A girl sees a woman labeled as having too much ambition, but when the girl considers its definition she finds herself inspired and realizes ambition is required to make changes to the world and have her voice be heard. - (Baker & Taylor)

INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
INSTANT #1 INDIEBOUND BESTSELLER!

Anyone who's ever been underestimated or overshadowed will find inspiration in this empowering picture book from Meena Harris, New York Times-bestselling author of Kamala and Maya's Big Idea.

When a young girl sees a strong woman on TV labeled as "too assertive" and "too ambitious," it sends her on a journey of discovery through past, present, and future about the challenges faced by women and girls and the ways in which they can reframe, redefine, and reclaim words meant to knock them down.

As Ambitious Girl says:
No "too that" or "too this"
will stop what's inside us from flowering.
From now on, when I hear "too that" or "too this"
I won't mind—it's empowering! - (Grand Central Pub)

Meena Harris was born into a family of ambitious women whose legacy continues to inspire her. Meena herself is a lawyer and entrepreneur, as well as a #1 New York Times-bestselling author. In 2017 she founded Phenomenal, a female-powered organization that brings awareness to social causes. She currently resides in San Francisco with her partner and two daughters.

Meena Harris was born into a family of ambitious women whose legacy continues to inspire her. Meena herself is a lawyer and entrepreneur, as well as a #1 New York Times-bestselling author. In 2017 she founded Phenomenal, a female-powered organization that brings awareness to social causes. She currently resides in San Francisco with her partner and two daughters.

Booklist Reviews

Harris' empowering picture book about overcoming obstacles to reach a goal stars an irrepressible Black girl who finds strength in various role models. Blocky, charcoal-colored fonts, saying too loud, too persistent, too ambitious, and too too too are dismaying to the girl, but soft shades and expressive fonts gradually overtake those scenes with encouraging language alongside images of strong, powerful women. Bolstered by the strong women in her family, the little girl finds confidence, and the joy is palpable as women of all backgrounds crowd together in warm scenes in cheery yellows, oranges, and purples. Together they tackle barriers by bringing forth their collective sunshine. This invigorating girl-power story demonstrates that overcoming prejudice is possible with confidence and support, and it nicely emphasizes the positive connotations of words that often are applied to women in a negative way. The lively illustrations show a wide, inclusive array of women and girls, and the narrator, with her bouncy, tight curls and confident stature, steals the spotlight. An optimistic and refreshing call to unity and social justice. Grades K-3. Copyright 2021 Booklist Reviews.

Horn Book Guide Reviews

A young girl with brown skin sees a confident Black woman on TV. Judgments blare out from the screen: Too confident / Too ambitious / Too proud. The woman faces out, as if addressing the girl: Don't let anyone tell you who you are. You tell them who you are. In a rhyming first-person text, the girl expands on the mixed messages she receives when she speaks her truth. She takes strength from women in her family and from the ...sisters, aunties, mothers / [who] have opened so many doors. Valdez's energetic illustrations expand on the text's girl-power message. An author's note alludes to criticism of one of the women in our family (VP Kamala Harris, who's not named) as the book's spark. Copyright 2023 Horn Book Guide Reviews.

Kirkus Reviews

A little girl tells readers—and herself—all about the importance of being ambitious. The story starts with a wordless illustration of a little brown-skinned girl with textured black curls stopping to watch television sets displayed in a store window. The TVs display a Black woman confidently speaking at a microphone. But while the girl appears impressed, the television commentators are not. They call the politician too "assertive," "ambitious," "confident," and "proud." The little girl looks devastated, but the politician on TV is not. In response to this criticism, she declares that no one can define us and that it's up to us to define ourselves. The remaining pages are a poetic ode to ambition, beginning with the girl's own insecurities about being told, repeatedly, to be quieter, duller, or more patient. Like the politician she admires on TV, the unnamed protagonist does not let this criticism stop her. Instead, she reflects on what she has—her supportive family, for example, and ambitious women who've gone before (depicted as the suffragists, Shirley Chisholm, and Mae Jemison)—and who she wants to be. Generally, the rhyming text is buoyant with hope, although some concepts feel on the abstract side for children: "And if we fail, it's a chance to disrupt." The soft watercolor illustrations amplify the book's underlying messages of love and hope, filling the backgrounds with a multiracial cast of women diverse in age, sexuality, ethnicity, and ability. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.7-by-16.4-inch double-page spreads viewed at 45.1% of actual size.) An inspiring, rhyming ode to female ambition. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus 2021 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly Reviews

Harris and Valdez's appreciable celebration of female ambition begins with a televised broadcast of a Black female speaker being labeled "too assertive, too persistent, too ambitious, too loud." In Valdez's bright, largely unlined art, a brown-skinned girl, who walks up the street with three older Black women, is not discouraged by what she sees. Though she sometimes hears "you're ‘too that' or you're ‘too this,'?" her mother explains that historical figures, shown in a navy wash, "have opened so many doors," paving the way for this child's hopes and desires to flourish. The same words once used to criticize the televised woman are seen in a new, positive light by book's end: digital art shows the girl taking a stage of her own, where she proudly exclaims that she, too, is "AMBITIOUS!" Ages 4–8. (Jan.)