Hello, friends! Today’s book is Malala Yousafzai: Warrior With Words, written by Karen Leggett Abouraya and illustrated by L. C. Wheatley, a biography of the Nobel Prize-winning activist.

On her sixteenth birthday, dressed in her favorite color (pink), Malala Yousafzai stood in front of an assembly of children, journalists, and members of the United Nations and gave a speech about every child’s basic right to education. Malala had survived much to be there. She had grown up in a loving family in Pakistan who had encouraged her love of learning. When the Taliban took over her town and decreed that girls could no longer go to school, she would not agree. She continued to attend school in secret, even writing for the BBC about her experiences under Taliban rule. She gave speeches and wrote articles about every child’s right to education, girl or boy. Her words of equality and peace threatened the terrorists so much that they tried to assassinate her, but Malala survived, and vowed that the experience only made her conviction to fight for the rights of children and women stronger. She continues her fight to this day, using her words as weapons against hate and discrimination.

If you are a regular follower of ours, you know we love stories about brave girls, especially if they’re true! And Malala is a personal hero, so it’s going to be hard to not like any book that introduces her incredible journey to little ones. And while I’m a bit more partial to For The Right To Learn by Rebecca Langston-George due to its breathtaking art, Warrior With Words also does a fantastic job of this. The cut-paper art is surprisingly detailed, abstract yet filled with emotion and depth. The length is actually better for younger bookworms, and the incident of Malala’s attempted assassination is dealt with in slightly less detail, but no less impact. Overall, this is a very well-done biography that would be great for inspiring smaller bookworms with a true story of a remarkable girl. Baby Bookworm approved!