I’ve been thinking a lot lately about women.  Specifically, how so many incredibly brave, brilliant, talented, strong-willed women trail blazed, made incredible sacrifices, stood up for what was right.  These are the women I want to be teaching my daughters about – these are the women I want to be reading about.

So with that said here are two phenomenal books that you will want to add to your shelves immediately.

Rad American Women A-Z by Kate Schatz and art by Miriam Klein Stahl (City Lights, 2015) and was instantly all over social media for the amazing content as well as the incredibly  rad art that go along with the pictures.  We picked this beauty up at Powell’s in Portland and fell hard for these miniature biographies.  This book focuses on 26 women who made a big impact on the United States.  These women come from all over the US, from all different backgrounds; but they have one astounding thing in common, they all stood up and made a contribution a difference.

• Carol Burnett
• Florence Griffith-Joyner
• The Grime Sisters
• Nellie Bly
• Patti Smith
• Sonia Sotomayor
• Ursula K. LeGuin
• Virginia Apgar

I love the selection of women that they have chosen for this book.  These are 26 fun snapshots into the lives of these amazing women.  Teachers, this would be a  book to add to your shelves for biography units, although they aren’t what I would call traditional biographies there are facts that would be perfect for a report or paper.

Not to mention, the art for this book is so vibrant.  It looks gorgeous on a shelf and is eye-catching for sure.  This book is perfect for grade 5 and up.

Rad Women Worldwide: Artists and Athletes, Pirates and Punks, and Other Revolutionaries Who Shaped History (Ten Speed Press, 2016) is the next installment of rad women we’ve been waiting for.  This book covers women from every continent, starting with ancient Mesopotamia moving to present day.  The biographies in this book are fantastic and again are little one page (sometimes more) biographies of incredible women who have changed the world in wonderful amazing ways.  Here are just a few of the incredible women features in this book.  Again you have stunning art to go along with the mini biographies.

• Malala Yousafzai (Pakistan)
• Hatshepsut (Egypt)
• Frida Kahlo (Mexico)
• Guerrilla Girls (USA)
• Grace “Granuaile” O’Malley (Ireland)
• Marie Curie and Irene Joliot-Curie (France)
• Maria Montessori (Italy)

This book covers 40 heroic women and their lives.  It is a mixed group of remarkable women, some you may be familiar with others, who perhaps will be new and inspiring to you.  This book is geared for older kids, upper elementary and up.

Bloggers Note: I received Rad Women Wordlwide from Blogging for Books for this review.  However, the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.