International Women’s Day 2025 - Storytime Solidarity

Whether you focus on the UN’s message, or that of IWD, the focus is on women’s equality and empowerment.

Whether they are what would be called an activist, a trailblazer, a rebel – all the women and girls featured in the books below, fought – or are fighting – for rights and / or causes.

That right could be them pursuing their own career goals.

Or, it could be saving the planet.

It could be escaping from slavery.

Or marching in a civil rights protest.

And anything in between.

~ Anne.

Because of the subject matter of many of these books, they aren’t all suitable for preschoolers.

However, they are important to have on our radar, and may be good for school visits.

Equal rights. Equal opportunities. Equal power.

UN Women: For All Women And Girls. Rights.. Equality. Empowerment. United Nations Commemoration of the 50th International Women's Day. The image is of a young woman / teenage girl, dressed in blue with a cap on, with her arms resting on top of a handle of something like a shovel. She seems to be from SouthEast Asia, India for example.

From the UN’s website:

On International Women’s Day (8 March), that is the bold call for action for all women and girls worldwide. As we mark the 30th year of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the world is deeply unequal. International Women’s Day is a chance to rise and demand action and to deliver on the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action to make the world equal and better for everyone.

#ForAllWomenAndGirls.

#AccelerateAction

Happy International Women's Day - with a purple background. Surrounding the words are four circles with illustrations of a woman in each. The women are multicultural, with some in hijab, and some with afros.

From the International Women’s Day website:

Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together we can forge gender equality. Collectively for #IWD2025 we can all #AccelerateAction.

International Women’s Day (IWD) has been around for over a hundred years, as have many of the issues still impacting women’s advancement. Since 1911, IWD belongs to all who care about women’s equality. Celebrate women’s achievement. Raise awareness about discrimination. Take action to forge gender parity. All IWD activity is valid, that’s what makes IWD so inclusive.

All International Women’s Day 2025

Megan Rapinoe

Sometimes People March

Red Bird Sings: The Story of Zitkala-Ša, Native American Author, Musician, and Activist

I Look Up To… Serena Williams

Our House Is on Fire: Greta Thunberg’s Call to Save the Planet

Loud and Proud: The Life of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm

Mary Kom

Free as a Bird: The Story of Malala

Born to Run

Coretta Scott

The Secret World of Hildegard

Go Forth and Tell: The Life of Augusta Baker, Librarian and Master Storyteller

Me… Jane

Planting Peace: The Story of Wangari Maathai

Players in Pigtails

My Little Golden Book About Dolly Parton

Fannie in the Kitchen: The Whole Story From Soup to Nuts of How Fannie Farmer Invented Recipes with Precise Measurements

Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins

The Power of Her Pen: The Story of Groundbreaking Journalist Ethel L. Payne

Jazz Age Josephine

Her Fearless Run: Kathrine Switzer’s Historic Boston Marathon

Faith Ringgold: Narrating the World in Pattern and Color

Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai

Paiute Princess: The Story of Sarah Winnemucca

You Need to Chill!: A trans pride and acceptance children’s book

Kate Sheppard: Leading the Way for Women

I am Helen Keller

Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors?: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell

Regina Persisted: an Untold Story

The Great Banned-Books Bake Sale

Helen Keller: The World in Her Heart

Swimming Toward a Dream: Yusra Mardini’s Incredible Journey from Refugee to Olympic Swimmer

How to Build a Hug: Temple Grandin and Her Amazing Squeeze Machine

Flying High: The Story of Gymnastics Champion Simone Biles

Lift as You Climb: The Story of Ella Baker

Jane Goodall

Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday and the Power of a Protest Song

I Am Jazz

I Am Enough

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom

Marvelous Mabel: Figure Skating Superstar

Bessie Smith and the Night Riders

Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth

The Girl Who Heard the Music

Laverne Cox

On Her Wings: The Story of Toni Morrison

Amanda Gorman

Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams

My Name Is Truth: The Life of Sojourner Truth

All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything

Mama in Congress: Rashida Tlaib’s Journey to Washington

Book cover of We Want Our Books by Jake Alexander.

We Want Our Books: Rosa’s Fight to Save the Library

Just Help!: How to Build a Better World

Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa

Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx/La juez que creció en el Bronx

Before She Was Harriet

Mahalia Jackson: Walking with Kings and Queens

Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll!: Presenting Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Godmother of Rock & Roll

The Legendary Miss Lena Horne

Fighting for YES!: The Story of Disability Rights Activist Judith Heumann

Rocket Says Clean Up!

I Look Up To… Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer

Evonne Goolagong

We Move the World

Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution

One Girl’s Voice: How Lucy Stone Helped Change the Law of the Land

Bird Girl: Gene Stratton-Porter Shares Her Love of Nature with the World

Walking in the city with Jane book cover.

Walking in the City with Jane: A Story of Jane Jacobs

Ho’onani: Hula Warrior

The Librarian’s Stories

Seeds of Change: Planting a Path to Peace

Virginia Wouldn’t Slow Down!: The Unstoppable Dr. Apgar and Her Life-Saving Invention

Making Their Voices Heard: The Inspiring Friendship of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe

Sweet Justice: Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Stay Angry, Little Girl

Mother Jones and Her Army of Mill Children

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909

Grandmother School

Greta and the Giants

Flying Free: How Bessie Coleman’s Dreams Took Flight

Rocket Says Speak Up!

Keep Climbing, Girls

Maya’s Song

Be a Bridge

Marching with Aunt Susan: Susan B. Anthony and the Fight for Women’s Suffrage

Marjory Saves the Everglades: The Story of Marjory Stoneman Douglas

The Life of / La vida de Pura

Nothing But Trouble: The Story of Althea Gibson

This Is Your Time

Brown Girl, Brown Girl

Mae Among the Stars

Light in the Darkness: A Story about How Slaves Learned in Secret

R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul

The Story of Ruby Bridges

The Librarian of Basra

Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World

One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia

Change Sings: a Children’s Anthem

Child of the Civil Rights Movement

Sing, Aretha, Sing: Aretha Franklin,”Respect,” and the Civil Rights Movement

Wild Horse Annie: Friend of the Mustangs

Malala’s Magic Pencil

Sewing Stories: Harriet Powers’ Journey from Slave to Artist

Freedom Bird: A Tale of Hope and Courage

Thanks to Frances Perkins: Fighter for Workers’ Rights

Girls with Guts!: The Road to Breaking Barriers and Bashing Records

Trailblazer: The Story of Ballerina Raven Wilkinson

Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You

Loujain Dreams of Sunflowers

Cicely Tyson

Coretta’s Journey: The Life and Times of Coretta Scott King

My Little Golden Book About Betty White

Butterflies Belong Here: A Story of One Idea, Thirty Kids, and a World of Butterflies

Who Says Women Can’t Be Computer Programmers?: The Story of Ada Lovelace

Traveling Shoes: The Story of Willye White, US Olympian and Long Jump Champion

A is for Activist

Love Is Loud: How Diane Nash Led the Civil Rights Movement

Book cover of Little Dreamers by Vashti Harrison.