List

Women Artists and the Power of Creativity for Kids

By Skokie Staff Youth Services

Be inspired by the lives and creative passions of extraordinary women artists and creators. Enjoy these picture book biographies and great stories to stir your artistic imagination.

  • The Important Thing about Margaret Wise Brown

    2019 by Barnett, Mac

    Learn more about the life of beloved author-illustrator Margaret Wise Brown, the harsh criticisms she faced in her creative life, and the enduring legacy of her many wonderful children's books, including Goodnight Moon. Ages 4 and up.

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  • What If

    2018 by Berger, Samantha

    A child who likes to draw and write stories imagines what would happen if there were no pencils, paper, or other tools for being creative. Ages 4 and up.

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  • Frida Kahlo and Her Animalitos

    2017 by Brown, Monica

    This book chronicles Frida's life and captures the beauty and strength of her creative spirit and the animals that inspired her along the way. Ages 4 and up.

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  • Milo's Museum

    2016 by Elliott, Zetta

    Milo is excited about her class trip to the museum. As Milo tours the museum with her class, she realizes that the people from her community are missing from the museum. Milo takes matters into her own hands and opens her own museum. Ages 4 and up.

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  • Yayoi Kusama Covered Everything in Dots and Wasn't Sorry

    2020 by Gilberti, Fausto

    Yayoi Kusama long wanted to be a famous artist--soon the dots that inspired her work jumped off the canvas and into her everyday life. Ages 4 and up.

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  • Pocket Full of Colors: The Magical World of Mary Blair, Disney Artist Extraordinaire

    2017 by Guglielmo, Amy

    From her imaginative childhood to her career as an illustrator, designer, and animator for Walt Disney Studios, Mary wouldn't play by the rules. At a time when studios wanted to hire men and think in black and white, Mary painted twinkling emerald skies, peach giraffes with tangerine spots, and magenta horses that could fly. Ages 4 and up.

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  • Little Dreamers: Visionary Women around the World

    2018 by Harrison, Vashti

    Featuring the true stories of women creators and thinkers from around the world, throughout history, this book shows that sometimes seeing things a little differently can lead to big changes. Ages 6 and up.

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  • Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines, Designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

    2017 by Harvey, Jeanne Walker

    This book tells the story of Maya Lin's life and the design contest she won to create the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. Ages 4 and up.

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  • It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way

    2019 by Maclear, Kyo

    This is an amazing look at the life of Japanese-American author-illustrator Gyo Fujikawa, who, among the many accomplishments in her life, created the first picture book to include children of different races interacting. Ages 4 and up.

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  • Dorothea's Eyes

    2016 by Rosenstock, Barb

    Dorothea's photographic gifts have allowed America, and the world, to see the severe impacts of the Great Depression on those most vulnerable. Despite her own physical disability, she traveled far and wide to point her lens toward the truth. Ages 7 and up.

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  • The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science

    2018 by Sidman, Joyce

    Maria Merian, a 17th-century artist and naturalist, made true-to-scale drawings of butterflies and insects in all of their developmental stages. Her important scientific and artistic work led to the discovery that moths and butterflies come from caterpillars, among others. Ages 6 and up.

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  • The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid

    2017 by Winter, Jeanette

    This biography of architect Zaha Hadid shows how her fascination with the natural world as a child affected the unconventional designs of the buildings she made around the world. Ages 5 and up.

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