Secret Engineer: How Emily Roebling Built the Brooklyn Bridge. By Rachel Dougherty.

As a project manager that builds bridges and is NOT an engineer myself, I am just in love with this story!

Evelyn the Adventurous Entomologist: The True Story of a World-Traveling Bug Hunter. By Christine Evans

I absolutely love the illustrations in this one.

The Power of Her Pen: The Story of Groundbreaking Journalist Ethel L. Payne. By Lesa Cline-Ransome.

Another fascinating story from the WWII period that I had never heard before!

Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist. By Jess Keating

I also love the illustrations in this one, and the great mix of realism and vivid color.

Dinosaur Lady: The Daring Discoveries of Mary Anning, the First Paleontologist. By Linda Skeers.

Wood, Wire, Wings: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane. By Kristen Larson.

I knew about Amelia Earhart and the Wright Brothers. I did not know about Lilian Todd.

Lizzie Demands a Seat!: Elizabeth Jennings Fights for Streetcar Rights. By Beth Anderson.

I must admit, I had no idea that social justice and streetcars where a thing. Obviously there are none around here or in our Virginia history, so I guess I just never came across it. But this story was fascinating and the timeline shocked me. This was LONG before Rosa Parks! The non-fiction America’s First Freedom Rider is a great follow up if the topic is unfamiliar to you too. This should be a movie.

Grace Banker and Her Hello Girls Answer the Call: The Heroic Story of WWI Telephone Operators. By Claudia Friddell.

This one has a very graphic novel-type feel to the illustrations.

The Poppy Lady: Moina Belle Michael and Her Tribute to Veterans. By Barbara Walsh.

Such an interesting WWI story, and I had never heard of it before.

The Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life with the Chimps. By Jeanette Winter.

Ok, Jane Goodall was not unfamiliar to me, but I have 3 biographies of her on my shelf and this one was a good addition.

Dorothea Lange: The Photographer Who Found the Faces of the Depression. By Carole Boston Weatherford.

I found this story fascinating. I didn’t have any idea who was behind some of the photos even though I recognized them immediately. But the picture book is just a glimpse of the whole story. Check out Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits for the bigger story.

How to Build a Hug: Temple Grandin and Her Amazing Squeeze Machine. By Amy Guglielmo.

Temple Grandin is very familiar to me as well. But I think this picture book does a great job focusing on how she change the livestock handling world. The science of “animal science.” So often we hear about her directly in relation to her Autism, instead of as her contribution to science.

Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain. By Cheryl Bardoe.

Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor: The Woman Who Loved Reptiles. By Patrician Valdez.

She was the Curator of Reptiles at the British Museum in the early 20th century. This one has quite a bit of educational back matter to explore and a lot of reptile vocabulary.

Ocean Speaks: How Marie Tharp Revealed the Ocean’s Biggest Secret. By Jess Keating.

Keating also wrote The Shark Lady, and this book is equally gorgeous. The story of Marie Tharp overcoming discrimination to map the ocean floor (even though she wasn’t allowed out on boats with men at first!) is very exciting and would also fit great with a Shark Week family unit study. Another great picture book about Tharp is Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea by Robert Burleigh (although I like this one’s illustrations better).

When Sue Found Sue: Sue Henderson Discovers Her T-Rex. By Toni Buzzeo.

Women in science AND dinosaurs! {smile} This story is actually modern history (1990) and really shows that there’s still so much out there to be discovered.

A Lady Has the Floor: Belva Lockwood Speaks Out for Women’s Rights. By Katie Hannigan.

Do you know who the first woman to run for President was? It was Belva Lockwood in 1884. She said “I cannot vote, but I can be voted for.” An amazing story of crashing through all kinds of barriers. She was also the first woman to ever argue a case before the Supreme Court. There are a few other resources out there about her, but I particularly like this on because it portrays her as determined but not in an aggressive and unlikeable way as some sources from the 40s and 50s portrayed her.

On Wings of Words: The Extraordinary Life of Emily Dickinson. By Jennifer Berne

I love Emily Dickinson’s poetry and there are a lot of biographies and picture books about her. But I particularly like this one because it talks about how her creativity changed the way she looked at the world around her, and how she used her writing to express her feelings and process the things that happened to her. Her poetry was a coping mechanism. I think older kids, and introverted kids, could get a lot out of this story.

Little Melba and Her Big Trombone. By Katheryn Russell-Brown.

Another story I didn’t know until I found the picture book! I’m still looking for more resources about Melba Doretta Liston, as there’s still not much out there. If you have any good resources, please share in the comments! I’d love to look them up!