Empowering Books for Girls
By Marci Lutsky
Over the next month I will be sharing gift ideas for the holidays. My twins just celebrated their eighth birthday so this time of year always leaves me feeling like the gifts are in excess. This year we gave our children each one gift for their birthday and will plan to do the same for the holidays. It’s not how much they get that matters, but what they get. To kick off the holiday gift ideas, I’m going to start with young girls and some of our favorite empowering books.
Strong is the New Pretty by Kate T. Parker is by far our favorite book. It was given to my daughter as a gift years ago and has become our go-to gift for her friends. She has three birthday parties next weekend and I just ordered three copies of this book. Strong is the New Pretty tells the stories through pictures and short explanations of girls who have done amazing things or overcome obstacles. In a culture that favors people without talent like the Kardashians, this book focuses on girls who embody the true meaning of beauty. The girls featured in the book are not famous, but truly beautiful. These are the girls I want my daughter looking up to as role models.
I visit the Linwood Library a couple times a month to pick up new books for my kids. I stumbled upon Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky recently and we read it word for word before bed almost every night. I had to renew it two times before we got through all of the 50 women. It sparked some amazing conversations with my daughter about the obstacles women across the world have overcome to achieve greatness in the field of science. Once again, these are the names I want my daughter knowing and admiring. For her birthday my daughter received Women in Sports: 50 Fearless Athletes who Played to Win. It’s equally engrossing and fascinating.
Another great book for girls is called Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls. It is a collection of 100 stories about extraordinary women, past and present, each written in the style of a fairy tale. Herstory: 50 Women and Girls Who Shook Up the World is also filled with stories of extraordinary accomplishments of females throughout history. A book more geared towards younger girls is She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World by Chelsea Clinton. This is an excellent book about women who refused to be silenced in the face of adversity.
Young girls are easily impressionable and I feel that it’s important to provide them with positive role models to look up to. These books have not only been enjoyable for my daughter to read, but my son, husband and myself have all enjoyed them too. Look for them at your locally owned bookshops this season (yes I’m always plugging shop local) and make that young girl on your list happy this holiday season!
Marci Lutsky is a local mom of eight year-old twins and can be reached at veggingattheshore@gmail.com.
Marci Lutsky is a local mom of eight year-old twins and can be reached at veggingattheshore@gmail.com.
