Mother\u27s Bed: The Importance of Balanced Gender Representation in Children\u27s Literature

This children\u27s book and accompanying research paper both address gender inequity in children\u27s literature. There is a significant imbalance of gender representation in children\u27s literature, with the number of central male characters almost doubling that of central female characters. Additionally, the roles of males and females still tend to be stereotypical: boys are action-oriented and heroic, while girls are nurturing and passive. Further, it is believed that boys will only enjoy books about boys, while girls will enjoy books about both boys and girls. This imbalance in children\u27s literature hurts both genders. Children not only learn to read from books, but they also learn about the society in which they live, how they are expected to act, and how they should perceive others from them. My research includes studying books and articles about children\u27s literature and the importance of representation in books, as well as reading several children\u27s books for both patterns of gender representation and for inspiration. As a result of my research, I have written a children\u27s book with a female protagonist that includes well-rounded characters that reach beyond stereotypes and that appeal to all children, regardless of gender