One of the most difficult things to feel good about is oneself. Parents who are looking for role models in children's books may have a difficult time. It is rarely the female champions who fight monsters and dragons. And on the other side, the male protagonists are not often nurturing or gentle. Here therefore, is a short suggestion list of children's books which fight stereotypes and provide us with role models we want to introduce to our children.
Nora's Castle by Satomi Ichikawa is a book about a mysterious deserted castle. People of the village tell Nora there may be ghosts there, but despite their warnings she sets out with her teddy, dog and doll to see for herself. Bravely she pushes open the heavy iron gates, climbs the stairs and pokes into dusty rooms and attics. She finds the castle teeming with all kinds of life and befriends its creatures, celebrating these new-found relationships with a party. The charming illustrations portray the French countryside with the same intregity that Nora treats her new friends. (Ages 3 and up) Hardcover only. ( Philomel, $12.95)
The little boy in Mercer Mayer's classic, There's a Nightmare in My Closet, is a wonderful nurturing hero who sheds his macho exterior when the nightmare cries and takes the beastie in bed with him. (Ages two and a half and up) Hardcover and paperback available. (Dial, $11.95, $3.95)
There is also a female counterpart in Mercer Mayer's There's Something in My Attic in which the strong female conqueror lassos a nightmare who lurks in the attic and is stealing her toys. (Ages two and a half and up) Hardcover only. (Dial, 11.95)
Patricia McKissak takes the traditional figure of Red Riding Hood and transforms her in Flossie and the Fox. Flossie Finley's Big Mama wants her to take a basket of eggs to Miz Viola, but she must be wary of the egg-poaching fox. Flossie is brave when she meet the fox. So great is her composure and cleverness that before long she has the fox thoroughly confused. This story is unusual in many ways. It is filled with interesting dialects that are reminiscent of Uncle Remus, but don't seem to get in the way of reading aloud. The story's lead character not is not only clever and brave, but female and black besides. Flossie and the Fox is infused with humor. Lastly, it is richly illustrated by Rachel Isadora whose perspectives provide even more interest to an already facinating book. Ages 4 and up.Hardcover only.(Dial, $10.95)
Mercer Mayer's Liza Lou is a similar treatment and story, but with a cartoonish larger-than-life approach. Liza Lou is off across the swamp to take a basket to her grandmother. She meets a swamp witch, ghost and other ghoulies on her way and outwits each with wisdom and bravery. Again there is humor present and we witness the triumph of another young black heroine. Mayer is a master of scary, yet comical monster depiction. Ages 3 and up. Hardcover (Macmillan,$12.95)
William Steig has created a marvelous picture book heroine in Brave Irene. Irene's seamstress mother is ill and can not get a dress to someone who needs it desperately. After seeing to her mother's needs, Irene braves storm and wind to successfully complete this mission. Steig's illustrations portray her hardship with emotion. Ages 4 and up. Hardcover and paperback. (Farrar Strauss, $12.95, $3.95)
There's a new strong female protagonist on the scene. It's Sheila Rae, the Brave, by Kevin Henkes. Sheila Rae is so brave she pretends the cherries in her fruit cocktail are the eyes of dead bears and she eats five of them! Sheila Rae prides herself on going bravely home from school until she realizes she's lost. Fortunately, her sister, Louise, who has been following her, turns out to be just as brave and rescues her big sister. So the reader gets two strong female stars and a sibling story to boot. Ages 3 and up. (Greenwillow,$11.75, $3.95)
Kevin Henkes creates another strong female model, Lily, in his Chester's Way. Chester and his friend Wilson do everything together exactly the same way until they meet Lily , who not only rescues them, but shows them more interesting ways of doing things. (Greenwillow, $12.95)
In Beware the Dragons by Sarah Wilson, Tildy is a brave soul with colorful language. She ventures out in a storm and encounters the dreaded dragons that bother her home of Spooner Bay. She shouts at the beasts and when they cry in response she learns that they only want to play. Tildy finds a happy solution to the problem. Hardcover only. Ages 4-6 (Harper and Row, $4.95)
To combat the traditional fairy tale of the princess who waits passively for her dashing prince, Babette Cole has written Princess Smartypants . Ms. Cole, with her typical humor of illustration and word, tells the story of a princess who "enjoys being a Ms." and doing exactly as she pleases. She frustrates a number of suitors, defeating Prince Pelvis at a roller-disco marathon and asking Prince Vertigo to rescue her from her tower, until Prince Swashbuckle arrives. He can handle every task she confronts him with . . . and yet all is not lost, for at the last moment she kisses him, he turns into a frog and . . . ."so she lived happily ever after." Ages 5 and up. Hardcover. (Putnam,$12.95)
And what of male fairy tales? Cole has one. It is Prince Cinders, a modernized, male-version of Cinderella. Twists of time and sex are funny enough, but there is also that marvelous sarcastic humor that Cole does so well. (Putnam,$12.95)
Jane Yolen's Sleeping Ugly tells the story of Princess Miserella, a princess with only skin-deep beauty and Plain Jane who is kind to a fault. The telling is filled with humor and twists that will please princesses of any age. Ages 4 to adult. (Coward-McCann, $6.95)
Audrey Wood's The Princess and the Dragon tells the story of a princess who acts more like a dragon and a dragon who has the grace and charm of a princess. There is a happy ending for both (and for everyone in the land) when they change places. Ages 3-7. (Child's Play,$2.50, $5.99)
For an older listener, Selina Hastings retells the story of Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady and the illustrations by Juan Wijngaard are rich and representative of Arthurian times. Arthur's life is saved by the Loathly Lady who tells him the secret of what all women most want...to get their own way. In return he promises a knight's hand in marriage and Gawain volunteers. Marriage releases the lady from her enchantment in part, but Gawain frees her completely by giving her what she most wants... her choice in the matter. Ages 7-adult. (Mulberry Books, $3.95 )
David Cox's Bossyboots tells the story of Abigal, the bossiest girl in the whole of pioneered Australia. The story tells how she defeats the bandit Flash Fred on a stagecoach ride by outbossing him. Hardcover only Ages 4-6 (Crown, $10.95 )
A good talk-about book is Rachael Isadora's No, Agatha! The setting of the book is a turn of the century ocean cruise. Poor Agatha is told no at every turn. She may not play leap frog , ask her male friend to dance or even go out alone on the deck to look at the moon. She comforts herself by dancing with the moon in her dreams. This is a great book to lead into a discussion about how times have changed for little girls. Isadora's black and white illustrations define the constraints well. Hardcover only. Ages 3 and up.(Out of print, but available at libraries-Greenwillow, 1980).
Isadora's Max is a great balance to her No, Agatha! Young Max is a skillful baseball player who walks his sister to ballet class. Isadora's illustrations show the exhuberant 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. I like to compare these Isadora's books in feelings and limits (or lack of limits) that both characters have. Ages three and up. Available in paperback. (Macmillan, $3.95)
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 three and up. Hardcover and paperback available. (Harper and Row, $11.95,$3.95)
Ned of Hiawyn Oram's Ned and the Joybaloo 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, $11.95)
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,$3.95, $11.99). Willy takes on Buster again in the sequel, Willy the Champ.
Babette Cole creates a character we can all relate to in Three Cheers for Errol. Errol Rat is bad at everything and everyone tells him that he is dumb...but like most of us, he finds one thing that he excels at. Errol is great at sports! When he enters the Inter-school Ratathalon, contenders cheat to win and injure Errol. He shows his courage, sportsmanship and brains and is victorious in the end. (Putnam, $13.95)
Perhaps what is even more important than books that supply us with good male and female models are books that provide us with good human models. One of my favorites is Barbara Cooney's Miss Rumphius. Miss Rumphius decides at an early age that she wants to be like her grandfather when she grows up. She wants to go to faraway places and to grow old by the sea. He tells her that there is a third thing she must do, she must do something to make the world more beautiful. When she grows up, she travels to many places and lives by the sea, but it takes her many years to discover how she can make the world more beautiful. She plants lupine that cover the earth in beautiful blossoms and she tells her niece who wants to be like her that she also must make the world more beautiful. Her niece agrees, but does not yet know how she will accomplish this. There are two lovely messages in this book. The more obvious is the wish to improve the world . The second is the comforting thought, that one need not worry about this, but only know that s/he desires to make the world a better place. Cooney's rich illustrations add to creating a book that will touch adults as easily as children. Ages 5 and up. Hardcover and paperback available. (Viking,$13.95;Puffin,$4.95)