Teaching Ideas

Explore jumping-off points that deepen discussions, inspire reading interest, and support connections to books and authors. Easily share and include in your instructional plans, newsletters, and social media.


Selected Resources about inspirational women past and present!

Women in the Arts

  • Author Traci N.Todd details a pivotal moment in Nina Simone’s life as a musical artist in this Meet-the-Author Recording for Nina: A Story of Nina Simone.

  • Listen to this Meet-the-Author Recording with Margarita Engle about the brave 10-year-old girl who inspired Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl's Courage Changed Music.

  • Enjoy this audiobook excerpt from Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance.

  • Learn about rock n’ roll pioneer Janis Joplin in this Meet-the-Author Recording with Ann Angel for Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing.

  • Hear about the groundbreaking architect behind the book in Victoria Tentler-Krylov’s Meet-the-Author Recording for Building Zaha: The Story of Architect Zaha Hadid.

  • Carmen T. Bernier-Grand shares her artist inspiration for Frida: ¡Viva La Vida! Long Live Life! in this Meet-the-Author Recording.

Women Making History

  • Alicia D. Williams talks about the inspirational and determined Shirley Chisolm in this Meet-The-Author Recording for Shirley Chisholm Dared: The Story of the First Black Woman in Congress.

  • Listen to this author interview with Chelsea Clinton about She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World.

  • Debbie Levy describes how Ruth Bader Ginsberg disagreed in order to make a difference in this Meet-the-Author Recording for I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark.

  • Check out these printable trading cards from Finish the Fight!: The Brave and Revolutionary Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote.

Women Innovating

  • Learn five facts about this “hidden figure” in history in this book trailer for Reaching for the Moon: The Autobiography of NASA Mathematician Katherine Johnson.

  • Watch this video book reading of Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer.

  • Spark curiosity with this Meet-the-Author Recording with Tanya Lee Stone for Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream, about the women who set the stage for female space explorers.

  • Listen to this Meet-the-Author Recording with Teresa Robeson for Queen of Physics: How Wu Chien Shiung Helped Unlock the Secrets of the Atom to learn about a groundbreaking scientist who overcame gender and racial discrimination.

  • Author Sam Maggs discusses a diverse, fascinating group of women in this interview about Wonder Women: 25 Innovators, Inventors, and Trailblazers Who Changed History.

Women Standing Up!

  • Learn about the young Ukrainian immigrant who led the largest strike of women workers in U.S. history in this book trailer for Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909.

  • Check out the author interview and ​​video book trailer for Dolores Huerta: A Hero to Migrant Workers to learn about this labor and civil rights activist.

  • Watch the video book trailer for Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World to see the 14 rebels who dared to make a difference.

  • Hear about the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in this Meet-the-Author Recording with Tanya Lee Stone for The House That Jane Built: A Story about Jane Addams.

  • Listen to Beth Anderson discuss the young African American teacher who took a stand for equal rights on transportation one hundred years before Rosa Parks in this Meet-the-Author Recording for Lizzie Demands a Seat!: Elizabeth Jennings Fights for Streetcar Rights.

  • Activist for female education Malala Yousafzai talks about finding her voice in this video book trailer for Malala’s Magic Pencil.

  • Check out titles from the She Persisted Series about women like Claudette Colvin, Ruby Bridges, Sonia Sotomayor, and others who stood up and spoke up for change!