Picture book remembers Icelandic Women's Day Off

I Dare! I Can! I Will!

The Day the Icelandic Women Walked Out and Inspired the World

Written by Linda Olafsdottir

Cameron Kids, 2023

“I Dare! I Can! I Will!” opens as Mamma bundles up her daughter Vera to go on a women’s march with her. As they take a bus to the march, she tells Vera about the Women’s Day Off or the Long Friday. This was a march she went to with her own mother on this day in 1975 when she was a child Vera’s age.

Women’s Day Off happened on October 24, 1975. Women from all over Iceland marched out of their homes and jobs. They took the day off.

Mamma explains that women had been fighting for equal rights for many years. At one time, girls weren’t allowed to go to school. They were kept at home to learn how to take care of the household and children.

As time went by, more women got educations and worked outside the home. But they were paid only about one half of what men were paid, Mamma tells Vera.

In 1975, the United Nations declared the year International Women’s Year. Women of Iceland decided it was time to show the world how important they were. So, they decided to take the day off and show their bosses, their coworkers, their husbands, and everyone how much they were missed.

At exactly 2 p.m., women of Ireland walked out of their jobs and homes. They marched, sang, and cheered, “I dare! I can! I will!”

The men had to do all the work that women usually did – both on the job and in the home. For them, the day felt very long. That is why the day was nicknamed Long Friday.

The news of what the Icelandic women did traveled around the world, and inspired similar women’s strikes all over.

Mamma tells Vera that it is important for them to remember the women who dared to leave their jobs and march for women’s rights. She asks her daughter, “Will you dare?” Vera shouts, “I WILL!” as she joins the march.

This picture book is a good story for girls today who can be inspired by Ireland’s history. The colorful illustrations have an old-fashioned feel and bring the story to life.

In the back of the book, the author tells more details about Ireland’s Women’s Day Off with photographs. She says today Iceland is one of the most gender-equal countries in the world. However, women have not gained complete parity with men. They continue the fight.

One criticism is that if this story takes place today, Vera’s mother would not be old enough to have marched in a protest in 1975 as a child. Instead, Mamma could have told her daughter about marching on the anniversary of the Women’s Day Off when she was a child.

About the Author and Illustrator

Linda Olafsdottir is an award-winning Icelandic children’s book author and illustrator. She wrote and illustrated “Play?”, published by Cameron Kids. She illustrated “Mindi and the Goose No One Else Could See,” published in the U.S. by Candlewick Press, 2021. She lives in Reykjavik, Iceland, with her husband and two children. Visit her at lindaolafsdottir.com.