Sugar and Spice: That\u27s What Children\u27s Books Are Still Made of

In April 1977, at a conference on children\u27s literature at Columbia University, an editor from a commercial publishing house responded to feminist criticism of a book. The editor stated that children\u27s books should be free of issues and should not be expected to respond to every trend that comes along, such as the women\u27s movement. To reduce the decade-long struggle of the women\u27s movement to the status of a gimmick or a fad was more than merely insulting; it was a comment that ridiculed the committed efforts of feminists to create a literature—and ultimately a society—where children can find role models free of debilitating sex-role stereotyping. Beyond that, the editor\u27s attitude addressed a question that The Feminist Press has been studying for the past year: Has the women\u27s movement had an effect on recent children\u27s literature