Hello, friends! Our book today is Little Dreamers: Visionary Women Around The World by Vashti Harrison, the dynamite sequel to Little Leaders.

Taking the same format as Leaders, Harrison introduces us to 35 more incredible women from history, this time broadening the focus to subjects from countries around the world, and from a myriad of ethnic backgrounds. Familiar feminist icons like Ada Lovelace, Hedy Lamarr, and Marie Curie join lesser known – yet no less impressive – trailblazers like Fatima Al-Firhi, founder of the oldest active university, and Esther Afua Ocloo, pioneer of the microlending movement to empower female entrepreneurs. Each woman was ahead of her time, courageous in her pursuits, and changed the world for the better, simply by being themselves and refusing to give up on their dreams.

Simply wonderful. Harrison has returned with a new crop of heroes for young girls (and boys), and we are glad for it. Where many of these anthologies can stumble with diversity, Dreamers has no such problem: the women presented are of a dizzying array of backgrounds, skintones, cultures, religions, and pursuits. Women of art, science, economics, politics, activism, philanthropy, and humanitarianism are each given brief yet thorough bios that do a great job of detailing their achievements while still giving a sense of their motivations and who they were/are as people. Harrison’s adorable figures, featuring open, serene faces and enigmatic smiles, are the perfect cherry on top. This is not a book for a single sitting, but can be broken into whatever-sized bites are right for your little bookworm. A wealth of mini-bios, glossary, and resource list complete the backmatter. JJ and I both learned from it, and loved it. An essential volume for every bookshelf, and Baby Bookworm approved!