Full review with teaching tools: http://www.unleashingreaders.com/?p=12036

As I’ve stated over and over, I am so impressed with all the new National Geographic Kids books that I have encountered over the last couple of years. With this text, I specifically found the way that the publisher/authors structure the texts makes them so thematic-based thus accessible and informative. The books also have something for everyone as so many different types of heroines/heroes are featured from scientists, historical heroes, political heroes, and more! I cannot wait to put these in my classroom and find out how to use them with students!

Here is a very relevant book for today's world. As we have learned with the release of the book and movie Hidden Figures, there are a lot of heroic women out there that we just don't know anything about. Well, here is a book that can help remedy that. Following the same format as it's companion book about, this one introduces the reader to a variety of brave women who managed to accomplish so much despite the gender, race, and religious constraints they had to deal with and who were so often erased from history. One of my favorites heroines is Billy Jean King, who not only played and won the famous Battle of the Sexes tennis match against Bobby Riggs in 1973, but ultimately did so much for women's sports. Malala Yousafzai, who despite being shot by the Taliban for her outspoken opinions about women's right to an education at age 15, has continued to champion for this right. Inspiring people are so important for kids to learn about. I was also happy to see that two of my heroines that have been so since I was a girl and first read about them are included in this book - Anne Frank and Sophie Scholl.

Each person entry is accompanied by either a color or black and while photograph or other form of illustration and drawing, and there is an abundance of them. After an Introduction covering the seven most common traits that make a heroine, the book is divided
into eight chapters as follows:
1- Leading Ladies
2- Gritty Girls
3- Heroines on the Job
4- Legendary Ladies
5- Daring Dames
6- Peace Heroines
7- Ladies in Lab Coats
8- Outstanding Animals

There are a wide variety of women included in this book - reporters who worked on the front lines, women who worked helped break codes in WWII at Bletchley Park, others who helped the poor, the sick and animals who need champions to save them. I liked that Emma Watson was included not because she played Hermione Granger, the smartest student at Hogwarts, but for her work as Global Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women, dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. And there is a nice two page spread about Harriet Tubman, who was born a slave, escaped and spent her life helping other slaves escape to freedom. This book is a nice starting point for kids who want to discover inspiring women. This book also ends with a section on how young readers can also become everyday heroines and the very first suggestion is to find more heroines. Let me suggest three women who were not in the book, but who certainly deserve the title inspiring heroines:
Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, the three African American female NASA mathematicians, hidden and segregated despite their contributions.

I checked this book out from the library because I love National Geographic and so that my nieces could learn about some significant women throughout history. The book is very informative and interesting, but I am sadly disappointed. This book displays great and inspiring women who have done a variety of things throughout history, but there's also a guy included like on every other page. The book is called "The Book of Heroines: Tales of History's Gutsiest Gals". How hard would it have been to just include women? Honestly, I can understand why some men were included like Lewis and Clark on the Sacagawea page (because she saved their butts). But, I don't understand why the editor, author, or Nat Geo felt compelled to include other men like Elon Musk or Charles Lindbergh (a Nazi Sympathizer) as "Daring Dudes" in a book about prominent women. In the introduction on page 7, there's a blurb about the inclusion of "Daring Dudes" that says, "Sure, this is a book about women, but that doesn't mean courageous chaps should be swept under the rug. These sidebars highlight some of history's greatest heroes." I'd just like to pose the question, "When have men been swept under the rug in history?" The accomplishments, and even struggles, of men are in literally every history book. I am truly shocked that for some reason Nat Geo couldn't/didn't put out a book just about important women in history, their accomplishments, and their impacts on society that lived up to and upheld the promise of the title. It's not like they were at a loss of significant heroines to choose from. You can miss me with that bs.