RESOURCES

Children's Books Still Promote Gender Stereotypes by Tricia Lowther

This excellent article from March 7, 2014 details the Let Toys Be Toys campaign, which last year persuaded 13 UK retailers to remove “Boys” and “Girls” signs from stores. They are now working with Letterbox Library, Inclusive Minds and For Books’ Sake to persuade the publishing industry to drop these labels from books. "Children are individuals. They should feel free to choose their own interests, not feel that they’re supposed to like or reject certain things. And anyone who chooses a gift based only on a child’s gender is making some massive, and quite likely wrong, assumptions about what that child may like." - Tricia Lowther

Books for Young Children that Break Gender Stereotypes

Brought to you by the Anti-Defamation League's Miller Early Childhood Initiative Question Corner, this is an excellent list of children's books that break gender stereotypes. The list includes many examples such as Allie's Basketball Dream by Barbara E. Barber, a story about a girl determined to play basketball that shows her friends, father, and boys who told her she can't play, that girls can play basketball, too.

Books for Children that Break Gender Stereotypes

This list is brought to you by Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The list is pretty basic but it is lengthy and I'm sure you could find many of these books at your own local library if you are interested in reading them.

A Rainbow Celebration: Gays & Lesbians in Books for Children

Finding children's books featuring gays and lesbians is a very tricky task. Fortunately, San Francisco Public Library has compiled an excellent (and surprisingly lengthy) list of children's book featuring gays and lesbians in natural and positive ways. One example of a book on the list is Uncle Bobby's Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen that tells the tale of a girl who fears she will lose her favorite uncle when he gets married but then soon realizes she will instead gain a new uncle.

Richard Scarry's Best World Book Ever - 1963 VS 1991

Take a look at this link showing the interesting differences between Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever from 1963 and the 1991 editions (with revisions). As you can see, the 1963 version was filled with gender stereotypes and in 1991 they updated the book to remove some of these.

Gender Roles in Children's Literature: A Review of Non-Award-Winning “Easy-to-Read” Books

Poarch, R., & Monk-Turner, E. (2001). Gender Roles in Children's Literature: A Review of Non-Award-Winning “Easy-to-Read” Books. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 16(1), 70-76.

This article from 2001 examined past research on this topic and concluded that although gender role stereotyping does exist in their sample, the picture does not appear as bleak as previously reported. "The representation of female characters is increasing overall, but more important, the representation of females with a production artifact, or in a role outside the home, is growing. Even so, this study raises the question as to why children's books, especially award-winning books, continue to be gender stereotyped.