Additional Sources for Final Project- Male Gender Representation in Children's Literature Book Reviews

Additional Sources:

Greever, Ellen A., Patricia Austin, and Karyn Welhousen. "William's Doll Revisited." Mar. 2000. National Council of Teachers of English. 10 Dec. 2008 .

HarperCollins. "Authors and Illustrators: Lisa Capbell-Ernst." HarperCollins Children's. 2006. 10 Dec. 2008 .

Lisa, Dennis. "Reviews for Tough Boris." Kids Catalog Web. 1994. School Library Review. 10 Dec. 2008 .

Rickards, Lynne. "About Me." Lynne Rickards. 2008. Earlybird. 10 Dec. 2008 .

Taylor-Butler, Christine. Christine Taylor-Bulter. 2004. 10 Dec. 2008 .

Zolotow, Charlotte. "William's Doll." Charlotte Zolotow. 2007. Dragon, Pen & Inc. 10 Dec. 2008 .

William's Doll By Charlotte Zolotow

Zolotow, Charlotte, and William P. Du Bois. William's Doll. New York: Harper Trophy, 1972.

William’s Doll is the story of a boy who more than anything wants a doll. His father’s response is that he will buy him a basketball instead. His brother and friends call him a “sissy.” Finally his grandmother understands and buys him a doll so that he will know how to love and cradle a baby as a father some day. What I find most interesting about the book is that it was written in 1972 and for that time was pretty much one of a kind. Since then, there has actually been a lot of research and studies done specifically on William’s Doll and children’s reactions. I find the fact that there is real academic literature on the book very beneficial for any teacher. The more you know about a book you are considering for your library the better you will be able to teach and discuss it. One study in particular “William’s Doll Revisited,” published in Language Arts in 2000 takes responses to the book made by 4th graders in 1975 and compares them to 4th graders’ responses in 1997. Interestingly enough, the study showed no real change in the recognition or acceptance of gender stereotyping in the book. Textually, the book has a lovely rhythm that children will easily remember and read along to. The illustrations are fairly minimal but I think that works well to ensure that the message of the story isn’t overwhelmed and lost in the pictures. Since the book is older I can see how it might not be perfect in its tackling of overcoming gender stereotypes. It does reinforce the masculine stereotypes for most of the book, almost till the end, and when William finally does get his doll it is not just because he should be able to have one, it is for him to learn how to be a good father. And again, even at the end we do not see any change in beliefs of his father or friends. However, I think this book is very beneficial to include as a comparison and an good example of how the male gender and issues of stereotyping in children’s literature has evolved over time. Also, based on her personal experiences I would consider author Zolotow a borderline “insider,” however definitely “informed.” According to her website she focused on very specific experiences in her life that inspired her to finally write the book. She says felt like her husband was missing out on so much with her newborn son since he felt so uncomfortable and “wasn’t supposed to partake in the motherly duties.” Her husband also didn’t approve of stuffed animals for her son. Most notably she was in the park one day and heard a little boy crying to his father that he wanted a doll, his father replied “oh get him a gun instead.” The fact that she has a son and had these experiences puts her a notch above many other authors on the “insider” scale.

No Boys Allowed! by Christine Taylor-Butler

Scholastic, Inc. Staff, Mark Page, and Christine Taylor-Butler. Just for You! : No Boys Allowed! New York: Scholastic, Incorporated, 2004.

As a part of the Just for You! Scholastic guided reading series, No Boys Allowed! is probably the most commonly found in classrooms of my five choices. It tells the story of George who really loves to jump rope but the girls of the neighborhood tell him, “no boys allowed.” In the end he doesn’t let that hold him back. He keeps practicing and ends up winning the jump rope contest. The text specifically states, “ everyone knows that jump robe is for girls,” which is why I think it fits very well as an example of a male gender stereotype being established and then broken when in the end he becomes a better jumper than the girls. The book has other strengths besides its content, including its rhyming double-dutch songs, but it is the illustrations that I think really make the emotions that George is feeling real. Another added bonus is that this book includes a meet the author and illustrator page at the end of the book. On this page, author Christine Taylor-Butler describes how she often felt like George as a kid because she was always left out and not part of the “in” crowd. This makes it easier to consider Butler an “insider” since she claims that she experienced what her character does. In my opinion the book does have one apparent slip-up. On page 9, George comments that he should be able to jump rope because male boxers and basketball players and other athletes do it. One of the girls then says, “Well, I don’t think you are any of those.” I think this comment could be taken as another stereotype, suggesting that George isn’t strong or boyish enough to be one of those types of athletes. While this comment seems to be ignored as an issue and just brushed off in the rest of the story, I think all of the other aspects of the book make up for it and that as long as we as teachers address the comment and ask our class if they notice any others stereotypical comments in the text, it is a great addition to the collection.

Pink! by Lynne Rickards

Rickards, Lynne. Pink! Singapore: Chicken House, 2008.

Written in 2008, Pink! is the most recently published piece of children’s literature that’s content is explicitly focused on the breaking of traditional male gender ideas. The story is about Patrick the penguin who one day wakes up pink. “But I’m a boy!” he shouted. “And boys can’t be pink!” After being teased at school for being pink, he decides he doesn’t fit in anymore and travels to Africa to live with flamingos. He soon realizes he doesn’t belong there either and swims back home, to find that his friends missed him so much they don’t care anymore that he is pink. This book discusses probably one of the most specific and common gender stereotypes today: that pink is a girl color. The book’s illustrations are extremely intense, bright and large and will definitely keep readers’ attention. The text is also very humors, but I think the specificity of the example that boys can’t like pink is what will really appeal to young readers because it will be so easy for them to relate to. The book easily opens up a classroom discussion on what is generally “for boys” and what is “for girls.” While Patrick does in a sense run away from his problem, which I don’t agree with promoting as a way to deal with problems, the book’s message that everyone should consider being different a good thing is extremely effective. Unfortunately, because the book is so new there is no other outside literature on the book, but Lynne Rickards’ does have a personal website on which she says she gets inspiration for her books from her children and their experiences, which I think qualifies her as “involved” rather than an “insider” to male gender representation. Pink! is actually available in full test on Rickards’ website as well.

Tough Boris by Mem Fox

Fox, Mem, and Kathryn Brown. Tough Boris. New York: Harcourt Paperbacks, 1998.

Tough Boris was written by Mem Fox, the author of many children’s books and scholarly articles including, "Men Who Weep, Boys Who Dance: The Gender Agenda between the Lines in Children's Literature.” While some may say Fox technically is not a full blown insider to male gender representation since she is female, I believe that her experience with teaching and learning about children qualifies her as highly “informed.” She is and academic and has spent much of her life as an educator, reader, and writer of children’s literature, giving her much insight into the gender stereotype present in literature. It was in this article where I actually learned of the book. Tough Boris is the story of a big burly pirate who cries when his parrot dies. The book focuses on breaking the stereotype that men do not and should not cry, and according to Fox’s article, this was intentional. In my opinion the book’s literary devices, its repetition and minimal word use, are very successful and would definitely appeal to the preschool- grade 2 age group that, according to the School Library Journal, it is aimed at. Each page has a maximum of between 4 and 10 words which allows the story to be told in the illustrations. Lisa Dennis, of the School Library Journal calls the book an “entertaining book of adventure” (Dennis 1994). Unfortunately, Dennis’ and all others reviews I found of the book, fail to comment on the content of the broken male stereotype within the book, the issue of crying, which makes me aware that some might not consider Fox’s underlying theme strong enough. Personally, I recognize my biased reading of the book, since I read of Fox’s intentions in her article, but I think part of the book’s great success is that it doesn’t hit you over the head with the topic of male gender representation. I think the issue’s subtlety is a positive because rather than telling its readers what to think about the issue, it just opens up a discussion and creates recognition, which is important for the age group at which the book is aimed.

Sam Johnson and the Blue Ribbon Quilt by Lisa Capbell Ernst

Ernst, Lisa Campbell. Sam Johnson and the Blue Ribbon Quilt. New York: Harper Trophy, 1992.

Sam Johnson and the Blue Ribbon Quilt brings a unique element to this group of literature promoting nonstereotypical male representation: history. Based on the illustrations, but also references in the text to “wagons” and the “Declaration of Independence,” readers should be able to determine that the story is set in colonial times. It is about a farmer named Sam who discovers that he loves to sew and tries to join his wife’s quilting club. After being told that “we can’t have a man here bungling everything!” Sam forms his own all male quilting club. The two clubs then go head to head in the quilting competition, but after a horrible accident the only way they will win is if they work together and combine the pieces of each quilt that they were able to salvage. The books’ message that we should all just work together, that one sex isn’t better than the other, is I believe one of its greatest attributes. I was unable to find any information on author Lisa Campbell Ernst other than a short Harper Collins bio, but in it it does say she has a husband and children. While it might be a stretch, I have used children as a factor in considering other authors “involved,” but regardless of her actual qualifications as an “insider” I think her book is extremely beneficial to the issue. The text is full of dialogue, more than any of the others, and I think this again just brings another variation of how to discuss the issue of male gender representation in the story. The characters themselves are actually discussing the issue. Also, on one page of the book Sam is hanging up an “Equal Rights for Men” sign. I think this is great for young, and old, readers to see. Every elementary history book spends units discussing women’s rights, but has anyone ever seen an “Equal Rights for Men” chapter? I think this idea and its placement within this historically set book will really give children another thing to think about and makes Sam Johnson and the Blue Ribbon Quilt important to have in this collection again as a great comparison tool.

"Men Who Weep, Boys Who Dance: The Gender Agenda Between the Lines in Children's Literature by Mem Fox

Fox, Mem. "Men Who Weep, Boys Who Dance: The Gender Agenda between the Lines in Children's Literature." Language Arts 70 (1993): 84-88.

In her article, Fox tackles the issue of gender representation in popular children’s books and provides examples of the common gender stereotypes that appear. Her belief is that “we who write children’s books, and we who teach through literature, need to be sure we are opening the doors to full human potential, not closing them. We have the power to change “gender-appropriate” behaviors and attitudes” (Fox 1993). The remainder of her article then talks about how gender issues effect the stories she writes and how she chooses to challenge the stereotypes. While her article is about stereotypes of both male and female characters, I think she makes numerous excellent observations and points regarding how males have traditionally been “allowed” to act in children’s literature, which include: not crying, not partaking in “girly” activities such as dance or painting, and feeling it is solely their responsibility to provide for a family some day. She suggests that children’s literature might be to blame for “trapping males in a frightful emotional prison and demanding intolerable social expectations of them” (Fox 1993). With this belief she then provides four specific examples of books she has written and how she has intentionally embedded counter-sexist attitudes in them. She explains that she wrote one book, Tough Boris, with the intention of making it ok for boys to cry and talk about crying. While the article does really only provide four solid examples of books to consider adding to your library, Fox is definitely about quality not quantity and she at least provides great places to start. If I had one qualm with the article it would be that Fox spends too much time discussing already commonly discussed stereotypical female activities in literature, however in retrospect her female examples do provide nice points of reference and comparison for the less commonly tackled male stereotypes.