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.