Hello All,


I saw a rather unsettling short clip on facebook the other day showing how many books aimed at children do not include strong female characters, female characters that speak, or female characters that are not waiting around hoping to be saved by a prince.


Here are the statistics that accompany the clip: 

• Male characters appear in up to 100% of books (FSU study finds 100 years of gender bias in children’s books, 2011)

• In a study of over 5000 children’s books, 25% of them had zero female characters [Gender in 20th Century Children’s Books, 2011)

• Time Magazine listed the 100 best children’s books of all time. Only 53 have female characters that speak

• Across children’s media, only 19.5% of female characters hold jobs or have career aspirations vs. 80.5% of male characters (SeeJane.org Occupational Aspirations, 2013 (NB. The links to the studies mentioned were not provided in the clip, so the links I have given are to links I have found through google - I hope they are the right ones!)

Role models in children's books are important: I'm sure that most parents would want their daughters to be able to identify with strong female characters that put them in charge of their own destiny and would not want their sons to grow up thinking that women are silent, thoughtless, inanimate prizes received as rewards for completing quests! I was hoping to get recommendations from everyone for any children's books that you remember from your own early days or any newer books that you are currently reading to your own children that stick in your mind as having good, positive female characters.


Any recommendations for good books to look out for (or indeed any to avoid that place female characters in unhelpful non-speaking, non-thinking, no-action roles) would be sincerely appreciated.


Thanks in advance for your suggestions!


Best,


Amber