So the list is growing. I probably should be spending a little more time critiquing the children's books that I don't like, but reading the good ones is so much more fun! I feel like I spent my entire childhood engulfed in the bad ones, and that my time is better spent highlighting the ones I am excited to share with my kids, and with you!
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman Illustrated by Diana Souza
In 1989 when Heather and her mommies first appeared in a children's book, they were bashing down a big ol' door. This book was really the first kids book that showed gay or lesbian parents.
The 10th anniversary reprinting of the book streamlines the story that was, at times, wordy and offered unnecessary information, such as how Heather was conceived.
Thanks, in large part, to this book, there is a growing crop of kids books that offer gay and lesbian characters including:
And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell
In Our Mother's House by Patricia Polacco
Uncle Bobby's Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen
The Family Book by Todd Parr
All Kinds of Families! by Mary Ann Hoberman
Emma and Meesha My Boy: A Two Mom Story by Kaitlyn Taylor Considine
King and King and Family by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland
and
King and King by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland
Generally stories that glorify royalty are not on the top of my favorites list, but this one is one of my favorites books, in spite of that. It has beautiful collaged illustrations layered with quirky drawings. The story tells about a prince who is being coerced into marriage by his overbearing mother. The queen lines up a parade of princesses for the prince to choose from, and he does not like any... until he experiences love at first sight with one of the princesses brothers. And they wed, and live happily ever after. (Until the follow up book where they adopt a baby, and then continue to live happily ever after.)
I think my favorite thing about this book is how the fact that the prince falls in love with another prince and not a princess is not made a big deal of. He finds someone that he loves, and the queen and the kingdom are happy and celebrate with him.
It is a love story and the gender of the lovers is never called into question!
Old MacDonald had a Woodshop by Lisa Shulman Illustrated by Ashley Wolff
The character of Old MacDonald in this version of the story is a female. She works in her woodshop, building a very special project with the help of her friends. Instead of the animals on the farm, the story details the tools she is using for her project, which, it turns out, is a toy farm!
I love the reworking of a well known children's rhyme to make the protagonist a woman, especially because she is doing a job that is often thought of as male work.
Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osborne Illustrated by Giselle Potter
Another retelling of a classic children's story where the protagonist has been changed to a female.
An empowering version of the tale, Kate defeats the Giant and she and her mother go to live in the castle with the giants wife.
The retelling of classic fairy tales with the main characters gender changed has become a popular theme. Though I am generally more interested in stories with more contemporary themes I like the idea of the reworked fairy tale. It is hard to get through childhood without coming across tales such as Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Pied Piper, Cinderella, The Frog Prince, Hansel and Gretel, Three Billy Goats Gruff... and so many others. I love to see these tales and their characters adapted to reflect stronger female characters, and more progressive ideology.
Are there more that you know of?
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Free to Be, You and Me!!
A couple of posts back I mused about the classic radical book/movie/record/play from my childhood, Free to Be, You and Me. I began to wonder if not only the the music and images were dated, but if the topics of the stories and songs were as well.
I have listened to the album over and over again through the years. The music and stories are imprinted in my head so that I can recite them along with the storytellers.
In fact, Free to Be was the very first musical I performed in at the local children's theatre. Along with 25 or so other kids I belted out "In a land we the children are freeeeeee. In a land through the green countryeeeeeee," and had my first solo with the lines "When we grow up will I be a lady?" while wearing a floppy pink hat and a too-big-for-me party dress.
This was such a part of my childhood that I knew I would have to sit down and look at the book, read the words over and over again, to get some actual perspective on how it had aged.
It was nearly impossible to find a copy of the book, and I ended up getting it through loan from another university library. When it arrived, it's cover was worn, and some of the pages were barely hanging onto the binding. It was the original printing of the book from 1974, and I feel very lucky to be using this copy for my research. A little piece of history in my hands.
The first thing that I was struck by was how the book looked much less dated than I'd expected. Aside from the awesome 1970's photos that accompany "It's Alright to Cry," the drawings and layout still feel diverse, interesting and beautiful. The woodcuts by Barbara Bascove are my particular favorites.
The music on the album is certainly dated, which is hard to avoid when you are making something that you want to feel fresh and hip and exciting for a certain era. Some of the more theatrical/ story songs have weathered the years, but the music for "Sisters and Brothers" with it's funky 70's vibe might be a little hard for kids to relate to. I may be wrong, though. I think kids are much more adaptable than adults, for sure, but it certainly sounds dated to me.
I suppose part of me expected the content of the book would be hopelessly unrelatable, and that kids today are so "post- whatever" (racist, sexist...etc) that the things that seemed radical almost 40 years ago would make kids today say "Duh?!"
In some ways, this almost already felt true by the time I made my stage debut in the show in 1984. Some of the messages were lost on me because they didn't seem all that radical by the time I was being raised by a single mother in the mid-eighties in California. Obviously, that may have been a totally different story in another place, or another family, but I don't think I understood AT ALL what the song "Girl Land" was about. The song references a place where "good little girls pick up after the boys," or a childhood more like the one my mom was raised in. I wore jeans and played sports and had Tonka trucks that my Barbies drove around in. I was raised to believe that I was growing up in a "post-sexist" era, which in relationship to the previous generation, it must have felt like. The song didn't seem to apply to me.
But sitting with the song, as a 35 year old woman, in fact re-visiting all the stories and songs that deal with gender equality in the book, I am reminded how the dismantling of oppression is like peeling the layers of an onion. So in some ways this book doesn't translate to a new era, but not because we have "fixed" all those pesky issues, but because we have uncovered what is beneath, as well as discovered how the ways we were dealing with one set of oppressions was enforcing another.
The gender discussions of Second Wave Feminism were radical and so important, and there was so much that lay beneath. The idea of men and women being equal uncovered much about the fallacies of a binary gender system, and, for many, the paradox of wanting to be treated "equally" to an identity or system that wasn't healthy to begin with. In other words, it often becomes more complex the more we uncover. It is the nature of doing authentic work for social justice and equality that there are always more ways in which we can challenge ourselves and our community to be more conscious, loving, supportive and open.
The other interesting thing, well, interesting, or sad depending on how to look at it, is that many of the stories told in Free to Be, You and Me are NOT outdated in the slightest. In almost 40 years we as a culture have not shed the painful stereotypes of gender identities, and still impose these restrictive ideas on our children through most mainstream media outlets, not the least of which is advertising.
Women still hawk all the cleaning products in commercials.
There are still "Boy Toys" and "Girl Toys," and I would be willing to bet, despite Alan Alda's super buttery smooth delivery of the story "William's Doll," that the majority of another generation of boys would get flack, especially from the males in their lives, about wanting a doll.
There are still "Girl Clothes" and "Boy Clothes, " and even a kind, intelligent friend of mine winces when his son wants to wear his sister's pink shoes.
Free to Be, You and Me is useless in the same way we are "post-racial" because we have a black president. Just because things "aren't as bad as they used to be" doesn't mean that everything is fixed.
I think that a new chapter of the Free to Be... series, one that goes the next steps in ideas around gender and sexuality, one that addresses tough issues around race and global issues of destruction of place and culture, would be incredible.
But I am pleased and saddened at the same time to note how much Free to Be... remains culturally pertinent for 2010.
I have listened to the album over and over again through the years. The music and stories are imprinted in my head so that I can recite them along with the storytellers.
In fact, Free to Be was the very first musical I performed in at the local children's theatre. Along with 25 or so other kids I belted out "In a land we the children are freeeeeee. In a land through the green countryeeeeeee," and had my first solo with the lines "When we grow up will I be a lady?" while wearing a floppy pink hat and a too-big-for-me party dress.
This was such a part of my childhood that I knew I would have to sit down and look at the book, read the words over and over again, to get some actual perspective on how it had aged.
It was nearly impossible to find a copy of the book, and I ended up getting it through loan from another university library. When it arrived, it's cover was worn, and some of the pages were barely hanging onto the binding. It was the original printing of the book from 1974, and I feel very lucky to be using this copy for my research. A little piece of history in my hands.
The first thing that I was struck by was how the book looked much less dated than I'd expected. Aside from the awesome 1970's photos that accompany "It's Alright to Cry," the drawings and layout still feel diverse, interesting and beautiful. The woodcuts by Barbara Bascove are my particular favorites.
The music on the album is certainly dated, which is hard to avoid when you are making something that you want to feel fresh and hip and exciting for a certain era. Some of the more theatrical/ story songs have weathered the years, but the music for "Sisters and Brothers" with it's funky 70's vibe might be a little hard for kids to relate to. I may be wrong, though. I think kids are much more adaptable than adults, for sure, but it certainly sounds dated to me.
I suppose part of me expected the content of the book would be hopelessly unrelatable, and that kids today are so "post- whatever" (racist, sexist...etc) that the things that seemed radical almost 40 years ago would make kids today say "Duh?!"
In some ways, this almost already felt true by the time I made my stage debut in the show in 1984. Some of the messages were lost on me because they didn't seem all that radical by the time I was being raised by a single mother in the mid-eighties in California. Obviously, that may have been a totally different story in another place, or another family, but I don't think I understood AT ALL what the song "Girl Land" was about. The song references a place where "good little girls pick up after the boys," or a childhood more like the one my mom was raised in. I wore jeans and played sports and had Tonka trucks that my Barbies drove around in. I was raised to believe that I was growing up in a "post-sexist" era, which in relationship to the previous generation, it must have felt like. The song didn't seem to apply to me.
But sitting with the song, as a 35 year old woman, in fact re-visiting all the stories and songs that deal with gender equality in the book, I am reminded how the dismantling of oppression is like peeling the layers of an onion. So in some ways this book doesn't translate to a new era, but not because we have "fixed" all those pesky issues, but because we have uncovered what is beneath, as well as discovered how the ways we were dealing with one set of oppressions was enforcing another.
The gender discussions of Second Wave Feminism were radical and so important, and there was so much that lay beneath. The idea of men and women being equal uncovered much about the fallacies of a binary gender system, and, for many, the paradox of wanting to be treated "equally" to an identity or system that wasn't healthy to begin with. In other words, it often becomes more complex the more we uncover. It is the nature of doing authentic work for social justice and equality that there are always more ways in which we can challenge ourselves and our community to be more conscious, loving, supportive and open.
The other interesting thing, well, interesting, or sad depending on how to look at it, is that many of the stories told in Free to Be, You and Me are NOT outdated in the slightest. In almost 40 years we as a culture have not shed the painful stereotypes of gender identities, and still impose these restrictive ideas on our children through most mainstream media outlets, not the least of which is advertising.
Women still hawk all the cleaning products in commercials.
There are still "Boy Toys" and "Girl Toys," and I would be willing to bet, despite Alan Alda's super buttery smooth delivery of the story "William's Doll," that the majority of another generation of boys would get flack, especially from the males in their lives, about wanting a doll.
There are still "Girl Clothes" and "Boy Clothes, " and even a kind, intelligent friend of mine winces when his son wants to wear his sister's pink shoes.
Free to Be, You and Me is useless in the same way we are "post-racial" because we have a black president. Just because things "aren't as bad as they used to be" doesn't mean that everything is fixed.
I think that a new chapter of the Free to Be... series, one that goes the next steps in ideas around gender and sexuality, one that addresses tough issues around race and global issues of destruction of place and culture, would be incredible.
But I am pleased and saddened at the same time to note how much Free to Be... remains culturally pertinent for 2010.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Liberation Literature
I often use the term "radical" in my exploration of social memes in children's literature, but I think I need to explain more of what I intend with the use of this word. Radical by definition means, "from the root." My interest and aim is to look at the depths of children's books for, not only the information about our culture that they pass along to children, but the roots of these very ideas in our culture at large. Why we put value and emphasis on certain lifestyles, values and behaviors.
The books that most interest me, the ones I feature on my expanding "List of Books I Like" are ones that present a liberatory alternative the certain social norms about gender, race, culture, class, sexuality and consumption. I would call it "Liberation Literature."
What I mean by this is as follows...
That the book deals with one, or more, of the following topics:
1. Portrays loving respectful relationships between people, regardless of gender
2. Shows adults giving children autonomy and treating them with respect
3. Does not place rigid gender boundaries, or deals with the idea of gender as something other than binary
4. Shows family structures outside of the assumed "nuclear family" model
5. Portrays people of color as the lead character/ majority of the characters, without necessarily needing their ethnicity as a plot point
6. Uses cultural references from other sources than the "white/ christian" American perceived norm, especially without necessarily needing it as a plot point
7. Portrays working class, low income or transient folks with a normalcy and respect
8. Portrays life outside the capitalist system
9. Illustrates people living in/ or working to live in harmony with their surroundings
10. Questions the dominant culture of sexism, racism, heterosexism, classism and environmental devastation in a clever, beautiful, or profound way
I know there are a ton of things I am leaving off that list. That is what I have for the moment. It is a work in progress, and I would love your input. I think that it will be nice to have as a reference point while continuing my reading and research.
The books that most interest me, the ones I feature on my expanding "List of Books I Like" are ones that present a liberatory alternative the certain social norms about gender, race, culture, class, sexuality and consumption. I would call it "Liberation Literature."
What I mean by this is as follows...
That the book deals with one, or more, of the following topics:
1. Portrays loving respectful relationships between people, regardless of gender
2. Shows adults giving children autonomy and treating them with respect
3. Does not place rigid gender boundaries, or deals with the idea of gender as something other than binary
4. Shows family structures outside of the assumed "nuclear family" model
5. Portrays people of color as the lead character/ majority of the characters, without necessarily needing their ethnicity as a plot point
6. Uses cultural references from other sources than the "white/ christian" American perceived norm, especially without necessarily needing it as a plot point
7. Portrays working class, low income or transient folks with a normalcy and respect
8. Portrays life outside the capitalist system
9. Illustrates people living in/ or working to live in harmony with their surroundings
10. Questions the dominant culture of sexism, racism, heterosexism, classism and environmental devastation in a clever, beautiful, or profound way
I know there are a ton of things I am leaving off that list. That is what I have for the moment. It is a work in progress, and I would love your input. I think that it will be nice to have as a reference point while continuing my reading and research.
Friday, November 19, 2010
THE LIST: Books I Like #2
The books that I am going to write about today all deal, on some level, with economic class.
Addressing class in the context of a children's book seems like a tough thing to do without making it heavy-handed. These books show working class families, a family living on the edges of society, and two different stories of people making beauty out of other peoples waste.
Night Shift Daddy by Eileen Spinelli, Illustrated by Melissa Iwai
This is a really sweet books that highlights a family of color, where the father works the night shift.
What I love most about this book is the lack of conflict. The story is simply a sweet look at how the daddy puts his daughter to bed at night and then goes to work, and when he returns, she puts him to bed in the morning.
It is a glimpse into a loving, working-class family, showing an urban life, and a different lifestyle than is portrayed in many children's books.
Smoky Night by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by David Diaz
This book deals with issues of race and violence and is set in an ethnically diverse, working-class neighborhood in Los Angeles.
The story is taking place as a riot (of unknown origin) is taking place outside of a young boy's apartment building, while the mama tries to explain why people are engaging in such behavior.
There is also tension between the mama, who is, perhaps, Latino, and a neighbor named Mrs. Kim, who appears to be Asian.
The apartment building gets set on fire as a result of the riot, and the tragedy results in the two women coming together to begin to build a friendship.
Though I have some conflict about the origins of this book, which was written by a white woman from Ireland, I think the issues it confronts are important ones to discuss with kids.
I do wish that there had been more explanation of why the people were rioting, because I think it could begin interesting discussion with kids about injustice and inequality and what are ways these things can be addressed.
But the artist is one of my favorites, using brightly colored folk art paintings in juxtaposition with photographed collage backgrounds. I think it is a stunning example of how art can serve to tell a whole other level of the story.
The Table Where Rich People Sit By Byrd Baylor, Illustrated by Peter Parnell
A family tries to put a price on the things that are most important to them about their lives, and determine that they are very rich.
Ok... Sounds cheesy, but it is truly a beautiful book. I am not entirely thrilled about the need to see ones life through a capitalist lens, but I realize that that is a lens that many can identify with, especially when contemplating ones economic class.
The family portrayed in the story is also not typical in kids books, or much media, for that matter. They have chosen to live a life outside of the "mainstream" where they can follow work that makes them feel passion, and live a life in rhythm with their surroundings, and created by their own hands.
The Tin Forest by Helen Ward and Wayne Anderson
I love this book. I love this book. I love this book.
I love that it deals with isolation, and waste by consumption and creativity and making beauty out of trash. I love the art. I love the message.
Another book that looks at the fallacies of capitalism, and shows other ways to live in the world.
Beautiful.
The Dumpster Diver by Janet S. Wong, Illustrated by David Roberts
The art in this book is clever and compelling, and there is a nice diversity to the characters, though, per the usual format for most media, the main character is still a white man.
The story shows a group of folks who take items they find in the trash and create new uses for them.
The premise is great, but the ending bugs me a little. They had to come in with some final moral about how "re-using is great and all, but you probably shouldn't dig through the trash."
The main character gets hurt while dumpster diving, and so the kids go around and ask their neighbors for their unwanted items instead of dumpstering anymore. Great idea, except that I would bet if you went to Safeway and asked them for the bread they were about to throw away, they probably wouldn't hand it over. It isn't a reality to keep the waste of a capitalist system from reaching the trash cans, and I think that a little nod to why people are taught to (encouraged to) be so wasteful would have been interesting.
Either way, I think it is a cute book, that can bring up plenty of discussion about waste and re-use of things others call "trash."
Addressing class in the context of a children's book seems like a tough thing to do without making it heavy-handed. These books show working class families, a family living on the edges of society, and two different stories of people making beauty out of other peoples waste.
Night Shift Daddy by Eileen Spinelli, Illustrated by Melissa Iwai
This is a really sweet books that highlights a family of color, where the father works the night shift.
What I love most about this book is the lack of conflict. The story is simply a sweet look at how the daddy puts his daughter to bed at night and then goes to work, and when he returns, she puts him to bed in the morning.
It is a glimpse into a loving, working-class family, showing an urban life, and a different lifestyle than is portrayed in many children's books.
Smoky Night by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by David Diaz
This book deals with issues of race and violence and is set in an ethnically diverse, working-class neighborhood in Los Angeles.
The story is taking place as a riot (of unknown origin) is taking place outside of a young boy's apartment building, while the mama tries to explain why people are engaging in such behavior.
There is also tension between the mama, who is, perhaps, Latino, and a neighbor named Mrs. Kim, who appears to be Asian.
The apartment building gets set on fire as a result of the riot, and the tragedy results in the two women coming together to begin to build a friendship.
Though I have some conflict about the origins of this book, which was written by a white woman from Ireland, I think the issues it confronts are important ones to discuss with kids.
I do wish that there had been more explanation of why the people were rioting, because I think it could begin interesting discussion with kids about injustice and inequality and what are ways these things can be addressed.
But the artist is one of my favorites, using brightly colored folk art paintings in juxtaposition with photographed collage backgrounds. I think it is a stunning example of how art can serve to tell a whole other level of the story.
The Table Where Rich People Sit By Byrd Baylor, Illustrated by Peter Parnell
A family tries to put a price on the things that are most important to them about their lives, and determine that they are very rich.
Ok... Sounds cheesy, but it is truly a beautiful book. I am not entirely thrilled about the need to see ones life through a capitalist lens, but I realize that that is a lens that many can identify with, especially when contemplating ones economic class.
The family portrayed in the story is also not typical in kids books, or much media, for that matter. They have chosen to live a life outside of the "mainstream" where they can follow work that makes them feel passion, and live a life in rhythm with their surroundings, and created by their own hands.
The Tin Forest by Helen Ward and Wayne Anderson
I love this book. I love this book. I love this book.
I love that it deals with isolation, and waste by consumption and creativity and making beauty out of trash. I love the art. I love the message.
Another book that looks at the fallacies of capitalism, and shows other ways to live in the world.
Beautiful.
The Dumpster Diver by Janet S. Wong, Illustrated by David Roberts
The art in this book is clever and compelling, and there is a nice diversity to the characters, though, per the usual format for most media, the main character is still a white man.
The story shows a group of folks who take items they find in the trash and create new uses for them.
The premise is great, but the ending bugs me a little. They had to come in with some final moral about how "re-using is great and all, but you probably shouldn't dig through the trash."
The main character gets hurt while dumpster diving, and so the kids go around and ask their neighbors for their unwanted items instead of dumpstering anymore. Great idea, except that I would bet if you went to Safeway and asked them for the bread they were about to throw away, they probably wouldn't hand it over. It isn't a reality to keep the waste of a capitalist system from reaching the trash cans, and I think that a little nod to why people are taught to (encouraged to) be so wasteful would have been interesting.
Either way, I think it is a cute book, that can bring up plenty of discussion about waste and re-use of things others call "trash."
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Stories For Free Children, the Ms. Magazine Collection
In 1982 Ms. Magazine published a book of children's stories titled Stories For Free Children, Ed. by Letty Cottin Pogrebin. The book contained almost 40 short stories, fables, and fairy tales emphasizing non-sexist, multi-racial, multi-cultural themes, most of which first appeared in the magazines column of the same title. The column that it came from is also considered to be the main inspiration for one of the most memorable parts of my childhood, Free to Be, You and Me, conceived by Marlo Thomas.
The book is long since out of print, and hard to find. I was lucky enough to come across a hard bound version at one of my favorite local bookshops, De Colores Books. (http://www.decoloresbooks.com/)
One of the most amazing things to discover as I poured through the pages was how many of my favorite radical children's stories actually came from the pages of this book. One of which, "X" by Lois Gould, I had been searching for for many years since I first read it in a Women's Studies textbook of a friend almost ten years ago.
"X" is the story of a child whose parents decide not to tell people just what is in between their child's legs, or assign it a gendered pronoun. I remember the first time I read this story thinking, "Yeah! I am gonna do THAT when I have a kid."
Though I did not follow through on that exact idea, I have since become part of a much larger community of folx challenging the gender binary. I have friends who were labeled as one gender at birth, and now live as another. I have friends who prefer to use genderless pronouns such as "they" and "ze." In general, I feel lucky to be surrounded by people who are trying to look at the box we put around the idea of "boy" and "girl" and how we can break it to bits and allow everyone to live in whatever part of the spectrum they feel happy.
With the kids in my life, it is really important to me to pay extra attention to the characteristics we give to things of one gender or another. What exactly are "girl things" and "boy things" anyway? Why is it that, especially once they aren't babies anymore, we have very different emotional expectations and nurturing towards children depending on their sex?
"X" was the first kid's story that I read that challenged these things in a way that would be fun to read and discuss with kids. Recently, I have discovered a new crop of books attempting to do the same thing. (In my next post, I will share some of these.) But aside from "William's Doll" and others from the Free to Be, You and Me soundtrack, and Tomie dePaola's Oliver Button is a Sissy, for most of my childhood there was a decided lack of children's books challenging gender roles.
Stories For Free Children has a lot of awesome stories that I am excited to read to kids. There are stories about history, adoption, divorce, feelings, guns, empowerment and different sorts of ability. The one stumbling block I found is that the language, and even subject matter is incredibly dated at times. In several of the stories, I would amend language as I was reading, to change words that are out of date, and considered offensive now, such as "My Brother Steven is Retarded." But for it's time, this is a groundbreaking book that teaches a lot about radical children's stories, specifically from my childhood, which feels important to my understanding of the literature's evolution in my lifetime.
My other favorite story in the collection is one that has since been illustrated and published as it's own book; Toni and Slade Morrison's The Big Box.
I had just discovered this story this past year at a friends house, borrowed the illustrated book, and have yet to give it back. (Sorry L and S!) I have to prioritize getting my own copy because it is truly one of my favorite books I have ever read.
The Big Box is the story of how children are expected to behave in certain ways, pushed to the side, and not treated with the respect they deserve. Ok... perhaps this is not a book for very small children. It is pretty wordy, even with beautifully illustrated pages, and the meaning is pretty deep, but I think it could be read with kids over 5 or 6, and discuss with them how they feel like they are treated by adults.
I also think that this book is challenging for adults. It brings up ways in which we marginalize children and try to brush off their needs, often with possessions and inauthentic authoritarian rules.
The book version is beautifully illustrated by Giselle Potter, and makes the meaning of the story translate with so much more passion than the text alone. I would highly recommend checking it out.
Though I had not planned on re-visiting Free to Be, You and Me for this particular project, reading Stories For Free Children makes me think I should. In the context of the history of radical children's literature, even though it was a television special and record album, I think that the impact of these two works in succession shaped a generation searching for a new way to raise kids. I know that Free to Be, You and Me played a huge part in my beginning to explore identity, especially around gender.
So, off to the library I go. To revisit my old friends... "There's a land that I see, where the children are free. And they say it ain't far to this land from where we are."
I wonder... is it too outdated to make an impact on a new generation? Is there a need for a new soundtrack as well as new radical tales to tell our kids?
The book is long since out of print, and hard to find. I was lucky enough to come across a hard bound version at one of my favorite local bookshops, De Colores Books. (http://www.decoloresbooks.com/)
One of the most amazing things to discover as I poured through the pages was how many of my favorite radical children's stories actually came from the pages of this book. One of which, "X" by Lois Gould, I had been searching for for many years since I first read it in a Women's Studies textbook of a friend almost ten years ago.
"X" is the story of a child whose parents decide not to tell people just what is in between their child's legs, or assign it a gendered pronoun. I remember the first time I read this story thinking, "Yeah! I am gonna do THAT when I have a kid."
Though I did not follow through on that exact idea, I have since become part of a much larger community of folx challenging the gender binary. I have friends who were labeled as one gender at birth, and now live as another. I have friends who prefer to use genderless pronouns such as "they" and "ze." In general, I feel lucky to be surrounded by people who are trying to look at the box we put around the idea of "boy" and "girl" and how we can break it to bits and allow everyone to live in whatever part of the spectrum they feel happy.
With the kids in my life, it is really important to me to pay extra attention to the characteristics we give to things of one gender or another. What exactly are "girl things" and "boy things" anyway? Why is it that, especially once they aren't babies anymore, we have very different emotional expectations and nurturing towards children depending on their sex?
"X" was the first kid's story that I read that challenged these things in a way that would be fun to read and discuss with kids. Recently, I have discovered a new crop of books attempting to do the same thing. (In my next post, I will share some of these.) But aside from "William's Doll" and others from the Free to Be, You and Me soundtrack, and Tomie dePaola's Oliver Button is a Sissy, for most of my childhood there was a decided lack of children's books challenging gender roles.
Stories For Free Children has a lot of awesome stories that I am excited to read to kids. There are stories about history, adoption, divorce, feelings, guns, empowerment and different sorts of ability. The one stumbling block I found is that the language, and even subject matter is incredibly dated at times. In several of the stories, I would amend language as I was reading, to change words that are out of date, and considered offensive now, such as "My Brother Steven is Retarded." But for it's time, this is a groundbreaking book that teaches a lot about radical children's stories, specifically from my childhood, which feels important to my understanding of the literature's evolution in my lifetime.
My other favorite story in the collection is one that has since been illustrated and published as it's own book; Toni and Slade Morrison's The Big Box.
I had just discovered this story this past year at a friends house, borrowed the illustrated book, and have yet to give it back. (Sorry L and S!) I have to prioritize getting my own copy because it is truly one of my favorite books I have ever read.
The Big Box is the story of how children are expected to behave in certain ways, pushed to the side, and not treated with the respect they deserve. Ok... perhaps this is not a book for very small children. It is pretty wordy, even with beautifully illustrated pages, and the meaning is pretty deep, but I think it could be read with kids over 5 or 6, and discuss with them how they feel like they are treated by adults.
I also think that this book is challenging for adults. It brings up ways in which we marginalize children and try to brush off their needs, often with possessions and inauthentic authoritarian rules.
The book version is beautifully illustrated by Giselle Potter, and makes the meaning of the story translate with so much more passion than the text alone. I would highly recommend checking it out.
Though I had not planned on re-visiting Free to Be, You and Me for this particular project, reading Stories For Free Children makes me think I should. In the context of the history of radical children's literature, even though it was a television special and record album, I think that the impact of these two works in succession shaped a generation searching for a new way to raise kids. I know that Free to Be, You and Me played a huge part in my beginning to explore identity, especially around gender.
So, off to the library I go. To revisit my old friends... "There's a land that I see, where the children are free. And they say it ain't far to this land from where we are."
I wonder... is it too outdated to make an impact on a new generation? Is there a need for a new soundtrack as well as new radical tales to tell our kids?
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