Beyond Helen Keller--Women's History for Kids

(graphic from National Women's History Museum)

On behalf of Lisa Taylor and myself, thanks for following along for another year of Kidlit Celebrates Women's History Month.

This year, at the public library where I work as a children's librarian, I was reminded of the importance of continuing to promote women's history and children's books.  At a family storytime to mark Women's History Month, I asked the children of varied ages if they could name a famous woman from history.  Only one could think of anyone--Helen Keller, certainly a fine example, but none of the children was familiar with Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, or Amelia Earhart, the women I chose to read picture books about that evening.

Having grown up in an era when biographies of women written for children were few and far between, I am particularly grateful to the fine authors, illustrators and publishers who continue to bring us a wide array of books about both famous and lesser-known women in history, and to the parents, librarians, teachers, and bloggers, who strive to introduce their children--both boys and girls--to these heroines past and present.  For how else will our children learn to dream--and dream big--without inspiration from figures like Mumbet Freeman, Emily Dickinson, and Kate Sessions, to name just a few of the figures who were discussed in this year's blog contributions?

We hope you will continue to spread the word about this blog, and look forward to highlighting more outstanding books in 2015!