Book Review: Mighty Mommies and Their Amazing Jobs by Donald Jacobsen
Mighty Mommies and Their Amazing Jobs celebrates an awesome and diverse group of women in science and technology, which works both to encourage young girls to pursue those careers and to promote gender positivity. Seeing women in these careers is critical to help girls picture themselves in these important roles. But this book isn’t only for girls. It’s equally as important to demonstrate to boys that girls can be (and are) on equal ground with them in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math!
In the last 100 years, we have seen women take significant strides towards equality. From witnessing Kitty Joyner become the first woman to graduate from the University of Virginia’s engineering program at a time when women were not accepted into the all-male engineering school to her becoming NASA’s first woman engineer. To then seeing the first woman, Hilary Clinton run for president in 2016; women continue to fight to change the world.
When it comes to career goals, you don’t get much better than these women. Not only have they accomplished exceptional achievements in science, engineering, mathematics, and service, they’ve done so in industries typically dominated by men. As parents, we need to inspire our children to reach for the stars. We know that girls can- AND HAVE -changed the world, and when we inspire our children to dream bigger, it can profoundly change their life.
One way to empower our children to think bigger and do better is to read children’s stories to them that will encourage them to pursue careers that women are not typically seen in. Reading children’s books that focus on female characters in these areas is necessary. Mighty Mommies and Their Amazing Jobs by Donald Jacobsen encourages girls to pursue careers in science, technology, and service and promotes gender positivity.
Mighty Mommies and Their Amazing Jobs is filled with a diverse collection of occupations that celebrate the contributions that jobs In STEM fields make in our world. Created for young readers ages 2-7, Mighty Mommies and Their Amazing Jobs helps girls picture themselves in these important roles. But this book isn’t only for girls. Donald Jacobsen notes that “It’s equally as important to demonstrate to boys that girls can be (and are) on equal ground with them in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math!”
As we read and learn about exciting careers in the STEM and service fields, illustrator, Graham Evans depicts these careers with vivid and eye-catching illustrations that both parents and kids will love. This inspiring picture book has quickly become a favorite in our home. It is always important to read books with my kids that inspire my children to think BIG and help get young minds dreaming up careers and how they can help change the world and help continue to make strides towards equality. This fantastic book helps me do that.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Why and How to Use it With Your Kids
- Great gift to give a child of any age.
- Inspires girls (and boys!) to picture themselves in STEM and service careers
- Helps kids understand what people do in different jobs
- Promotes gender equality
- Builds confidence in young readers ages 2-7 with simple vocabularies
- Use alongside FREE lesson plan resources for Teachers, Homeschoolers & Parents
- Use alongside Printable coloring pages that you can get HERE
- Use in a variety of settings including in homes and classrooms
Where Can I Find Mighty Mommies and Their Amazing Jobs?
You can find Mighty Mommies and Their Amazing Jobs! on Amazon.
Other Books Written by Donald Jacobsen
Find out about these books HERE.
About the Author, Donald Jacobsen
“Donald Jacobsen is a husband, father, registered nurse, and sometimes-writer living and working in Memphis, Tennessee. Donald’s clinical nursing experience comes from 10 years in the field, with a background in emergency nursing and EMS, case management, nursing informatics, and a variety of other settings. Donald’s experience otherwise comes from living an amazing life with his wondrous wife, two beautiful daughters, and their mopey rescue dog, Yoda.”
Rapid Fire with Donald Jacobsen
Q. When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
Donald: I’ve been a writer for as long as I can remember. Of course, we’re all storytellers at heart. But, I remember writing well-developed short stories starting around 5th or 6th grade. Well, at least they were as well-developed as they could be from the mind of a wild 12-year-old.
Q. What does your family think of your writing?
Donald: My family is so supportive that it’s almost embarrassing. Not embarrassing because of the support, of course. But, embarrassing because I’m creeping into that realm that we all get into – the realm of the imposter syndrome. My family is always asking about the next book, talking about how they saw my book on Instagram, and so on. It’s all very encouraging, but also terrifying because I don’t want to let anyone down.
Q. What was the most surprising thing you learned about creating books?
Donald: The most surprising thing is how difficult everything is, and how many moving parts there are to the whole system. I thought that writing children’s books would be easy. You write some silly words and make sure they rhyme. Well, yeah, that’s simple if you don’t want to convey anything meaningful. But, to write a children’s book in language that’s understandable to a 4-year-old while conveying a meaningful message AND making it all rhyme and pace in a fun and engaging way? That’s tough. To make matters more interesting – as difficult as the writing is, that’s the easiest part!
Q. What do you think makes a good story?
Donald: I think anything that kids can connect with that sparks an idea in their mind, teaches them something, or encourages them makes a great story. Even stories that seem to have absolutely no meaning can light a fire of imagination in a child. I can’t begin to count how many silly stories I’ve read to my girls that they’ve interpreted in some unexpectedly profound way.
Q. What advice do you have for writers?
Donald: Never give up. Never stop writing. And, never assume that your story isn’t worth telling. You never know what kind of impact you can have on this world.
Q. Tell us about your plans for the future? Where do you see yourself in 5 years
Donald: I’ll be writing children’s books for as long as I’m able. It’s a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun. In five years, I hope to have several series of kids’ books worked out. But I also plan to delve into some long-form writing that won’t be as interesting to my current demographic. I’d love to write a sci-fi series, and I hope I’m able to do that within the next several years.
Q. How did you become involved in the subject or theme of your book?
Donald: Mommies and Their Amazing Jobs was sort of written as a message to my two girls that they can be anything they want to be in this world. We’re inundated with girls’ books about princesses and fairies and all that. I’m not knocking those stories, but I always wondered – why is a princess so often the go-to for the main character for a girls’ book or cartoon? Why not an engineer? A computer programmer? An astronaut? That’s where it all started. I wanted to have something different for my girls.
Q. What do you love most about being an Author?
Donald: There are two things I love the most about what I do. First, I love the reaction from my girls when I get an author copy of a new book and they see my name on it. I also love the idea that I’m building a legacy that will live on well past my years and one that will impact the lives of thousands of children.
Q. Are you working on anything at the present that you would like to share with your readers?
Donald: I already started work on book #3 in the Big Ideas for Little Dreamers series. It’s tentatively titled Ellie the Ingenious Engineer and follows the story of the engineer from Mighty Mommies. I’m also working on a short, simple rhyming children’s book titled Bye Bye Butterfly. That book deals with death and saying goodbye in an abstract way that won’t be scary to children. It’s just a little project that I need to get out there to heal from the death of my grandmother in 2019.
Q. Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
Donald: I try to stay pretty engaged with the parents, grandparents, and teachers on my mailing list. I love to get feedback and bounce ideas off them. And, I love to hear the stories of how they’re using my book. One of my readers mentioned that she read Mighty Mommies to a group of children at a women’s shelter for victims of domestic violence, and said the kids were enthralled by the book. Stories like that drive home the importance of this work and inspire me to get the next book out, and the next, and the next.
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All in all, my family and I have really enjoyed this book and we know you will too! Please feel free to leave me any comments or questions about this review. I look forward to hearing from you!
* This book was kindly sent to me by Author, Donald Jacobsen in exchange for an honest review.
I don’t have kids but these sound great! I have a nephew that would love them.
The book sounds like a wonderful read for the kids. Thanks for sharing the review. It could be a wonderful gift idea!
I agree with you. Books that tell stories about women in jobs that are “unconventional” are good books for little girls. It will empower them and make them know that they can be whatever they dream to be.
Thanks for posting the book review of Mighty Mommies and Their Amazing Jobs by: Donald Jacobsen. It sounds like a great book and one that my girls would enjoy!
Any book that makes kids believe that they can be anything when they grow up is truly special. Thumbs up for these books!