by the Editor     Have you ever noticed the gender imbalance of children’s book characters as you read with your children?  A comprehensive study of 20th century children's books has found a bias towards tales that feature men and boys as lead characters. Surprisingly, researchers found that even when the characters are animals, they tend to be male.

The findings are based on a study of nearly 6,000 books published from 1900 to 2000. "We looked at a full century of books," says lead author Prof. Janice McCabe, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Florida State University. "One thing that surprised us is that females' representations did not consistently improve from 1900 to 2000."

Males are central characters in 57 percent of children's books published per year, while only 31 percent have female central characters. The study also found that over twice as many books in each year studied include a male in the title as those with a female in the title.

Since children's books are a "dominant blueprint of shared cultural values, meanings, and expectations," the authors say the disparity between male and female characters is sending children a message that "women and girls occupy a less important role in society than men or boys." Books contribute to how children understand what is expected of women and men, and shape the way children will think about their own place in the world.

In seeking to answer why there is such persistent inequality among animal characters in books for kids, the authors say some publishers—under pressure to release books that are more gender balanced—use "animal characters in an attempt to avoid the problem of gender representation." However, their findings show that most animal characters are gendered and that inequality among animals is greater—not less—than that among humans.

The tendency of readers to interpret even gender-neutral animal characters as male exaggerates the pattern of female underrepresentation. The authors note that mothers frequently label gender-neutral animal characters as male when reading with their children, and that children assign gender to gender-neutral animal characters.

Janice McCabe has these suggestions for parents, when reading with their children:

• Pay attention to gender when selecting books and reading to your children.  A study of the reasons that parents select particular books finds that they rarely do so with attention to gender (most often they choose their own childhood favourites).

• Balance books about males with those about females.  Make a conscious effort to ensure that your child is exposed to both male and female central characters.  There are a lot of great books with female central characters; however, it may take more effort to find them.  (see list below)

• Some parents have said that they choose to change the gender of some characters when they read books to their children.  This is one way to ensure a more equal representation of male and female characters and to take advantage of opportunities for creativity that come with reading.

• Discuss the absence of female characters with children.  By doing so, the inequality will not remain invisible.  This also encourages critical thinking and media literacy in children.

Most authors most likely wouldn't consciously set out to write more about boys or girls, but just about what inspires them. But hopefully, by being more mindful of which books we read and how we read them with our children, as parents, we can restore a gender balance in the characters that mould their young minds.

Following is a list of books, recommended by experts, writers and parents, which have strong lead female characters.

Emma Jane, columnist for The Australian, writes: “The case that conventional gender roles in children's books simply reflects the natural order -- that women swoon and men swashbuckle -- needs a good, hard reconsider.  How can we know for sure this is the natural order when, from the moment they're wrapped in either pink or blue birth blankies, new humans are bombarded with loaded messages about what it means to be male or female?"

Her favourite feisty female book characters include: Too Loud Lily, a stompy hippo (Sofie Laguna), and Olivia, a bossy piglet (Ian Falconer). She also likes Princess Smarty Pants (Babette Cole), The Princess Knight (Cornelia Funke and Kerstin Meyer), and Jane and the Dragon (Martin Baynton).

Karen Kennedy, parent and lawyer writing for ‘Flashlight Worthy’ likes: Madeline (Ludwig Bemelmans), Olivia, Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse (Kevin Henkes), The Paper Bag Princess (Robert N. Munsch), and Brave Irene (William Steig). 

Leah Smith, librarian, also writing for ‘Flashlight Worthy', likes: The Book of Three (Lloyd Alexander), Daisy Dawson is On Her Way! (Steve Voake), Ivy & Bean (Sophie Blackall, Annie Barrows), Madam President (Lane Smith) and Meggie Moon (Elizabeth Baguley). 

For older readers I would like to add The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett), Bridge to Terabithia (Katherine Paterson), and of course, the classic Little Women (Louisa May Alcott).

Also recommended: Billie B Brown the new series by Sally Rippin, about a feisty tomboy who does things her own way.  Ends June 24: YourKidsEd members can enter the draw to win the 6-book Billie B Brown set!  Click here to find out more!

I hope that these tips and book list, along with the many male-character themed books available, bring you and your children many hours of gender-balanced happy reading.  Please feel free to add your own recommendations, in the comment section below!

Click here to browse and to order any of these books from SeekBooks.com.au

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