it.
Just Bunny and the Great Fire Rescue (Amazon, Bookshop) by Jeanne LaSala Taylor, illustrated by Ana Sabastián. In this uplifting indie book, a little girl loses her bunny when she has to leave quickly for a fire, but a firefighter saves Just Bunny! Great for kids who, like mine, have seen a real actual scary fire and know the true heroes that firefighters are. Full disclosure that this book was gifted to me by the author, thank you!
Neither (Amazon and Bookshop) by Airlie Anderson. We adore this book and could read it a thousand times over. A gorgeous little creature named Neither is not like the judgy bunnies and birds that live nearby, so imagine Neither’s surprise to find a whole new land full of rainbow animals who celebrate individuality!
Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain (Amazon and Bookshop) by Cheryl Bardoe, illustrated by Barbara McClintock. Imagine if your parents literally tried to stop you from doing math. What a different world. I had never heard the story of Sophie Germain and I’m so glad we picked up this book!
Malala’s Magic Pencil (Amazon and Bookshop) by Malala Yousafzai, illustrated by Kerascoët. A reminder that adversity and bullies don’t win, and that we all have a way to help someone else. Written by the Nobel Peace Prize winner herself.
Marvelous Margaux (Amazon or buy directly and support a good cause!) by Margaux’s stepmom Elizabeth Subrin, illustrated by Bilal Tahir. About a real life little girl with a condition called Dup15Q (chromosome duplication). A great book to meet an adventurous kid who has special needs, and understanding how we’re all different and that’s awesome. Buy directly to support the Dup15Q Alliance.
Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines (Amazon, Bookshop) by Jeanne Walker Harvey and illustrated by Dow Phumiruk. The story of the talented artist and architect of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I first learned about Maya Lin on Drunk History and am so glad to bring her story to my kiddo (in a more appropriate way!).
Me and the Sky: Captain Beverley Bass, Pioneering Pilot (Amazon and Bookshop) by Beverly Bass, Cynthia Williams and illustrated by Joanie Stone. Captain Beverly Bass was the first female captain at American Airlines and helmed the first all-female flight crew. You might recognize her better now from the Broadway show Come From Away.
The Mess That We Made (Amazon and Bookshop) by Michelle Lord, illustrated by Julia Blattman. An awesome rhyming book about how we have mucked up our planet environmentally and what that means for turtles and beaches and other things we love. And how we can make it better!
Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children (Amazon and Bookshop) by Jan Pinborough, illustrated by Debby Atwell. The story of how the children’s room at the New York Public Library came to be, in an age where people didn’t think reading was that big of a deal for kids (what??).
Pocket Full of Colors: The Magical World of Mary Blair, Disney Artist Extraordinaire (Amazon and Bookshop) by Amy Guglielmo and Jacqueline Tourville, illustrated by Brigette Barrager. A delightful journey into the influentially colorful Disney artist.
The Quickest Kid in Clarksville (Amazon and Bookshop) by Pat Zietlow Miller and illustrated by the great Frank Morrison. About a kid who can’t wait to see Olympic Gold Medalist Wilma Rudolph, but also about overcoming hardship and adversity and making unexpected friends.
Queen Vashti’s Comfy Pants (Amazon and Bookshop) by Leah Rachel Berkowitz and illustrated by Ruth Bennett. A new look at the (traditionally quite problematic) Purim story of Queen Vashti and her response to a “request” from the king.
Rani in Search of a Rainbow: A Natural Disaster Survival Tale (Amazon and Bookshop) by Shaila Abdullah. When Rani can’t go home because of the flooding in Pakistan, she and her family stay in a relief camp where she finds a way to help a new friend.
Send a Girl!: The True Story of How Women Joined the FDNY (Amazon and Bookshop) by Jessica M. Rinker and illustrated by Meg Hunt. About the totally inspiring Captain Brenda Berkman who became one of New York’s first female firefighters and was part of the response team on 9/11.
Seven Golden Rings: A Tale of Music and Math (Amazon and Bookshop) by Rajani Larocca and illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan. The story takes place in India (where the author and illustrator both have roots) and follows a boy who has to do some math in a fun storytelling kind of way… and then poof, your kids are suddenly learning binary numbers! Hello STEM!
Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist (Amazon and Bookshop) by Jess Keating and illustrated by Marta Álvarez Miguéns. Eugenie Clark loved sharks from the start and helped the rest of the world fall in love with them too. Great for budding scientists and for reinforcing the idea of perseverance.
She’s Got This (Amazon and Bookshop) by Laurie Hernandez, illustrated by Nina Mata. When a little girl falls off the beam at gymnastics, she learns that falling is part of the process and that good things (like ice cream!) happen when you make mistakes and learn from them. Written by Laurie Hernandez, who mesmerized us all during the 2016 Olympics.
Superluminous (Amazon and Bookshop) by Ian De Haes is absolutely the sweetest! About a girl who glows (literally) but starts to doubt herself because of the mean words of kids at school. Her light fades until the moment her baby sister needs her!
Thank You, Miyuki (Amazon and Bookshop) by Roxane Marie Galliez, illustrated by Seng Soun Ratanavanh. A delightful and simple story about grandparents, gratitude, and meditation.
There Goes Patti McGee!: The Story of the First Women’s National Skateboard Champion (Amazon and Bookshop) by Tootie Nienow, illustrated by Erika Rodriguez Medina. The story of the first professional female identifying skateboarder!
Usha and the Stolen Sun (Amazon and Bookshop) by Bree Galbraith, illustrated by Josee Bisaillon. Usha lives in a permanently grey place because someone behind the wall has the sun. When kicking and screaming to bring down the wall accomplishes nothing (sound familiar?) she has to use new communication tactics to find a workable solution for both sides.
Looking for more? See if you can check off all 100 Children’s Books to Read in 2021!