A biographical reference by a debut author and illustrator is based on her popular Instagram posts and shares the stories of 40 African-American women who shaped history. 50,000 first printing. Simultaneous eBook. - (Baker & Taylor)

Features female figures of black history, including abolitionist Sojourner Truth, pilot Bessie Coleman, chemist Alice Ball, politician Shirley Chisholm, mathematician Katherine Johnson, poet Maya Angelou, and filmmaker Julie Dash. - (Baker & Taylor)

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Meet the little leaders. They're brave. They're bold. They changed the world.

Featuring 40 trailblazing black women in history, this book educates and inspires as it relates true stories of women who broke boundaries and exceeded all expectations, including:

Nurse Mary Seacole

Politician Diane Abbott

Mathematician Katherine Johnson

Singer Shirley Bassey

Bestselling author and artist Vashti Harrison pairs captivating text and beautiful illustrations as she tells the stories of both iconic and lesser-known female figures. Among these biographies, readers will find heroes, role models, and everyday women who did extraordinary things.

Vashti Harrison is the New York Times bestselling creator of Big, which was awarded the 2024 Caldecott Medal, a Coretta Scott King Book Award Author Honor, and a Coretta Scott King Book Award Illustrator Honor, in addition to being a National Book Award finalist. Vashti is also the #1 New York Times bestselling creator of Little Leaders, Little Dreamers, and Little Legends, and the illustrator of Lupita Nyong’o’s Sulwe (for which she received a Coretta Scott King Book Award Illustrator Honor), Matthew A. Cherry’s Hair Love, Andrea Beaty's I Love You Like Yellow, and Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic’s Hello, Star, among others. A two-time recipient of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for Children, Vashti lives in Brooklyn, New York, and invites you to visit her online @vashtiharrison or at vashtiharrison.com. - (Grand Central Pub)

Booklist Reviews

Harrison introduces 40 outstanding black women in one-page biographies. They range from the well-known (Ida B. Wells, Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Chisholm) to women whose names are lesser known but just as important: Rebecca Lee Crumpler, a nineteenth-century physician; Marcelite Harris, an airline pilot; and Julie Dash, a filmmaker. But it's not the short bios that attract the most attention; it's the delightful full-page artwork that faces the text. Each subject is drawn identically, almost like a paper doll, but with her own hair, dress, and accouterments. Most are posed the same, centered in the middle of the page, full-faced, eyes closed. Despite the similarities, each woman is fully unique. Children will be inspired by these women, all of whom, in some way, had to overcome adversity or roadblocks to achieve their goals. Just one question: why are all the eyes closed? These trailblazers led their lives with their eyes wide open. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews.