Chauvinistic books for boys.

[strawhat1]

I have a 6yr old tomboy and a 4yr old boy. From a young age M has stated she doesn't want to be a girl because "girls are rubbish", and because of this I tend to read them both books aimed at boys, for example 'Horrid Henry' and, just recently, the 'Ricky Rocket' series.

I just wondered if any other mums out there are concerned about the way girls are depicted in these books - I find it disparaging to say the least and depressing that boys are being encouraged to think of girls in stereotypical terms from such a young age - no wonder M wants to be a boy!

Don't really agree with you regarding Horrid Henry - Moody Margaret is more than capable of holding her own!

There are loads of good books for that age group with strong female characters. Check out the Daisy books, Judy Moody and Dick King-Smith's Sophie.

Obviously, there are books aimed at 'girly girls' but these are obvious by their pink, sparkly nature - just avoid these and try something less pastel!

Yeah, you may be right about Henry - just annoyed that the Ricky Rocket series, which my daughter really likes has such a downer on girls... it just reinforces her ideas.

I really dislike Horrid Henry....it just seems so negative. You may be interested in this post, by Madeline Holler, which argues girls and boys should read the same fiction (universal themes etc).

I am not entirely convinced myself as my son also likes things like Dennis the Menace and action-packed stuff. But he will listen to a good story regardless of whether the main character is a girl or a boy.

Some other strong female characters aimed at the right age range:

Rita the Rescuer - superhero

Clever Polly & the Stupid Wolf - hilarious

clever polly is WONDERFUL but quite hard to get hold of these days. it has been pinched from our library and never replaced... boo hoo