Amanda Gorman Wants to Create a ‘Welcoming Dialogue’ with Kids ArticlePure

Amanda Gorman isn’t shying away from topics sometimes deemed “too advanced” for young children in her latest picture book. 

The poet and activist, 26, published her fourth book, Girls on The Rise, illustrated by Loveis Wise, earlier this month. The release comes four years after Gorman performed her poem “The Hill We Climb” at President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021, becoming the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history at age 22. 

Speaking with NPR’s Eric Deggan on the Book of the Day podcast, Gorman said that the picture book focuses on the idea of being stronger together and standing in solidarity with one another. She added that this message is important to emphasize because “so often girls feel alone.”

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“Being a young girl in these times can be very difficult, very challenging, and I think that’s going to continue unless there’s a systemic change that makes sure that girls feel safe and protected,” she continued. “And the more that we can stand with them and amongst them, as allies and as me, as a woman myself, then there’s no longer this feeling of being alone but being part of a community that shares your value.”

In relaying that theme to young audiences, Gorman strives not to talk down to her young readers. Instead, she writes “with the understanding that children are far more intelligent than we give them credit for, especially emotionally.”

She said that when it comes to gender equality and sexism in particular, kids are often already asking those questions based on their lived experiences. 

“I remember being a young girl and being like, ‘Why are guys telling me that I throw like a girl’ like, it’s an insult? Why am I getting bullied by, young boys in the class? Why are there these rules that I have to play with these toys or dress in this way or speak in this way to be accepted?” Gorman continued.

“And I think the sooner that we create a welcoming dialogue with children or they feel that they can voice, ‘Hey. This is what’s going on with me,’ the better the world will be for it.”

Even for adults, Gorman said it can be hard to talk about gender and sexism, so the vibrant colors and imagery in the book are designed to create a safe space for people of all gender identities to engage in “the conversation of what it means to be a young person who identifies as a girl.”

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Girls on the Rise is available now, wherever books are sold.