Children’s books

[PinkSocks89]

I post very infrequently but would like some help please. I went though my little girls books (brought by others) and to my horror most were completely male charcters. Even worse those with female characters were in an apron, following the male around etc.
Please can someone advise me on any children’s books with strong female characters. If this isn’t the right place to post please point me in the right direction!

SuperLoud Five Minutes Peace is good (and funny for parents) but the others in the series are awful. One book features fat shaming and Mrs Large going on a diet, while the other one is about how hopeless Mr Large is at childcare!

wordery.com/little-feminist-board-book-set-emily-kleinman-9780735353817?currency=GBP&gtrck=cVQ3WWxZcis2KzY5TmJsWjFCcmtvYzlJKzluOWpUZXkwbWRzdWp6VGNsSll5eEtUWnFvVGxWOEVrUDFrTXlzZFZ3N3crWWE0OGtpV2xHUG9aNXViUXc9PQ&gclid=CjwKCAjw2cTmBRAVEiwA8YMgzU-ufvSjlNbuE9Y7ZwEXPU--bEkZn0nbJgs9vdxQcQgX7swqyy8qZRoC7_UQAvD_BwE In terms of Actual Feminist (tm) books, I would go for something like this

www.amazon.co.uk/DC-Super-Heroes-First-Power/dp/1941367038/ref=pd_bxgy_14_3/262-6813261-0836423?psc=1&pf_rd_p=07e3e597-b71b-4701-a3fd-d79c50f48406&_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_wg=riuFY&pf_rd_r=2386PK205M38SGAHK6DY&pd_rd_i=1941367038&pd_rd_w=Se95N&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&refRID=2386PK205M38SGAHK6DY&pd_rd_r=3c0195ba-70e1-11e9-8c5a-d706e463e9e0 I want this for myself

I understand it's deeply annoying but I'm not sure I would worry at this stage.

DD is now 9, and reads a mixture of books with boy and girl protagonists but absolutely loves Jacqueline Wilson. We had an interesting discussion the other day about how JW always centres girls in her writing. But when she was a baby I just read whatever.

His Dark Materials is mentioned above. I enjoyed that until Pullman started describing Lyra kissing the boy character. It turns my stomach that man has to sexualise the girl he is writing about. If she's old enough to be sexually active, why no mention of how she manages when she has a period or anything else to do with being a teenage girl? Not part of his fantasy I guess.

Ok. Picture books list - I’ve only chosen ones with central female characters that are specifically counter to stereotypes but generally I think go for quality of book more than absolute political purity - eg will take anything by Shirley Hughes over 99% of all picture books any day...

Mrs Armitage series by Quentin Blake (mechanical hilarious central character who is blessed with unconventional looks)

Winnie the witch (even hairy legs (!))

You must try to get hold of anything by Carol Ann Duffy - most of these are out of print. Especially Queen Munch and Queen Nibble, Moon Zoo and Underwater Farmyard, The Skipping Rope Snake

The Paperbag princess and Babette Cole’s Princess Smarty pants - for kickass princesses

My children also loved Olivia (? Can’t remember author) and the Madeline series although these are less overtly anti stereotypes

Two more things: also a good idea to think about central male characters doing non stereotypical male things (The Snowy Day is my favourite eg) and I’d avoid those “famous women through history!” ones that are so trendy as much as you can. They don’t tend to be interesting for children and you want to avoid preaching.

Let me know if you want more post the picture book stage.

Thankyou so much I’ve found this so helpful- especially making me concider different books to challenge stereotypes rather than just strong females.

A house in the woods by Inga Moore is delightful, it's about a group of 4 animals who build themselves a house. Two are male and two are female and both sexes take an equal role in building the house. It's so lovely, I'll never get tired of reading that one.
Also, we have one called Mr Nick's knitting. Admittedly, the title does only mention the man in the story, but other than that, it is pretty good, it's about an older woman and man who have made friends on a commuter train because they both love knitting. Then the woman ends up in hospital and the man knits her a blanket with pictures of their views from the train to help cheer her up and make her feel better while she's convalescing 😊

for pre-school Come Away from the Water Shirley by John Burningham (girl has imaginary adventures as a pirate at the seaside) and Pearl Power by Mel Elliott (girl starts a new school).
Chapter books for older readers - The Princess in Black - super hero princess and Chris Riddell's Otteline series about a girl detective.

The Story of Alison Hubble is a lovely, funny book with a girl character front and centre.

whispersofwickedness A House In The Woods is one of my favourite children's books and I give copies away as presents all the time. Just fantastic.

The Wild Girl by Chris wormell
Amazing Grace
Handa's Surprise
Izzy Gizmo
Rosie's Walk
The Day Louis Got Eaten

So many fantastic books. And like previous posters, I substitute female pronouns every time, and similarly if we see a cat/fish/bird etc when out and about, I will assume it's female unless we know our can tell otherwise. The male as default is everywhere, so my tiny efforts are a drop in the ocean, but it's a start!

And I've just ordered a copy of Mr Nick's Knitting, it's out of print but there are second hand copies out there!
Great thread 📚

I got my daughter a collection of old girl’s annuals from the fifties to the eighties. A little bit maintaining expected values, but they do have stories of girls going out and doing interesting and exciting things.