When it comes to children's books, I'm anything but sexist. Having both male and female children, I am as eager to find books starring feeling male heros for my son as I am to find strong heroines for my daughter.
Ben, hero of Kristine Franklin's The Shepherd Boy (Atheneum, $14.95; ages 4-8) is a young Navajo boy who tends his family's sheep. This is the first picture book I've seen that blends current Native American life-styles with traditions of old. Ben has a strong sense of responsibility and his decisions effect his family's survival.
While Ben struggles with survival in nature, Daniel and his mother are witness to urban riots in Eve Bunting's Smoky Night (Harcourt, $14.95; ages 6 and up). From his window, Daniel watches the dark streets in confusion as his mother tries to explain looting, mob anger, and neighborhood animosities. When fire makes them seek refuge in a shelter, a Korean neighbor becomes a real person and personal prejudice begin to healed. David Diaz illustrates by placing dramatic insets against powerful collages.
Peter Collington's The Coming of Surfman (Knopf, $16.00; ages 7 and up) also has an urban setting and unsettling violence. In this long picture story book, a pre-adolescent protagonist is caught between two rival gangs. His predicament is solved by the opening of a surf shop in the middle of the city by Surfman. Mockery by the gangs gives way to marveling as Surfman builds a wave machine in the middle of the hood. The young hero attaches himself to Surfman, watching as he repairs, waiting again for the waves. When gang violence again erupts, destroying the wave machine, Surfman leaves. The gang turns to the young hero for repair, but he can't remember because he hadn't been listening. This magical moral tale has setting and hero that will easily capture older readers.
Two heros become larger than life in Rodman Philbrick's Freak the Mighty (Scholastic, $13.95; ages 11 and up) when Max Kane, a boy of big stature and slow mind, meets Kevin, a dwarf with genius ability. When Max puts Kevin on his shoulders and they become victorious against drug addicts, bullies and killers. They seem almost invincible until the book's end where the upbeat writing and unlikely heroism rescue the novel from sadness.
Jacqueline Ogburn's The Masked Maverick (Lothrop, $15.00; ages 5 and up) features a hooded wrestler who's flamboyantly dressed, pleased with his career choice, fights fairly to success in the ring...but he's depressed by the way the crowd boos him. Friendly manner and silly costume don't clue the audience in to his sweet temperament or turn them fighter-friendly, it's the unmasking when the Maverick becomes a real person.
David Shannon gives a frightening futuristic look what America would be like without baseball in How Georgie Radbourn Saved Baseball (Scholastic, $14.95; ages 5 and up). When the despotic villain Boss Swaggert convinces the country to give up baseball for jobs, the seasons switch to unending winter and people's spirits sink. That's until Young Georgie is born. He's a baseball natural who's got the the courage and talent it takes to unseat Swaggert and reclaim America's right to play ball.
History is filled with large and small heros and many fill the pages of recent picture books. There are imaginary tales like Staton Rabin's Casey Over There (HBJ, $14.95; ages 6 and up) the story of a young boy who misses his brother fighting across the sea in European trenches during the Great War. He writes Uncle Sam in protest and receives a comforting letter from President Wilson.
There's the riotous fun of Audrey and Don Woods' newest hero, a young cave boy who discovers The Tickle-Octopus (HBJ, $14.95; ages 4-8) and brings laughter, smiles and playing to his people.
There are real heros too. Some are unsung like Margaret Hodges' The Hero of Bremen (Holiday House, $15.95; ages 5 and up)a cobbler with no use of his legs, who triumps over mockery and cruelty to save his city.
Cheryl Harness gives us important bits of American Revolutionary history through the eyes of Young John Quincy (Bradbury, $15.95; ages 5 and up). Robert Sabuda reveals Tutankhamen's Gifts (Atheneum, $15.95; ages 4-8) with stylized illustrations that bring alive his deeds and the times of Ancient Egypt. New in paperback is Stanley and Vennema's tribute to a brilliant military hero, Shaka: King of the Zulus (Mulberry, $4.95; ages 6 and up).
Eric Kimmel tells a Middle Eastern tale with a gentle hero in The Three Princes (Holiday House, $15.95; ages 5 and up). Three brothers wooing a wise princess combine their gathered treasures to save her from death. And who wins her hand? Mohsen, her favorite, who sacrifices entirely to save her life.
Phillis Gershator tells a Yoruba folktale, The Iroko-man (Orchard, $15.95; ages 4-8). This Rumpelstiltskin-like story tells of a woman who refuses to give up her promised first son to a tree god reputed to drive men to madness and death. Her wood-carver husband fashions a wooden baby which pleases the Iroko-man and delivers his wife.
Laurence Yep retells a 17th century Chinese ghost story in a short novel, The Ghost Fox (Scholastic, $13.95; ages 6 and up). The hero is the clever and brave Little Lee who rescues his mother with wisdom and good humor.
Dolores Johnson gives us two papa stories filled with emotion. In Your Dad Was Just Like You (Macmillan, $13.95; ages 5-9), a young boy retreats from his father's anger into his grandfather's understanding only to discover that history is repeating itself. In Papa's Stories (Macmillan, $14.95; ages 5-9), Johnson shows a young girl who adores his father in part because of her wonderful storytelling and their bond of "reading" together. When she learns her father can't read, her belief is momentarily shaken until her father declares his love for her and his desire to improve himself. Both stories have strong characters who own their emotions openly and honestly.
My memories of the lack of strong female protagonist books in my youth has affected the way that I raised my son, for I believe there were few books whose male protagonists were nurturing or gentle. Growing young men need role models who break stereotypes as well.
A classic must-read book for boys is Charlotte Zolotow's William's Doll. William wants a doll more than anything else in the world. His father buys him instead, a workbench, basketball set and a train set. But William doesn't stop wanting a doll. When his grandmother visits, she understands and buys William a baby doll. William's father protests, but Grandma insists that he needs it "so that when he's a father like you, he'll know how to take care of his baby and feed him and love him and bring him the things he wants like a doll so that he can practice being a father." Never has the teaching of nurturing been so clearly portrayed! Ages 3-6. (HarperCollins, 1972)
A grandmother also acts as a similar figure of wisdom in Hans Wilhelm's A Cool Kid-Like Me. The little boy in the story seems cool on the outside to his friends, parents, and even himself. When the listening grandmother goes on a trip, she leaves her grandson a gift of a teddy bear. The present is ridiculed, but later the boy finds he is a source of comfort against all kinds of fears. Ages 4-8. (Crown, 1990)
The little boy in Mercer Mayer's classic There's a Nightmare in My Closet, is a wonderful nurturing hero. As the story begins, the small boy feels that he must vanquish the nightmare who comes out of his closet. When the beastie cries however, the young hero sheds his macho exterior and comforts the monster by taking him into bed with him. Ages 2-5. (Dial, 1968 )
Rachel Isadora's Max is a skillful baseball player who walks his sister to ballet class. Isadora's illustrations show the zeal of this young boy who can not stand to just sit in this class, but must join in. In fact, he has so much fun, he is late to his game because he doesn't want to miss the leaps. After the tension of two strikes, he hits a home run and decides that dance class is a great way to warm up before the games. Ages 3-6. Available in paperback. (Macmillan, 1976)
Anthony Browne's Willy the Wimp is a gorilla who has a gentle nature. In fact, he is so gentle that when someone walks into him, he always says he's sorry. Willy hates it when the surburban gorilla gang bullies him and calls him Willy the Wimp. He hates it so much that he takes to developing his muscles via a Charles Atlas scheme. Browne, who at one time was a medical textbook illustrator, produces hilarious illustrations of Willy en route to becoming a muscle man. Willy's self-esteem grows as his body grows, but the final pages let the reader know that underneath, he is still a kind and gentle soul. Ages 4 and up. (Knopf,1984). Willy takes on Buster again in the sequel, Willy the Champ.
In another Anthony Browne book, Piggybook, we see two chauvinistic young boys transform before our very eyes. Simon and Patrick Piggot have been raised by a father who sees himself as all important and has imbued these principals in his sons. Mrs. Piggot (who first appears faceless in illustration) is the slave of the commanding males of her family. One day Mrs. Piggot leaves the demanding trio and everything in the house, including the males, become pigs. Anthony Brown is a genius at giving playful graphic representation to premises that could be heavy-handed. As salt and pepper shakers, wall paper and fabric become pig-patterned, children who delight in "finding the pigs" also see the changes in this family. Ages 3-adult. (Knopf, 1986)
Like the Piggots, Ned of Hiawyn Oram's Ned and the Joybaloo is a male figure who begins the story by relying on another for his satisfaction. Ned is an unhappy little boy who does all his smiling, laughing, and bouncing on Friday night when he plays with the Joybaloo. After a while, Friday is not enough and Ned demands nightly romps. The Joybaloo warns that he will fade away, but Ned ignores him. When one day he finds the Joybaloo is gone, Ned learns to make his own joy. Ages 4-8. (Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1988)
Probably the clearest non-fiction book on stereotyping is Stephanie Waxman's What is a girl? What is a boy? Ms. Waxman offers straight-forward photographs that refute typical gender identifications such as tears being for girls or strength being a male trait. She ends by the describing true difference which is merely biological with photographs that present those differences in children and adults. Some parents may feel uncomfortable with a child's viewing nudity in this book, but this is the very essence of Ms. Waxman's book as she writes "young scientists" who seek information about the essential differences. I found this book an excellent tool to begin discussing sexuality in a non-threatening way and was happy to see the lack of cultural stereotypes in this book . Ages 3-8. (HarperCollins, 1989)
Another non-fiction book that fights stereotypes for boys is A Man Can Be... by Kempler, Rappaport and Spirn. A special spectrum of fathers, shown in black and white photographs, demonstrate the large realm of men's emotions--from moody to tenderly affectionate. All emotions are pictured through men relating to their sons. Ages 3-8. (Human Sciences Press, 1981)
Cherryl Kachenmeister's On Monday When It Rained is a whole week of emotions and situations modeled by a little boy with a marvelously expressive face. The text and black and white photographs are equally clear as they portray pride, fear, disappointment and other childhood emotions. When we read this book, we had a great time extending the book by guessing the feeling, making our own expressions and thinking of other emotions. All too often children get caught in knowing only two emotions of happy and sad. I am grateful for the range of feelings presented in this book for a young child. Ages 3-6. (Houghton Mifflin, 1989)
Norma Simon's I Am Not A Crybaby also shows a large range of feelings and situations children experience and gives complete permission for tears as an appropriate vehicle for feeling. In this book, tears are non-sexist and non-ageist and connected with issues of overweight, fear of dogs, being home alone that I seldom see presented in literature for children. Ages 3-7. (Viking, 1989)