Books that say "it's OK to be caring/wear pink and still be a boy" and "it's OK to like diggers and still be a girl"

[drspouse]

I have Phoebe and Digger but all the books for boys seem to say "if you wear a dress you are a boy".

TBF my boy doesn't really want to wear a dress all the time (a tutu for dancing is OK) and it's probably more about it being OK to wear pink (which he does like, he doesn't think it means he's a girl, but he STILL says "it's for girls").
But he is dangerously close to "boys are stronger than girls and boys fight/hit".

I always think Charlie and Lola is wonderful. Charlie is a really lovely character. I mean he doesnt wear a dress but hes very caring and supportive of his sister. And hes not typically laddish at all. I think hes a very good male role model.

Not a book but the album Free to Be You and Me is great as long as you can handle the very strong 70s vibe

Oh he is lovely!
And DS has a little sister who is, er, a little flaky at times.

(I just asked her today if she's going to wear black trousers and a white top like DS when she starts school. Obviously it will make my live a HECK of a lot easier if she just wears his hand me downs - but also I think tights and skirts are really impractical on a daily basis for 4 year olds. Thankfully she also wants to be like him, and said yes).

The turbulent term of Tyke Tyler by Gene Kemp.

Wonderful book, without spoilers I will say it overturns gender stereotypes very well.

I can't recommend any books unfortunately. But for my DS, real life role models were incredibly important. I used to point out men wearing pink in a casual way: 'what a smart pink tie!', 'gosh, those pink socks look comfy' and so on.

Do you have a male friend or relative that you could present with a pink T shirt and ask them to wear it around your DS every now and then? That might be more effective than books.

Well, DH's smartest shirt is pink. Maybe I can persuade him to get a snazzy pink polo too (he's not very into snazzy unfortunately).

Allen Ahlberg's Happy Families series include Mrs Plug the Plumber & Miss Brick (whose parents are both builders).
Magic Moon a boy gets two wishes.

Just get books with good stories.

An old favourite of ours if you are still on picture books was 'No problem' by Eileen Browne, the author of Handa's surprise. It is about an animal that gets given a kit, and the other animals have to work out what it makes - car, boat, etc until Shrew reads the instructions and finds it is an aeroplane. Most of the characters are animals and female.

First saw it read by Willy Rushton on Playdays - I can still hear him read it . It is hard to find but worth it. Tick tock is good too - naughty squirrels with a similar problem of finding the right mender for the clock they break.

(The animals don't wear clothes so you can ditch the pink)

The animals don't wear clothes so you can ditch the pink

Well that is nice (and it sounds great) but as my DS isn't allowed to ditch clothes it would also be nice to have something that shows a variety of clothes worn by boys!

I wasn't thinking there - it is a long, long while since we were at the taking the clothes off stage

We aren't too bad in our house but my DD who is younger doesn't believe in putting them on!

There are a couple of good Julia Donaldson ones that are good - Zog and Zog and the flying doctors. The princess says she doesn't need to be rescued and becomes a doctor. And also Rosie's Hat. Rosie grows up to become a firefighter.

We have Zog, I didn't know there was another one, didn't know about Rosie's Hat!

*The turbulent term of Tyke Tyler by Gene Kemp.

Wonderful book, without spoilers I will say it overturns gender stereotypes very well.*

I remember reading this when I was ten - it blew my mind!

The Tara Binns books are lovely. She's like a modern female Mr Benn. A costume transforms her into a Dr, engineer and pilot. There are more being written I think.

Pippi Longstocking, surely!

You can definitely get your DH in a pink polo. Mine is very dull sensible when it comes to clothes but his favourite top is a pink polo shirt.

I'll give it a go! He'd suit it as he looks great in his pink smart shirt.

Depending on the age this books is light but shows the princess in the end with a hard hat and a hand drill and her own workshop

www.amazon.co.uk/Princess-Christmas-Rescue/dp/085763707X?tag=mumsnetforum-21

That looks cute!

I'll give it a go! He'd suit it as he looks great in his pink smart shirt.

DP tried that, but as a larger lad, it was a bit of a wall of pink (it's somehow more assertive than a normal pale blue one!)

I think it's a real problem finding books for that are about caring boys (beyond Poppa Bombola who's lost his darling daughter - I think that book is adorable, but it's for the littles) - we've gone back to some Enid Blyton, which does have issues, and can be very stereotyped, but the boys are also a bit more caring I think - and that suits my DS.

! in case you are worried, the point of the Poppa Bombola book, which has the kids falling in the isles giggling, is that he has his darling daughter strapped to his back in a carrier the whole time.

Really true about finding books about caring boys, Menthol.

My son related to some of the Shirley Hughes books - Dogger and Bonting where boys are openly sad because they lose their favourite toys. And there's a book about a boy looking after a shy child at a party I think. The Martin Waddell Big Bear/Little Bear books have a caring adult bear that appears male. But they're more suitable for age 3-4 ish.

Christmas present to your DH sorted drspouse - a pink polo!

Almost forgot - the Katie Morag books have a very capable granny who repairs her own cars and works outdoors in overalls.