WATCH: Oh, Kmart!
Pamela Poole: Talk About a Choking Hazard! What I Never Expected to…
Children's Books - Where Have all the Good Dads Gone?
Filed under: Books for Kids
Are dads treated unfairly in children's books?. Image: John Flinchbaugh on Flickr
Take Richard Scarry's "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go," says Syson in an article at the Times Online: "He [Pa Pig] falls asleep, having promised to drive. He fails to change a flat tire, leaving his wife to do it. He gets sunburnt, despite her warnings. It's an image of the lazy, feckless, unreliable paterfamilias echoed in various TV sitcoms. He is practically a porcine Homer Simpson."
In fact, Syson says that in his own collection of over 100 picture books, dads showed up in only nine. And just five of those portrayed fathers in a positive light. "When they do appear," says Syson of fictional fathers, "They are often withdrawn and ineffectual. In spite of today's shifting parenting roles, books aimed at pre-school children still tend to depict the mother as the sole or primary care provider. Fathers are absent, silly or just plain busy."
Top 10 Baby Books
Goodnight Moon
Perhaps the perfect children's bedtime book, Goodnight Moon is a short poem of goodnight wishes from a young rabbit preparing for -- or attempting to postpone -- his own slumber.
HarperCollins
Pat the Bunny
Pat the Bunny is a part of childhood, as soothing as cocoa and animal crackers.
Golden Books
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
"In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf." So begins Eric Carle's modern classic.
Philomel
Guess How Much I Love You
Little Nutbrown Hare wants very much to impress Big Nutbrown Hare with the enormous scale of his devotion in this ever-popular book, but ends up being the one who's impressed.
Candlewick
One Fish, Two Fish, Three, Four, Five Fish!
This bouncy counting book comes with five beads shaped like Seussian fish that toddlers can move across the top of the book as they count along.
Random House Books for Young Readers
Love You Forever
Here, the mother sings to her sleeping baby: "I'll love you forever / I'll love you for always / As long as I'm living / My baby you'll be."
Firefly Books, Ltd
Time for Bed
Filling each spread, Dyer's commanding yet gentle, large-scale watercolors are the key to the appeal of this bedtime lullaby.
Red Wagon Books
Where the Wild Things Are
Where the Wild Things Are is one of those truly rare books that can be enjoyed equally by a child and a grown-up.
HarperCollins
Baby Faces
Full of crisp color photographs, this book captures the expressions and moods of babies throughout their busy days.
DK Preschool
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
The gentle rhyming and gorgeous, tissue-paper collage illustrations in this classic picture book make it a dog-eared favorite on many children's bookshelves.
Henry Holt & Co.
As a mom of girls, I'm constantly on the lookout for positive female role models -- whether their girls, moms or women in general -- in books and movies. It never crossed my mind that dads might be underrepresented. So I did a very quick survey of our downstairs bookshelf to see what our collection looks like.
Of the twelve titles I pulled out, here's what I found:
- Four of the books were mother/child stories only, "Stellaluna" and "Skippy Jon Jones," for example.
- Three portrayed dad in a stereotypical way, either off working or not involved in childcare. In "Pirates Don't Change Diapers," dad takes a nap while mom runs to the store, for instance.
- In five of the books, dads were either the only other character, ("We're Going on a Bear Hunt"), or were taking an equal role in parenting -- "Knufflebunny" and "Lily's Purple Plastic Purse."
Not exactly scientific, but not exactly evidence of a problem either -- at least in our house. So I turned to the source, our resident bedtime book reader. "Hey," I asked my husband, "Have you ever had a problem with the way dads are represented in books?"
"Nope."
Okay then. Even though this doesn't seem to be a problem at our house, I'm very familiar with how frustrating it can be when role models are in short supply. Syson's experts say there are a few reasons why dads might not show up in their kids' books:
1) Though dad-friendly topics are more popular than ever, domestic books are not.
2) Dads might read books to their kids, but it's still moms who are buying them.
3) Older books, such as Syson's Scarry books, reflect a snapshot of society. When "Cars and Trucks" was written, publishers were being careful to depict women in traditionally male roles.
What about your child's book collection -- do you see a problem with how dads are portrayed? Share your thoughts with us in comments.
Your<span>Voice</span>
Ask Us Anything About Parenting
TheTalkies:RelatedVideos
-
Father, Daughter of Baltimore, Maryland, Get Children's Books Published
A third-grade student from Carroll County helped her dad write a series of children's books that are now in print. Kim Dacey has more on "The Adventures of Bibole, Rivol and Michelle" and its authors.
-
How to Know What's Dangerous or Safe for Your Children
Hey Dads and Moms: Relax! Today's parents are more anxious than ever about their kids safety, but they don't have to be (with a few major exceptions). In this episode Daddy Clay interviews Cara Natterson, pediatrician and author of Dangerous or Safe. Quick quiz: which is more dangerous for you or your child: eating fish or using cell phones? Watch this video, read the book, and find out.
-
Fifty Dangerous Things Interview with Gever Tulley
Dad, would you let your kids lick a 9-volt battery? In this episode of Gear Daddy, Daddy Troy sits down with Gever Tulley, author of the activity book "Fifty Dangerous Things (you should let your children do)" who explains why it's okay. This book features numerous activities for kids, such as burning things with a magnifying glass, that can be used to teach science and learn about hazards. Check out the video to learn more about the book.
-
Emotion Coaching with Kimberly Clayton Blaine
In this episode of The Lab, Daddy Clay talks with The Go-To Mom, Kimberly Clayton Blaine, about her new book "The Go-To Mom's Parents' Guide to Emotion Coaching". The book addresses parents struggling with discipline of their kids. Kimberly tells us how a parent being an emotion coach to children compares to a traditional parenting approach. Find out how her philosophy about chore charts differs from Daddy Clay. Can dads embrace emotion coaching as well as moms?
SitesWeLove
- Site Map
- |
- Staff
- |
- Terms of Service
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Trademarks
- |
- Advertise With Us
- |
- About Our Ads
- |
- AOL Downloads
- |
- Contact Us
- |
© Copyright 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Aol Family
ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
6-02-2009 @ 11:04AM
Uly said...Both his survey and yours are inconclusive for one pretty important reason: Many picture books don't show parents at all (the Pigeon books (unless the bus driver counts as the pigeon's dad), The Night Pirates, Harold and the Purple Crayon, I Stink, Piggy Pie....) or show parents so minimally (In The Night Kitchen) that it hardly matters.
I'd like to know how many of the 100 books he has show *no* parents. Then I'll have an idea of what percentage of them show dads in a bad light.
Reply
6-02-2009 @ 1:47PM
SKL said...I was thinking along the same lines as Uly, and also, have you noticed how many kids in childrens' lit are orphans? Not to mention all those with nice dads and wicked stepmothers! I read the classic stories to my kids all the time, and I don't worry that they will think I'm going to, say, feed them a poisoned apple. Contrary to popular belief, kids are not stupid. They know what a real "father" (or mother) is if they in fact have one.
Classic stories aside, there are tons of books focusing on "good fathers" if that's what you are shopping for. On the other hand, there are lots of kids who don't have a father in their lives, so it's actually nice that a lot of books don't make fathers necessary.
Reply
6-02-2009 @ 5:53PM
Stacy said...One of the Top 10 baby books you list is a great one for dads - Guess How Much I Love You. It is a male rabbit putting his son to bed, and is our favorite book. Others are "Just Like Daddy" and "My Father" - and while not a great "role model" book, "Day Out With Daddy" is really fun, and my son loves it.
Reply
6-02-2009 @ 8:45PM
damoki said...SLK makes a great point; kids are not stupid, and there may be something wrong with the whole, "Dad is missing" in literature concept. I have noticed there seems to be a sad number of "dumb dads" in pop culture, but even then I am not convinced there is a significant transfer of negative influence as a result... they are just insulting to the fathers who are trying to and often do reach the goal of great fatherhood.
Of course the real problem is reflected in SKL's comment about real dads, "...if they in fact have one."
Worring about the frequency of literature dads - dumb or dedicated - seems less an issue than the consideration of absent real dads.
Also, when a kid puts down a book depicting a bonehead dad, and turns to his read dad who is not a bonehead, he will not change his opinion of him anymore than reading about a great dad will change a child's opinion of a bad dad.
Once again... kids are not stupid. But, if you think yours may be, just be more careful about the books available for their consumption.
DaMoKi
Reply
6-10-2009 @ 1:39AM
Popnbottles said...I wrote a post in my blog mentioning this very thing (http://popnbottles.wordpress.com/2009/06/07/almost-prefect-book/). Dads get a bad wrap in general I think, Check out a world of RAD DADS at popnbottles.com
Reply
6-10-2009 @ 3:36PM
Pierce Hibma said...I think the same thing is true for T.V. and movies. All too often the father is not involved or not a positive influence in many forms of media. The problem is when society follows the standard set by media. This is why a television show like the Cosbys was so great because it showed what it meant to be a good dad.
http://HSSSblog.com
Reply
7-15-2009 @ 2:41PM
Glenn said...Over the past several years, while browsing the kids books section of the bookstore, I've noticed that there are few books where the dad is the good guy. Especially for younger children, pre-school aged or earlier. In many books it is even implied that there is no father in the family and it's all just mom. This is the case in many movies as well like "Toy Story".
As a dad (who buys most of the books for his son and takes his son to the library on Saturdays with mom) it does NOT bother me in the least. I do look for books where the dad is shown in a positive light but even in most of those books the storybook father is not necessarily someone my son can relate to because those storybook dads do not resemble me in the slightest. The important thing is that I'm reading books to my son that we can enjoy together and if he ever has questions about a father or family in a story we discuss it thoroughly and I can explain to him that all families are not made alike, which is okay.
Reply