Amanda Gorman Wants to Create a 'Welcoming Dialogue' with Kids: 'So Often, Girls Feel Alone'

Mar. 15, 2025

Amanda Gorman arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere Of Universal Pictures “Wicked” at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Nov. 9, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.Photo:Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

Steve Granitz/FilmMagic

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

Speaking with NPR’s Eric Deggan on theBook of the Daypodcast, Gorman said that the picturebook focuses on the idea of being strongertogether 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.”

Penguin Young Readers

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.

“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 Riseis available now, wherever books are sold.

source: people.com