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Humor and Non-Conformity and Other Things
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From: Megan Schliesman <schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu>
Date: Wed, 07 May 2014 10:15:47 -0500
I'm so glad Crystal mentioned "The Boy in the Dress" by David Walliams. It's such a a wonderful read, and a great example of how humor can be used to explore topics that challenge comfort zones, at least for some readers. (And one whole dimension of how this topic plays out in the real world is to what extent kids' responses may be informed by the adults in their lives.) She mentioned the "unbelievable" ending of the book. I always think of endings like that in books exploring topics that push against the comfort zones of readers and society, endings where everything turns out better than we might imagine, model the world as we wish it were. It was an ending with intent, and worked in the spirit of the book as a whole, staying true to the humor and warmth.
"Stitches," which Merri brought up, also has humor, but at the same time acknowledges, as Merri noted, much harsher realities, which perhaps made it a little harder to find its audience, although I hope it has and continues to do so. (I was surprised it wasn't on more best-of-the-year lists when it came out)
These are examples of books that are up front in their exploration of gender conformity. There are also more subtle examples. One of my favorite picture books that has nothing to do with gender specifically but to my mind affirms identity issues when it comes to a character knowing something true about himself that pushes against others' expectations is Rachel Vail's "Piggy Bunny."
Regarding picture books with Girls in Pants (now a running bibliography title in my head): this is perhaps an area where we still at the visiblity stage, with books that do exist not necessarily having anything to do with gender nonconformity but still allowing for some dimension of affirmation. So we'll take girls wearning pants for now while we wait for the female equivalent of "Morris MIcklewhite." ( I keep telling msyelf, "well, of course picture books with girls in pants exist," and they surely do, but perhaps not as many as I envision in my head.)
Megan
Date: Wed, 07 May 2014 10:15:47 -0500
I'm so glad Crystal mentioned "The Boy in the Dress" by David Walliams. It's such a a wonderful read, and a great example of how humor can be used to explore topics that challenge comfort zones, at least for some readers. (And one whole dimension of how this topic plays out in the real world is to what extent kids' responses may be informed by the adults in their lives.) She mentioned the "unbelievable" ending of the book. I always think of endings like that in books exploring topics that push against the comfort zones of readers and society, endings where everything turns out better than we might imagine, model the world as we wish it were. It was an ending with intent, and worked in the spirit of the book as a whole, staying true to the humor and warmth.
"Stitches," which Merri brought up, also has humor, but at the same time acknowledges, as Merri noted, much harsher realities, which perhaps made it a little harder to find its audience, although I hope it has and continues to do so. (I was surprised it wasn't on more best-of-the-year lists when it came out)
These are examples of books that are up front in their exploration of gender conformity. There are also more subtle examples. One of my favorite picture books that has nothing to do with gender specifically but to my mind affirms identity issues when it comes to a character knowing something true about himself that pushes against others' expectations is Rachel Vail's "Piggy Bunny."
Regarding picture books with Girls in Pants (now a running bibliography title in my head): this is perhaps an area where we still at the visiblity stage, with books that do exist not necessarily having anything to do with gender nonconformity but still allowing for some dimension of affirmation. So we'll take girls wearning pants for now while we wait for the female equivalent of "Morris MIcklewhite." ( I keep telling msyelf, "well, of course picture books with girls in pants exist," and they surely do, but perhaps not as many as I envision in my head.)
Megan
--
Megan Schliesman, Librarian
Cooperative Children's Book Center
School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison
600 N. Park Street, Room 4290
Madison, WI 53706
608/262-9503
schliesman_at_education.wisc.edu
www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/
My regular hours are T-F, 8-4:30.
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Received on Wed 07 May 2014 10:18:49 AM CDT
