Also by this author: How High is Heaven, The World Is Awake for Little Ones: A Celebration of Everyday Blessings, Stay This Way Forever for Little Ones
Published by Zonderkidz on March 5, 2024
Genres: Children's
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Encourage children to use their voices, talents, and intelligence to help the world and raise awareness of girls and all the amazing things they do! An inspiration for readers of all ages, New York Times bestseller Girls of the World: Doing More Than Ever Before calls attention to the truth that it’s never too soon to become aware of and speak up about things that are important to you. Now is the perfect time for girls to show the world just who they are and what they’re capable of!
Written by ABC News anchor and bestselling author Linsey Davis, together with co-author Michael Tyler, Girls of the World invites us to celebrate the equality and fairness we should all experience. It encourages girls to be strong, brave, and curious about the world and their place in it.
Girls of the World:
Features inspiring, motivating rhymes from Emmy award-winning ABC News anchor and New York Times bestselling authors Linsey Davis and Michael Tyler
Includes whimsical illustrations by bestselling artist Lucy Fleming
Is a great read-aloud for children ages 4-8
Has a message that celebrates equality, fairness, and is meant to spur girls (and boys) on to be brave and take their place in a challenging world
Concludes with a personal note from Linsey Davis
This cute, colorful picture book celebrates girls and shares an empowering message through simple, rhyming text. The book says that “the girls of the world are ready to go,” makes a brief nod to how people have worked hard for justice and equality for all girls, and then shares a message about making your dreams come true and making a difference in the world. Different pages give varied examples of career paths. These include traditionally feminine pursuits like dancing, and historically male-dominated jobs like working as a scientist or a news anchor. The illustrations from Lucy Fleming are cute, diverse, and expressive, and will appeal to kids and adults.
The book’s primary author, Linsey Davis, is a journalist and a news anchor. In the author’s note at the end, she expresses gratitude for some role models she looked up to as a child, including the first Black woman to anchor a major newscast, and she encourages her readers to honor past trailblazers while pursuing their dreams. However, even though this book is from a Christian publisher, there is no faith-based content in the book or the author’s note. Some of Davis’s books share clear Christian messages, but this one is entirely mainstream.
Overall, I have mixed feelings about this book. It is uplifting and positive, but it’s also a bit saccharine and vague, and it’s likely to appeal more to adults than children. Also, I’m a bit worn out on female empowerment books, since there have been so many of them published for decades. This one is especially suitable for young children, which is nice, but it’s hardly groundbreaking.
In addition to this, I am tired of how self-esteem books and publishing in general focus almost exclusively on women’s issues. Boys and men are struggling in all kinds of well-documented ways, and continual efforts to uplift and empower girls can send the unintentional message to little boys that girls are superior and more valuable. Almost all self-esteem books and many career-related books for children focus on girls so much that they create a reverse representation issue. This one title isn’t responsible for that problem, but I can’t help seeing it through that lens, especially since there’s a male co-author. I hope that Linsey Davis and Michael Tyler will consider writing an empowerment book for young boys as well.
Girls of the World: Doing More Than Ever Before will appeal to people who are looking for cute, wholesome girl power books. The publisher is marketing this for kids ages four to eight, and the simplicity of the rhyming text makes this especially suitable for the younger end of that age range. This is a sweet, reassuring book that can help little girls dream big and consider lots of possibilities for their futures.