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.