She Persisted Around the World

Who run the world? Girls!

March is nearing quickly and with it comes Women's History month! Celebrate the contributions of women throughout history with the book She Persisted Around the World, written by Chelsea Clinton and illustrated by Alexandra Boiger. It's an empowering book that tells the story of 13 women around the world, who's persistence changed history.

This book is a little more advanced than some of the other books I've chosen to write about, but it's so great I just couldn't help but include it! That said, I would say it's probably best suited for second grade and up.

The gist:

She Persisted Around the World highlights 13 women who changed history around the globe. These women broke barriers in science and sports, arts and activism, poetry and politics, and more. Despite discrimination and constant challenges, these women persevered and made a difference in their communities. Each profile talks about where the women came from, what challenges they faced, how they overcame them and why what they did made the world a better place.

This book is a great opportunity to talk to students about gender inequality, past and present, and the importance of perseverance.

What's more is the illustrations are gorgeous! Each page has a new color scheme with colors that pop off the page. This portrait of Malala Yousafzai is one of my favorites!

The book highlights Sor Juana Inés de La Cruz, Caroline Herschel, Kate Sheppard, Marie Curie, Viola Desmond, Mary Verghese, Aisha Rateb, Wangari Maathai, J.K. Rowling, "Sissi" Lima do Amor,  Leymah Gbowee, Yuan Yuan Tan, and Malala Yousafzai.

My favorite part(s):

The diversity! In schools we often have a very narrow view of history. Rarely do we talk about influential figures in other countries (and especially rarely do we talk about about figures that aren't European). She Persisted Around the World does a great job of highlighting incredible women who often overlooked in the dominant narrative of history. There are women in this book who'd I'd never heard of before, and I'm so excited to learn more about them!

I also love the intersectionality! This book highlights many aspects of identity and doesn't just highlight women who fought for feminist causes. For example, both the sections on Mary Verghese and Aisha Rateb also include mention of disability. Although intersectionality might be a bit of a tough concept to tackle with elementary school students, this book could prompt a great discussion with students on their identity!

What you can do:

Talk to your students about a time that they've persisted through a challenge. What happened? Why did they persist? How did they feel afterward? Have them write about it and share with a partner.

Choose one of the highlighted women and create an interdisciplinary lesson that dives deeper into her story! For example, for Wangari Maathai, you could talk to students about environmentalism and resources that come from the earth. You can talk about how seeds grow or why trees are important. I can just imagine how happy students would be carrying home a little seedling that they've planted after having discussed how plants grow and Wangari Maathai!

Organize a lesson or two to celebrate Women's History month! Click here to check out some fun ideas for activities to do with your students.

Double check your teaching practices. Studies show that teachers treat their male and female students differently. Do you?  Click here to read a quick article about gender equality in the classroom and what you can do it promote it.

Happy Reading!