This post is sponsored by Johnson County Library.
In honor of International Day of the Girl on Oct. 11, I put together a list of my favorite books for strong girls, but it was SO hard to narrow it down. I also crowdsourced picks from mom friends, book clubbers and coworkers.
I love a strong girl. I mean, literally, I love a strong girl, my daughter, but I also love a strong girl character.
“The Year We Learned to Fly,” “The Magical Yet” and “Sofia Valdez, Future Prez” all tell beautiful stories of brave and strong girls.
Find these picks — and other strong girl reads — at Johnson County Library. The selection there is incredible.
Favorite Picture Books for Strong Girls
Ada Twist, Scientist
“Ada Marie! Ada Marie! Said not a word til the day she turned three.” As a mom of a girl with nonverbal autism, this book by Andrea Beaty hit different. Ada doesn’t speak, but she climbs everywhere, observes everything, and makes messes along the way. Sounds familiar. When I tell you I wish I had my daughter’s courage and spunk, I’m not kidding.
“Clearly, young Ada, with lots in her head, would have something to say when it ought to be said.”
This! This is what I wish more people would recognize. Just because someone is not speaking doesn’t mean they’re not thinking. It’s likely the opposite. In this book, once Ada starts talking, she has so many questions and tries to find the answers through science. As she does this, she is still causing chaos and making messes, frustrating her parents.
In the end, they remake their world to make room for her curiosity and her science, “because that’s what you do when your kid has a passion and heart that is true.” Yes, yes, yes. Bonus: the author has written more books about Ada and other inspiring kids, too.
Amazing Grace
This one by Mary Hoffman was a book club mom’s favorite and my son loves it too. It’s part of a series, and in the first book, Grace wants to be Peter Pan in the school play, but people say she can’t be Peter because she’s a girl and because she’s Black. Grace isn’t having it. And in the end? She gets the part.
The theme is similar to another picture book I adore called Not Quite Snow White by Ashley Franklin. Three of my mom friends also shouted out “Not Quite Snow White” so I had to mention it, even though I’ve written about it before.
Beatrix Potter, Scientist
This book by Kansas author Lindsay H. Metcalf is for the women in STEM. A Mighty Girl named it to its 2020 Books of the Year list.
I didn’t know before seeing this book that before Beatrix Potter became the author “The Tale of Peter Rabbit,” she was a girl who studied mushrooms and other kinds of fungi. She also had the courage to show her work to top scientists in Victorian England.
“Beatrix may not be a professional,” the book says, “but she has pluck.”
Women were not accepted in science back then, but Beatrix persevered.
“Despite rejection, she pivoted and used her scientific illustration skills to create characters that continue to inspire young readers today,” Metcalf, the author, told me. “She showed that strength comes from believing in yourself.”
Her Body Can
This book by Katie Crenshaw is about body positivity, and it’s one I wish I’d read growing up as a chubby kid.
The girl in the book is not thin, and she’s OK with that. She plays sports, wears two-piece swimsuits, happily eats both kale and cake, does yoga … so many things that some people say chubby girls can’t do or shouldn’t do.
“Her body can play with friends of each size. Worth is not measured by the shapes of our thighs.” I mean, love it!
Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion
My daughter loves books with people who look like her and this remix of Little Red Riding Hood is too cute. It tells the story about a sneaky lion who tries to trick Little Red.
But that old lion? He didn’t know who he was messing with because she knew he wasn’t a human and she dresses him up, combs his hair and convinces him that doughnuts are better than little girls anyway. This reminds me of my own strong girl. She doesn’t suffer fools.
Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match
Marisol has so much spirit! Monica Brown wrote three Marisol McDonald books about a girl with mixed heritage who refuses to be boxed in, and I loved every one. She wears green polka dots with purple stripes. She has a dog named Kitty. She mixes cursive and print. And she doesn’t care. I want to be her.
Favorite Chapter Books for Strong Girls
We have another post on the best chapter books for girls that includes the amazing “The Babysitter’s Club,” series I grew up with, but I wanted to call out a few others.
Beezus and Ramona
I read the Ramona books as a kid, but I had no idea that an eighth book was written in 1999. This is the first one, from 1955, but the themes still resonate. My coworker Kim said she loved Ramona because of the honesty of what it’s like to be a kid in an imperfect household.
“She has bad days, her parents have bad days, and everyone finds a way to keep going,” she said.
I still think of the funny way Ramona called tomatoes “Tommy-toes” in an attempt to cheer up her family, and how she thought “The Star-Spangled Banner” was about a lamp, a “dawnzer,” that gives a “lee light.”
Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation
This is part of a series by Stuart Gibbs that I hadn’t heard of before, but my friend Susan’s 9-year-old Charlie (also girl genius in my opinion) suggested it.
The library’s description says, “The CIA forces twelve-year-old Charlotte “Charlie” Thorne, a rebellious genius, to use her code-breaking skills on an epic global chase to locate Einstein’s last equation before dangerous agents discover it.”
The Charlie I know said, “There’s a lot of action and I personally like the suspense of the spy genre. The backstory about Charlie Thorne makes her an interesting character.” I told you she was a girl genius. So there you go, kid-approved!
Matilda
Two of my bookclub mom friends said this was their favorite book in elementary school. I haven’t read it yet, but I enjoy reading Roald Dahl and so does my fourth-grader, so it’s on my list.
“She’s smart in a family that only values beauty and wealth, and uses her smarts (and mind powers) to make a better life,” my friend Lisa said. “It’s funny, too.”
Johnson County Library’s description says, “Matilda is a super-smart little girl who’s woefully misunderstood by her parents, her brother, and an evil school principal. But with the help of a brave best friend and a wonderful teacher, Matilda discovers she doesn’t have to get mad to get even.”
My son likes reading books after he’s seen the movie (the 2005 “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory” movie got us into Roald Dahl in the first place), so if you have a kiddo like that, there’s a 1996 “Matilda” movie and Kate Winslet narrates the “Matilda” audio book if you want to listen to chunks of the book together before bed.
The literature on International Day of the Girl Child says,“With the right support, resources and opportunities, the potential of the world’s more than 1.1 billion girls is limitless.”
I believe this with all of me. Our girls deserve the world. Remind them of all they can be with a good book.