The International Day of the Girl

 

The International Day of the Girl

Written by: Jessica Dee Humphreys and Rona Ambrose

Illustrated by: Simone Shin

Published by: Kids Can Press

Published on: September 1, 2020

Ages: 8+

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Since 2012, October 11 has been the International Day of the Girl. 

Humphreys and Ambrose take us around the world to meet 9 fictionalized girls who are empowering themselves and making strides for themselves and their communities. We meet Flora in Brazil, Abuya in Kenya, and Zarah who is from Syria but now lives in a refugee camp. 

Each of these girls comes up with a solution to a problem faced by many girls worldwide, from lack of accessible areas for disabled people like Lilliya in Russia, or Sokanon whose community in northern Canada has been denied the basic right to clean water.

All of these girls are inspirational for their work in their communities, but it is us the reader who needs to take action and ensure that governments and other organizations lift the barriers that girls face all over the world.

The illustrations are amazing and add so much context to the stories. Simone Shin is really great at portraying diverse characters and adding much to the backgrounds in a really nice way.

There is a story about a garden at the beginning and end of the book that is supposed to be a metaphor but my Grade 5 daughter didn't really get it- she wanted to know why if it was a metaphor that we weren't talking about the systems that denied water and care to half of the garden. I'll take that as a win for my daughter in understanding, but the book would be better just talking about the girls themselves.

We are looking forward to celebrating the International Day of the Girl this October, and I hope we can make a mark in our communities the way these girls did.