In March we celebrate Women’s History Month, and on March 8 International Women’s Day is recognized around the globe.
There are many books in The Diverse BookFinder that honor the achievements of women great and small, from the extraordinary to the everyday.
As April is Jazz Appreciation Month, this Women’s History Month we are focusing on women and music. Some of these are biographies of famous jazz musicians, others about a child learning a new skill, the importance of music to a community and above all, having fun.
As we consider the many ways we can see the lives of women and girls in picture books, the categories in the Diverse BookFinder help us see how people are represented in a story:
Biographies About Women and Music
Biographies are often straightforward histories of a person’s life, but picture books let us contextualize experiences in new ways for young readers. They not only show people doing great things, but also how they came to develop those skills.
"A biography of African American musician Melba Doretta Liston, a virtuoso musician who played the trombone and composed and arranged music for many of the great jazz musicians of the twentieth century. Includes afterword, discography, and sources"--|cProvided by publisher
Little Melba and her big trombone
Discusses American Jazz singer Billie Holiday and her dogs, especially her pet boxer, Mister
Mister and Lady Day
A child prodigy at the piano sprinkles her music with a little jazz. Includes an afterword about the life of the twentieth-century jazz musician, Mary Lou Williams
The little piano girl
A tribute to the life of the iconic jazz entertainer depicts her disadvantaged youth in a segregated America, her unique performance talents, and the irrepressible sense of style that helped her overcome racial barriers
Jazz Age Josephine
While these are some of our highlighted picks in the category, The Diverse BookFinder’s database has over 126 biography picture books in our system. Take a peek and see what other biographies about strong female characters you can find.
Women and Music Around the World
Beautiful Life stories are about a particular racial or cultural group experiences and take readers into the everyday world of characters in countries around the world.
"A young Latina girl accidentally breaks her grandfather's vihuela and searches for someone in the community to fix the instrument, which leads her to discover her grandfather's legacy as a mariachi. Includes an author's note and glossary"--|cProvided by publisher
Finding the music / En pos de la musica
A young girl and her mother put on their red dresses and dance their way through the barrio, collecting friends and neighbors along the way as they go to the park to hear her father's salsa band play
¡A bailar!
For homework Kenya has to choose her favorite song, but there are so many different kinds of music in her community that she has a hard time deciding
Kenya’s song
Chavi's music teacher believes that only boys should play drums in Miami's Festival de la Calle Ocho, but Chavi knows she is a good musician and looks for a way to prove it
Drum, Chavi, drum!
Young Dionne Warwick is ambling through childhood like any other like kid, enjoying her family and neighbors, her pet dog, her hobbies, and school, when one day she discovers that she has a special talent
Say a little prayer
"The summer holidays are here, and Jamela is as bored as a girl can be! All she can think about is the Afro-Idols TV final - so when she lands a job at Divine Braids hair salon, she can't believe her eyes at the arrival of the glamorous Afro-Idols celebrity Miss Bambi Chaka Chaka. But while Jamela's idol dozes and Aunt Beauty designs her starry hairdo, a buzzy fly appears on the scene and threatens to ruin everything . . . can creative Jamela save the day?"--Provided by publisher
A song for Jamela
While these are some of our favorites in the category, The Diverse BookFinder’s database has over 423 Beautiful Life picture books in our system. Take a peek and see what other stories about strong female characters around the world you can find.
Women & Girls Enjoying Music
Any Child books include stories depicting characters of color which do not make race, ethnicity, or culture part of the plot. These books depict children of color in everyday settings doing everyday activities.
A young girl makes her way through an urban neighborhood filled with children playing, men debating, women cooking, and jazz music playing as her community gathers to celebrate "Neighbors' Day."
Around our way on Neighbors’ Day
While these are some of our favorites in the category, The Diverse BookFinder’s database has over 166 Any Child picture books in our system. Take a peek and see what other stories about women and girls who just love music you can find.
Women & Girls Sharing Music
Cross Group books are stories that portray character interactions across racial or cultural difference, including those depicting same-age and cross-age friendships.
A child prodigy at the piano sprinkles her music with a little jazz. Includes an afterword about the life of the twentieth-century jazz musician, Mary Lou Williams
The little piano girl
While these are some of our favorites in the category, The Diverse BookFinder’s database has over 110 Cross Group picture books in our system. Take a peek and see what other stories about women and girls who just love music you can find.
Stories about women and music cover many of the categories represented in the Diverse BookFinder. We can find inspirational biographies, learn about the music of various cultures, see interactions across groups, and help a child find themselves in a story. Like multicultural books more broadly, not every racial or ethnic group is represented in this topic. Not every culture or community can find themselves and their musical traditions in picture books. There is much to learn, and still more missing from the conversation. We hope people can use our system to identify books for their collections and think critically about what is missing completely.
Do you want to know more about women in jazz? Try out this guide from NPR: