Brazen Rebels: 5 Books for International Women's Day

Every International Women’s Day, the book world rallies around and publishes new titles celebrating brilliant women world over, and this year is no different. Here are five beautiful, illustrated books celebrating women that have been released in 2018 to get you started.

Brazen: Rebel Women Who Rule the World – Illustrated by Pénélope Bagieu
Immerse yourself in the captivating adventures of some of history’s unsung heroines, whose stories are told through engaging voices, dazzling drawings and with startling wit. Each story is told in cute, colourful comics, from animal whisperer Temple Grandin, to volcanologist Katia Krafft. These are often lesser-known women, whose stories are told in a brilliant, hefty collection.

Rebel Voices: The Rise of Votes for Women – Louise Kay Stewart, illustrated by Eve Lloyd Knight
2018 marks the centenary of the first wave of women gaining the right to vote in the UK. It was still a long way from equality for all women, but in 2018 a number of titles are revisiting the suffrage movement. Rebel Voices takes a global view, from how 40,000 Russian women marched through St Petersburg demanding their rights, to Kuwaiti women protesting via text message. This is a global view of the fight for equal rights - it’s a beautiful and informative book, highlighting fights that can be forgotten as we focus solely on UK history.

The Little Book of Feminist Saints – Julia Pierpont, illustrated by Manjit Thapp
New York Times bestseller Julia Pierpont teams up with artist Manjit Thapp to pair together vibrant and surprising biographies with stunning full-colour portraits of women across the world and history who broke ground, ceilings and moulds. From Maya Angelou to Jane Austen, Marie Curie to Michelle Obama, Kanno Sugako to Malala Yousafzai, this is a bitesize tour through brilliant women.

Women in Sport: Fifty Fearless Athletes Who Played to Win – written and illustrated by Rachel Ignotofsky
Women in Sport celebrates the success of the tough, bold and fearless women who paved the way for today’s athletes. From tennis legend Serena Williams to Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel, and Keiko Fukuda, the highest ranked female judoka in history. It’s the latest in a series, following on from 2016's Women in Science.

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls 2 – Elena Favilli, Francesca Cavallo
‘To the rebel girls of the world: You are the promise. You are the force. Don’t step back, and everyone will move forward.’ Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls is a bestseller, telling the stories of women across the world and history, inspiring girls to dream bigger, aim higher and fight harder. The follow-up tells another 100 stories, from chemist and X-ray crystallographer Rosalind Franklin to Queen B herself, Beyoncé.