finding kids books for feminists

ok folks, i gotta tell ya...finding kids books for a feminist is not the easiest thing in the world to do, especially when her little person is only 4, and she knows exactly what kind of books she wants for the little person, but no titles in mind... (doh...i just had a flash of inpiration...2 hours too late...shoulda showed her 'the paperbag princess'...oh well...it very often happens that i find the perfect book for a customer 5 minutes after they leave or think of some great ideas... frustrating that)
so as i'm passing through the kids section at work, (where i can find pretty much anything, more or less, but i can't necessarily recommend stuff except by author reputation or fuzzy memories or what is selling or other people have told me is good ( and sometimes i can't recommend the stuff i remember cuz it's kinda ... dated in it's sensitivities...?). so this black lady is kinda looking around like she needs help so i offer to help her. she's looking for "pioneer stories" for her 4 year old, but not like the europeans who colonised north america "pioneer stories", more like the first woman to do something, or stuff like that - pioneers in the broad sense. i'm impressed by the idea but a little unsure what i can find for a 4 year old.
(NOTe: Jen and 'Col are not allowed to get mad at me for not thinking of something that is totally obvious to them...but ideas are welcome)
so we try the kids history section, cuz i know i've seen stuff about great figures in women's history, and there's a couple maybes which she shoots down. the first one was definitely too advanced for her kid. the other one was an underground railroad kinda story, but it was ultimately disempowering. i begin to suspect feminist tendencies and think harder. next we try the 'tails from around the world' section, where i'm hoping to find something that fits the bill or to fall back on multiculturalistic intentions. also i know that there's something about nelson mandela there. turns out its a collection of stuff selected by mandela, not about mandela. hmm... now i also face a funny question, and i'm putting this out there for thought - should i just reach for nelson mandela? or is that too obvious and therefore maybe a bit racist? is overthinking the situation i different kind of well-intentioned racism? ... i left mandela on the shelf. hmm...
as our adventure continues i picked and pulled a few titles for her consideration, "the first strawberry" (a cherokee tale about a woman who discovers strawberries) is the only actual title i can remember although there was a mexican one too. both turned down, one cuz of gender role issues, the other cuz it mentioned "poor indians" ("bad on both counts"). i am not mocking the lady, in case that's not clear here on the internet where there's no tone of voice...this was just a generally tricky situation - i was in full support of her request and really wanted to help her, only i couldn't really....well i guess i did, cuz she did appreciate the time i spent with her, and i managed to find a dozen books resembling what she wanted from which she took one. all the others were turned down with feminist critiques... but apparently feminism hasn't swept all the way through children's literature to what she wanted...or i could not find it. normally when a customer is that picky....except she was picky in the right way i guess.
ya know this was funnier in my head. stupid post.
and i don't remember what she actually purchased. sorry. i was just glad i was able to find something for her (because i was glad to find something for her kid, not for my own sake).