Showing titles in Women

Born in 1925, Maria Tallchief spent part of her childhood on an Osage reservation in Oklahoma. With the support of her family and world-renowned choreographer George Balanchine, she rose to the top of her art form to become America's first prima ballerina.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the announcer for Buffalo Bill's Wild West called. "Miss Annie Oakley, the little girl of the Western Plains!" Oakley galloped into the arena, firing her gun from different angles and hitting even the most difficult targets. Rivaling all other sharpshooters of her day, Annie Oakley, the first female competitive shooter, opened doors for women to new sports and new opportunities.

Taylor Swift went from singing karaoke in a roadhouse as a young teen to being a musical icon by her twenties. But what is her life like when the cameras aren’t flashing? High-interest details of her high-profile life will enthrall listeners.

Naomi Osaka grew up in Japan and the US, with one foot in each place. But wherever she was, she loved to play tennis—and she worked hard at it too, always practicing and improving. Many people doubted that she would make it as a professional player, but she persisted and showed the world that she is a champion. Her talent on the court and her activism for racial justice and mental health causes off it have made Naomi an inspiration to fans everywhere.

Mahalia Jackson was known as the queen of gospel music. A close friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s, she was also a civil rights activist who sang at the March on Washington. And she traveled the world, too! Experience all the inspiring moments in Mahalia's big life in this thrilling biography, packed with fun facts, like who invented rock and roll! Short and engaging chapters are interspersed with special lists and other information made to order to engage kids, whether they're already biography fans or "have to" write a report for school.

The descendant of Cherokee ancestors who had been forced to walk the Trail of Tears, Wilma Mankiller experienced her own forced removal from the land she grew up on as a child. As she got older and learned more about the injustices her people had faced, she dedicated her life to instilling pride in Native heritage and reclaiming Native rights. She went on to become the first woman Principle Chief of the Cherokee Nation.

In the 1930s, Black singer Marian Anderson was not allowed to perform at Constitution Hall. But with help from Eleanor Roosevelt, Anderson staged an amazing concert at the Lincoln Memorial and became an activist for civil rights.

Phillis Wheatley was a little girl of seven or eight years old when she was captured in Africa and brought to America as a slave. But, she didn’t let her circumstances keep her down. She learned to read and write in English and Latin, and showed a natural gift for poetry. By the time she was 12, her elegy at the death of the great pastor George Whitefield brought her worldwide acclaim. Phillis became known to heads of state, including George Washington himself, speaking out for American independence and the end of slavery.

Alle bambine ribelli di tutto il mondo: sognate più in grande, puntate più in alto, lottate con più energia. E, nel dubbio, ricordate: avete ragione voi. C'era una volta una bambina che amava le macchine e amava volare; c'era una volta una bambina che scoprì la metamorfosi delle farfalle... Da Serena Williams a Malala Yousafzai, da Rita Levi Montalcini a Frida Kahlo, da Margherita Hack a Michelle Obama, sono 100 le donne raccontate in queste pagine.

Inspired by the number one New York Times best seller She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger comes a chapter book series about women who stood up, spoke up, and rose up against the odds. Listeners can now enjoy the first eight biographies in one audio collection!

In her memoir Do You Dream in Color?, Laurie Rubin looks back on her life as an international opera singer - who happens to be blind. From her loneliness and isolation as a middle school student to her experiences skiing, Rubin offers her young listeners a life story rich in detail and inspiration drawn from everyday challenges. Beginning with her childhood in California, Rubin tells the story of her life and the amazing experiences that led her to a career as an internationally celebrated mezzo-soprano.

The real-life Cinderella story of the very first professional woman astronomer—Caroline Herschel! Comet Chaser is the thrilling biography of a woman who made a lifetime of incredible contributions to science. She was the first woman to discover a comet, the first officially recognized in a scientific role, and the first to be given a Gold Medal by the Royal Astronomical Society.

At age 14, Hillary Clinton thought it would be thrilling to become an astronaut, so she sent an application to NASA. The reply was a flat-out rejection: The space program didn't take women. It was a critical moment for the young girl, one that made her realize the world she lived in needed changing and that she had better try to make those changes happen. Clinton's life has been a thrilling series of firsts - First Lady of the US, then first First Lady to become a US Senator, Secretary of State, and the first woman to run as the Democratic candidate for President.

Hildegard von Bingen was never meant to be remembered by history. The 10th child of one of the Graf von Sponheim’s knights, she was given to Disibodenberg monastery partly out of gratitude to God, but also partly because her visions made her too odd to make a suitable wife. When she succeeded Jutta von Sponheim as magistra and prioress of Disibodenberg monastery, she found herself unable to keep her visions secret any longer. What happened next led her to revolutionize not only monastic life for women, but the whole world too.

Like all A-Z books, this one illustrates the alphabet - but instead of "A is for apple", A is for Angela - as in Angela Davis, the iconic political activist. B is for Billie Jean King, who shattered the glass ceiling of sports; C is for Carol Burnett, who defied assumptions about women in comedy; D is for Dolores Huerta, who organized farmworkers; and E is for Ella Baker, who mentored Dr. Martin Luther King and helped shape the civil rights movement.

Considered the fastest woman of all time, Florence Griffith Joyner, also known as Flo Jo, set two world records in 1988 that still stand today. But getting there wasn't easy, and Flo Jo had to overcome many challenges along the way.

This illuminating biography reveals how the daughter of Lord Byron, Britain's most infamous Romantic poet, became the world's first computer programmer.

The New York Times best-selling author of Jumanji and The Polar Express, Chris Van Allsburg has garnered the National Book Award, multiple Caldecott Medals, and the Regina Medal for lifetime achievement in children’s literature. Queen of the Falls highlights the death-defying attempt of 62-year-old former charm school teacher Annie Edson Taylor to be the first woman to survive the perilous plunge over Niagara Falls.

In Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder: On Life as a Pioneer Woman, Laura tells her listeners what it was like to be a pioneer in the early 1900s. Her stories and insights show us how difficult even the simplest chores or tasks were for the early pioneers, yet through it all she continued to see each situation as an adventure—as if she was truly blazing the trail for future generations.

Born in 1729, Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbs was never supposed to come to power. But at age 16, she married the heir to the Russian throne. By 1762, Sophie, known now as Catherine, overthrew her immature and incompetent husband, Peter III, to lead the nation. Catherine became the sole ruler of Russia. This exciting Who Was? title explores how Catherine was able to turn Russia into one of the great powers of Europe by expanding its borders, helping improve its educational system, and advocating for the arts. Her three-decade reign is considered the Golden Age of Russia.