Women’s History Month is coming to a close, but let’s keep the celebration of strong females going ALL YEAR LONG! What better way to celebrate than with children’s books featuring smart, spunky, sporty, and spectacular females? As a bonus, all of these protagonists are females of color, an element that is sorely lacking in the world of literature, especially children’s literature. Young girls of color need and deserve to see themselves represented in the pages of books. More positive representation leads to more self-love and in turn shows our beautiful Black, brown, and Asian children that they matter and that they have a place in this complicated world of ours. Diverse books should be on all children’s bookshelves, not just children of color. They can serve as windows into cultures unlike your own and help children embrace and celebrate diversity.
Below are just a few of our favorite books featuring female protagonists of color. Visit MiJa Books to see our full list.
Rocket Says Look Up! By Nathan Bryon, Illustrated by Dapo Adeola (2019)
Young Rocket is fascinated with astronomy and looking up into outer space! And her older brother Jamal seems to be obsessed with looking down at his phone. Rocket encourages her brother to look away from his phone and up into the magnificent sky on the night of a spectacular meteor shower. When Jamal finally looks away from his phone to look eye-to-eye with his sister, Rocket emotes, “Jamal looks at me for the first time today. It feels like the first time ever.” It’s such a poignant line in the story and so relevant!
Cookie & Milk: A Scientifically Stunt-tastic Sisterhood By Michele McAvoy, Illustrated by Jessica Gibson (2019)
Cookie & Milk tells the story of a sisterhood and friendship between two girls in a blended family. Chloe, nicknamed Cookie, is depicted as a young Black girl who loves science and innovation. Her sister Mikaela, nicknamed Milk, is depicted as a young white girl who loves sports and adventure. Cookie is calm and calculated while Milk is spontaneous and fearless. Despite their seemingly polar opposite personalities, they soon realize that they actually compliment each other perfectly and become the best of friends.
A Basketball Game on Wakestreet By Batouly Camara, Illustrated by Shifa Annisa (2020)
This powerfully inclusive book is deserving of a place at every children’s school and library! The story follows a girl named Aicha. She has dyslexia but that doesn’t stop her from planning her basketball dream team. With help from her mom, she writes down a few qualities needed to make a winning basketball team. Each of her friends have unique abilities along with their unique challenges. This book makes it clear that these challenges are a part of who they are but they do not define their identities.
Islandborn By Junot Díaz, Illustrated By Leo Espinosa (2018)
This is such a beautiful story of a young girl who discovers the magic and power of memories to connect to her heritage. Lola’s teacher asks the students to draw pictures of the country they are originally from, but Lola doesn’t remember anything about her homeland, the Dominican Republic. Her family and friends step in with their memories and stories that help Lola reconnect with her homeland.
Eyes That Kiss in The Corners By Joanna Ho, Illustrated by Dung Ho (2021)
In this powerful tale, a young Asian girl notices that her eyes look different from her peers’. In connecting with the strong women in her life, including her grandmother, mother and sister, she is taken on a path of self-discovery. She ultimately learns to love and celebrate her Asian eyes that “kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea, crinkle into crescent moons, and are filled with stories of the past and hope for the future.”
Stella’s Stellar Hair Written & Illustrated by Yesenia Moises (2021)
Afro-Latina, author-illustrator Yesenia Moises brings us a celebration of hairstyles from the African diaspora, set in outer space! It’s the day of the Big Star Little Gala but Stella is having a bad hair day. So she whips around the solar system to get some hair advice from her planetary aunties. This truly innovative tale, with its spectacular illustrations, are sure to make this an instant favorite!
By Stephanie Moran Reed, Owner of MiJa Books
