nap@druxo.UUCP (Parsons) (01/29/85)
Someone recently asked for a list of non-sexist children's books. I don't know how "good" this list is, but if anyone is interested, they may find it useful. Nancy Parsons AT&T ISL NONSEXIST BOOKS FOR CHILDREN: PRESCHOOL THROUGH THIRD GRADE (Note: in some descriptions it is shown how sexist language creeps in, even when we are particularly trying to avoid it.) (From J. Adell and H. D. Klein, A guide to non-sexist children's books. Chicago: Academy Press Ltd., 1976, and B. Sprung, Non-sexist education for young children: A practical guide. N.Y.: Citation Press, 1975.) Berenstain, Stan and Jan. \fIHe Bear, She Bear.\fR Random House, 1974. A pleasantly illustrated book in rhyme for new readers about what boys and girls can do when they become men and women. Men and women are depicted doing all kinds of jobs "whether we are he or she." Birnbaum, Al. \fIGreen Eyes.\fR Western Publishing Co., 1953. All about a cat's first year of life. A story of growth, changing seasons, and discovery. Blos, Joan and Miles, Betty. \fIJust Think.\fR Knopf, 1971. Among other such happy phenomena and children in solid rapport with their fathers, a full-fledged, well-functioning day care center and a myriad of working mothers. Brenner, Barbara. \fIBodies.\fR E. P. Dutton, 1973. All kinds of bodies doing all kinds of things. It shows boys and girls in the nude, and on the page showing bodily functions, it has a photo of a small boy on the toilet. A real breakthrough book! Brownstone, Cecily. \fIAll Kinds of Mothers.\fI McKay, 1969. An interracial book showing mothers who work both outside and inside the home. The common thread is their love for their children. Burton, Virginia Lee. \fIKaty and the Big Snow.\fR Houghton Mifflin, 1943. Katy is a tractor who is strong enough to plow out an entire snowed-in city. Caines, Jeanette. \fIAbby.\fR Harper & Row, 1973. A number of stereotypes are dealt with here" mother not only does household chores, but she is also seen studying. Abby, an adopted black child, successfully deals with brother Kevin whose boast that he does not like girls turns out to be false. Chalon, Jon. \fIThe Voyage of the Floating Bedstead.\fR Bobbs-Merrill, 1973. The fantasy adventures of a little girl. Clifton, Lucille. \fIDon't You Remember.\fR Dutton & Co., 1973. Tate is a four-year-old black girl with a prodigious memory who is unprepared for the surprise her family has in store for her. Cohen, Miriam. \fIWill I Have A Friend.\fR Collier, 1967. A little boy deals with the uncertainties of his first days in nursery school. Cole, Joanna. \fIPlants in Winter.\fR Crowell, 1973. The strange and interesting story of how plants are able to protect themselves in winter is told by a botanist to her friend. Danish, Barbera. \fIThe Dragon and the Doctor.\fR Feminist Press, 1971. A sick dragon is brought back to health by a young girl. Delton, Judy. \fIRabbit Finds A Way.\fR Crown, 1975. One Saturday morning Rabbit is going to Bear's house to sample the carrot cake Bear always bakes on Saturday. But he arrives to find that Bear has overslept and couldn't make the cake. Rabbit, who had turned down several offers of food on his way, solves the problem by baking a carrot cake himself. de Poix, Carol. \fIJo, Flo and Yolanda.\fR Lollipop Power, 1973. The similarities and differences amongst the La Raza triplets are shown. We also see the three girls with their friends and family and get an insight into their thoughts and dreams. Ehrlich, Amy. \fIZeek Silver Moon.\fR Dial Press, 1972. This exquisitely illustrated book shows the spontaneous affection and humor between father and child. Zeek's father makes him a cradle and sings him a lullaby he made up. Eichler, Margrit. \fIMartin's Father.\fR Lollipop Power, 1971. One of the more instructive, sympathetic stories about the single-parent-child relationship. In this case, a father and his son cope with all the day-to-day problems of running a household. The story also shows the father and son in their lighter moments. Ets, Marie Hall. \fIPlay With Me.\fR Viking, 1975. The forest is presented as a friendly place, not a foreboding one, where a little girl plays by a pond and meets nice animals. Felt, Sue. \fIRoss-Too-Little.\fR Doubleday, 1950. A story of competence and achievement with a little girl as the main character. Rosa wants a library card and has to learn to write her name to get one. She perseveres all summer and achieves her goal. It has fine pictures of summer in the city, and since Rosa is Puerto Rican, it has the added attraction of being a success story about a minority child. Gaeddert, Lou Ann. \fINoisy Nancy Norris.\fR Hale, 1965. Nancy is inventive and noisy. She finds out her noisiness is not always appreciated. Gaeddert, Lou Ann. \fINoisy Nancy and Nick.\fR Doubleday, 1970. Noisy Nancy and her new friend, Nick, explore the noisy city together. Gauob, Pat. \fIGrandpa & Me.\fR Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, 1972. A young boy recounts his intimacy with his grandpa and their shared love of nature. Goffstein, M. B. \fITwo Piano Tuners.\fR Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Since her grandfather is a piano tuner, and since she admires him a great deal, Debbie decides that she, too, wants to be a piano tuner so she becomes his apprentice. Gloldreich, Gloria, and Goldreich, Esther. \fIWhat Can She Be?\fR Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1972. Photographs show a veterinarian taking care of animals in her hospital. Two other "What Can She Be?" books portray the work of a broadcaster and a lawyer. Goldsmid, Paula. \fIDid You Ever?\fR Lollipop Power, 1971. A nursery rhyme book which gives children the chance to act out the things they think they would like to be. Goodyear, Carmen. \fIThe Sheep Book.\fR Lollipop Power, 1972. An idyllic setting on a California farm where a farmer tends her sheep. It is a story which shows sensitivity to the sights and sounds of the pastoral life. Grant, Sandy. \fIHey, Look At Me!\fR Bradbury Press, 1973. There are vibrant action photographs of city children, adults, animals in this ABC book. Hall, Marie. \fIGilberto and the Wind.\fR Viking, 1967. The wind has a variety of personalities, Gilberto discovers, when he sails, blows bubbles or flies a kite. Hazen, Nancy. \fIGrownups Cry, Too.\fR Lollipop Power, 1973. A simple explanation of the kinds of experiences, both sad and happy, that make men Hoban, Russell. \fIBest Friends For Frances.\fR Harper & Row, 1969. How a female badger finds a male badger friend, and how she gets him to make an iron-clad resolution: basketball games which exclude girls are strictly out. Kaufman, Joe. \fIBusy People and How They Do Their Work.\fR Golden Press, 1973. Although the ratio of jobs is five male and three female, two of the female jobs are non-stereotyped. All of the job descriptions are simple and accurate. While not everything in this book is non-stereotyped, there are pictures of a boy and girls roller skating together, male and female telephone operators, and male and female postal workers. Keith, Eros. \fINancy's Back Yard.\fR Harper & Row, 1973. By acting out their parts, four children exchange fantastic dreams of dragons and of Cinderella, of riding animals, and of diving into the sea. Klein, Norma. \fIGirls Can Be Anything.\fR E. P. Dutton, 1973. Stereotypic ideas of girls' prescribed roles are confronted and neatly disposed of in this book where women are shown to become doctors, pilots, and politicians. Krauss, Ruth. \fIA Hole Is To Dig.\fR Harper & Row, 1952. In a primer of definitions, boys and girls share all activities together. Lasker, Joe. \fIMothers Can Do Anything.\fR Albert Whitman, 1972. As the title indicates, mothers are depicted in unusual, as well as traditional, roles. Laurence. \fISeymourina.\fR Bobbs-Merrill, 1970. A gentle fantasy about Seymourina's search for the Land of Love which knows no war, and which is like a Garden of Eden. Leaf, Munro. \fIThe Story of Ferdinand.\fR Viking, 1936. This early story was very popular a generation ago, and was made into an animated film. Ferdinand is a gentle, easy-going bull who loves to smell flowers and live in peace rather than fight. But despite his passive nature, he has a strong personality. Lorree, Sharron. \fIThe Sunshine Family and the Pony.\fR Seabury Press, 1972. A group of friends make the big transition from city to country life. McCloskey, Robert. \fIBlueberries For Sal.\fR Viking, 1948. Role reversals, but involving two different species of animal, as a bear cub and a little girl unwittingly exchange mothers. McCloskey, Robert. \fIOne Morning in Maine.\fR Viking, 1952. The salty adventures of Sal who lives with her family on an island off the coast of Maine. She has a multitude of experiences, which include a conversation with a seal, as well as activities with her father. Merriam, Eve. \fIBoys and Girls, Girls and Boys.\fR Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1972. Children of verying ethnic backgrounds play in an atmosphere free of sexual stereotypes. Merriam, Eve. \fIMommies at Work.\fR Scholastic Book Services, 1971. Mommies are shown doing many jobs which are traditionally considered to be jobs for daddies. They work on assembly lines and are engineers as well as secretaries. Ness, Evaline. \fISam, Bangs and Moonshine.\fR Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1966. "Moonshine" is what Samantha's father calls her for telling fish stories. Caldecott Medal Winner. Ormsby, Virginia. \fITwenty-One Children Plus Ten.\fR Lippincott, 1971. An insight into the complications which arise when a school is integrated for the first time. Paxton, Tom. \fIJennifer's Rabbit.\fR Putnam, 1970. Folk singer Paxton has provided the story as well as the music for a charming fantasy about Jennifer and her assortment of animal friends who dance and play with sailors aboard ship. Phillips, Lynn. \fIExactly Like Me.\fR Lollipop Power, 1972. A resourceful and self-confident girl is anxious to become an adult so she can prove what women can really be. Politi, Leo. \fIMoy Moy.\fR Scribner, 1960. The Chinese New Year is celebrated by Moy Moy and her brothers. Reavin, Sam. \fIHurrah For Captain Jane!\fR Parents Magazine Press, 1971. Jane indulges herself in some venturesome wish-fulfillment as the first woman captain of an ocean-going passenger vessel ... all in her bathtub. Sandberg, Inger and Lasse. \fIWhat Little Anna Saved.\fR Lothrop, Lee & Shepard,, 1965. Little Anna is a most resourceful and imaginative young girl. Things that most people might consider trash or castoffs Anna turns into useful objects. Schick, Eleanor. \fICity in the Winter.\fR Collier, 1972. Though his mother is still able to go to work during a blizzard, Jimmy's school is closed for the day; he and his grandmother busy themselves with making soup, feeding the birds and other fun things. Sharmat, Marjorie W. \fIGladys Told Me to Meet Her Here.\fR Harper & Row, 1970. Gladys is Irving's friend, and he recalls the fun they had together as he goes looking for her at the zoo. Sonneborn, Ruth. \fII Love Gram.\fR Viking, 1971. Both mother and grandmother in this black family work and head the household. When her grandmother is taken to the hospital, Sallie is afraid that the old woman will not survive the ordeal. Surowecki, Sandra. \fIJoshua's Day.\fR Lollipop Power, 1972. Joshua lives in a home without a father, and his photographer-mother takes him to a day care center every day, a wholesome environment in which he can grow and learn. Thayer, Jane. \fIQuiet on Account of Dinosaur.\fR Morrow, 1964. A little girl who happens to find a dinosaur decides to take it to school. She grows up to become a renowned scientist because, naturally, she knows more about dinosaurs than anyone else in the world. Thomas, Ianthe. \fILordy, Aunt Hattie.\fR Harper & Row, 1973. Summer time is a time of discovery for Jeppa Lee, a black girl who spends the season with her aunt. Van Woerkom, Dorothy. \fIThe Queen Who Couldn't Bake Gingerbread.\fR Knopf, 1975. A funny story, with illustrations to match, about a King and his new Queen who have made mutually compromised choices. She cannot bake gingerbread, as he had wanted in a wife, and he cannot play the slide trombone, as she had wanted in a husband. But all ends well as the King learns to bake gingerbread and the Queen to play the slide trombone. Waber, Bernard. \fIIra Sleeps Over.\fR Houghton Mifflin, 1972. Ira struggles with a momentous decision: should he or should he not take along his teddy bear when he goes to his friend's house for the first time to spend the night? Wells, Rosemary. \fINoisy Nora.\fR Dial Press, 1973. Here we have the problem of sibling rivalry, its attendant anger and how to deal with it, as Nora, the middle mouse child, runs away from home because she thinks her parents care more about their other children than about her. Wikland, Ilon. \fII Can Help Too!\fR Random House, 1974. A little boy is pictured scrubbing a floor, washing dishes, sewing, and doing various other domestic tasks usually thought of as being performed exclusively by little girls. Wolde, Gunilla. \fITommy and Sarah Dress Up.\fR Hoghton Mifflin, 1972. A boy and a girl dress up as adults; once as men, on another occasion as women. Wolde, Gunilla. \fITommy Goes to the Doctor.\fR Houghton Mifflin, 1972. Tommy watches in fascination as his doctor uses her instruments to examine him. He repeats the performance with Teddy Bear as his patient. Yashima, Taro. \fICrow Boy.\fR Viking, 1955. After suffering six years of mockery by his grade schoolmates, Chibi is finally appreciated by a teacher who discovers the boy's genuine individuality. Yashima, Taro. \fIUmbrella.\fR Viking, 1958. With the umbrella goes a pair of red boots, birthday gifts which Momo wears to her nursery school one day when it is raining. Young, Miriam. \fIJellybeans for Breakfast.\fR Parents Magazine Press, 1968. The fantasies shared by two little girls who plan all sorts of things they will do one day, including a trip to the moon. Zolotow, Charlotte. \fIWilliam's Doll.\fR Harper & Row, 1972. Grandma teaches William's father an important lesson: if he allows him to have the doll he wants, his son will be a better person and, consequently, will make a better father. Zolotow, Charlotte. \fIThe Summer Night.\fR Harper & Row, 1974. A gentle story of a nurturant father and his little girl. When she can't go to sleep on a warm summer night, her dad figures out all sorts of ways they can enjoy themselves.