QUESTION: The Canon (and Kooky Cool New & Diverse Books) for Little Girls

[Ryan Goble]

Hello Everyone,

As I mentioned last week, Nicole and I just found out the gender of our baby on Monday evening.

As the ultrasound tech was moving around checking things out Nicole said, "oh, are those the girl bits?" I couldn't stop laughing as "girl bits" is a great phrase - a bit odd, but not entirely offensive. Nicole has clearly read more books about pregnancy than I have as it all looked fuzzy to me. When we actually found out it would be a little girl I was super excited. I also realized that if she decides to rock a band it will have to be called "Girl Bits" - totally awesome name.

I'm already getting paranoid about drowning our pending girl in pink and have been driving people nuts with my "no pink - or at least only as an accent" crusade.

So here's the thing. This is our first child and as you know I'm way more in touch with the 5th-12th grade set than the little ones but I'm excited to go "media" shopping.

From when I was a little kid I remember loving Richard Scary, Dr. Seuss, and the Berinstain Bears - I recall Clifford, Pat the Bunny and The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pop-Up Book but beyond that I can't say I have a feel for the canon of 0-5 kid lit.

I know that Pippi Longstocking is a big little girl book and the Madeline books - but what other things are "essential" in your opinion. I'm especially interested in learning about books that portray strong little girls and diverse groups of kids - not princess heavy stuff - although I'm sure it will be unavoidable.

Also, any recs for awesome off the grid kid tunes (like the They Might Be Giants and Medinski Martin and Wood) would be cool too.

I put this question in a blog instead of the elementary group because I thought all kinds of people might have ideas (instead of limiting it to elementary teachers).

Would love your suggestions - they will all be greatly appreciated!

Ryan

[Elizabeth Simpson]

Mo Willems is a god in our house. Our four-year old loves Knuffle Bunny, everything the Pigeon does, and, of course, the Elephant and Piggie books. As you've already mentioned, Pippi Longstocking is a must - my very favorite once upon a time, along with Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. All four of my kids have loved the Sandra Boynton books. I especially recommend Doggies - but you have to do the voices. You have to. Little Golden Books come in anthologies these days (we have read a few of them cover to cover - whew). Ladybug Girl is cute. To help you get over your aversion to pink, check out Fancy Nancy. She is oh so fancy, but she also introduces fancy words, kind of like Pinky Dinky Do on NickJr.

With my first child, I, too, shunned pink stuff. She had trains, blocks, puzzles, everything a boy might have. She had lots of stuffed animals, and later dolls. When my twin boys came along a few years later, they were very much boys. The trains, blocks, reptiles, etc. were passed down to them. They also had "buddies" galore. Pink can be great, as long as you don't fall for the pink blocks and trains, which I've always found more than a little condescending. Girls (and boys) can be anything. Don't get tripped up by the colors.

[Kelly Farrow]

Tana Hoban's books are old-school and getting to be a bit harder to find than they used to be, but they're seriously awesome for any gender. The ones I use w/ classes are The Look Book, Look Again, Just Look, and Take Another Look. She's got lots more about colors, shapes, signs, etc. that are also cool for los bebes. Her Black on White and White on Black books are fantastic for young babies and at perfect for their developmental level--that contrast is something they can see clearly. :) Also, don't forget that kids who have memorized 8 nursery rhymes by age 3 will be the best readers by age 8 (http://www.memfox.com/if-i-were-queen-of-the-world.html)!!

[Suzanne Lustie]

Ryan, I have two daughters and two granddaughters --those girls hung the moon. Remember, despite our best attempts they will like pink sometimes and blue sometimes and black sometimes--go figure??!!

We all read and sometimes they read books that I think "you can't really like that." But they think the same about me,it just goes with the territory.

I just finished an amazing book by Vivian Gussin Paley The Girl with the Brown Crayon. It's about Paley's last year as a kindergarten teacher. As it turned out it became the year of rediscovering Leo Lionni. Her kindergarten kids helped her see the amazing layers in Lionni's books. So I wish you joy and discovery re-discovery, perhaps Lionni would be an author you and your wife and your daughter will enjoy.

Of course there is always the chance that eventually you'll be reading these amazing books to your youngster and she'll say, "Dad, seriously." Kids do that, it's part of the job description.

Suzanne

[Wisdom]

Congratulations, you two! We use The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch for our gender unit, and I love it.

[Angie]

My little girl loves Dora the Explorer and Diego (her cousin), Madeline, books by Sandra Boynton (I personally like Hippos Go beserk) and the Pigeon books by Mo Willems--plus they're so much fun to read!
Congratulations!!

[kristine marane gongora]

I might not have the 0-5 age range totally accurate here -- my daughter is now 11 and it feels like it's been forever since those days! I'll have to muse on this a little more...

You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer (she read this to her Kindergarten class)
Eloise
Olivia
Amelia and Eleanor Go For A Ride and When Marian Sang (and just about anything illustrated by Brian Selznick, including The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins for any boy or girl who loves art and science, but that’s a little older.)
The Snowy Day/Ezra Jack Keats
I really like DB Johnson's Henry books, too.

Lots of folk tales and music.

Kid specific music: my kids loved Philadelphia Chickens. They’re both hams, so the Broadway-style tunes appealed to their desire to act out and dance to the tunes. We also listened to a lot of stuff I listened to as a kid in the 70s...Sesame Street, Free to Be You and Me...and the non-kid tunes like Bob Marley "Three Little Birds" or Beatles "Octopus' Garden" (We play Beatles Rock Band as a family now.)

Don't sweat the "pink" thing. We were never ones to shop the pink and blue aisles at toy stores, which makes a big difference in not pigeonholing your kid (boy or girl) into those tired stereotypes. Groovy Girls were really cute multi-ethnic doll toys that she played with and a great alternative to Barbie, but that may have passed as a toy fad by now.

[Melissa Aviles]

Congratulations to you both! So exciting!
Although I am the mother of 4 sons, I do have some experience with books that feature strictly a female lead. All of the books previously mentioned are excellent. In addition to being really good books, they don't fall into the trap that some gender specific books tend toward, i.e. making the opposite sex look stupid. Be on the lookout for stories that are so bent on making the female leads strong, that the male characters are portrayed as idiotic. Obviously the reverse situation also occurs, equally annoying.

In the last few years we were given two Scanimation picture books by Rufus Butler Seder entitled "Swing!" and "Gallop!". They are so amazing to look at that I'm sure they would capture the attention of even the tiniest reader.

All the best to you and your family.

P.S. Purple trumps pink any day of the week!

[Landra A. Rink]

Barenaked Ladies has a great kids album called "Snack Time". We have had it for a couple of years and it is still a constant request from our 9 and 7 year old boys. Our baby girl likes it also, since her brothers will sing and dance to it :-)
Also I wouldn't worry about the pink issue. It doesn't matter what you try to influence them with (color wise) they are still individuals. Case in point: My 7 year old boy LOVES the color pink; however, he understands gender stereotypes (at his level) and changes it to red when asked his favorite color in public settings.
Anyway, congratulations on your little girl!

[Doug Beacom]

Ryan!

Congrats! as a father of little lady, with over 20 mos of experience, here are my recs:

1. Karen Katz books--an unexpected highlight of emergent reading with Maya --not always about a female lead character--but fun and interactive. She seriously goes nuts for these (and they're printed in a few languages--we do Japanese & English)
http://www.amazon.com/Karen-Katz/e/B001H6TYBW/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

2. Rock-a-bye-Baby--we received the Pink Floyd & Bob Marley editions--but they're all awesome
http://rockabyebabymusic.com/

3. All things Eric Carle. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? has been a go-to classic--excellent for long saturday mornings on the floor of the bathroom (waiting for Maya to "do her thing" )

4. Kimya Dawson! Kimya Dawson Kimya Dawson! (Jeffrey Lewis)

Finally, kick off gender-free (or neutral?) studies with a great book, "My Mother Wears Combat Boots"
http://www.amazon.com/Mother-Wears-Combat-Boots-Parenting/dp/190485...

[Stephanie Young]

Here are some that my girls read:
1. Junie B. Jones
2. Amelia Bedelia by Herman Parish
3. Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China
4. American Girl Series
5. Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold
6. Judy Moody by Megan McDonald
7. Sugar Plum Fairies by Whoopi Goldberg

I'll send you a few more as my brain thinks of them :)