Questions on picture books – checklist for an appraisal of ...



Questions on picture books – checklist for analysing gender images in picture books

Jens Krabel, Dissens e.V.

With this checklist, we would like to give you the chance to take a critical gender-related look at the picture books you work with on a daily basis. On the other hand, we also want to recommend picture books that can support girls and boys in developing their gender identities.

Preliminary remarks

What significance children afford a picture book, how they interpret it and whether they like to read it and/or look at its pictures all depend to a great extent on their own personal themes, life stories, experiences and previous knowledge. However, this also means that no particular picture book is pedagogical in itself, nor does it have a predictable effect on children. On the contrary, girls and boys are very opinionated readers and observers of picture books. They actively incorporate the stories and pictures that they encounter in picture books into their own subjective interperetation of the world and in their own identity conflicts. However, the way they do this may not always please pedagogically trained staff. Educators often have to admit that their educational and pedagogical expectations run up against a blank wall, because the children understand (want to understand) the stories very differently than they do.

One example that demonstrates how children change emancipatory messages in their meaning is provided in Susanne Keunert's book "Geschlechtserwerb und Medienrezeption" [Acquiring a Gender and Media Reception]. She tells the story of how a girl “re-remembers” the ending of the picture book "Die Tütenprinzessin" [The Paper Bag Princess]. In the original story, a princess, who has nothing left but a paper bag to clothe herself with, frees a prince from the grips of a dragon. Instead of showing gratitude, the prince criticises the princess's appearance. This makes her furious and she leaves the prince, wanting to have nothing more to do with him.

When the girl was asked to tell what happened in the story about the Paper Bag Princess, she changed the ending so that the princess takes the prince’s criticism seriously, puts on more attractive clothes and then marries him.

Nevertheless, even if it is difficult to foretell how children understand (want to understand) picture books, several arguments speak in favour of working pedagogically with children to select picture books in which girls and boys, women and men are shown in various different ways.

(More recent) media research emphasises that the picture book continues to be an important and indispensible medium, especially for younger children. Children use the contents, stories and pictures of picture books in many ways, using them to make a picture of the world, to learn how to find their way in this world and to become sure of themselves.

In order to make sure that girls and boys have the chance to expand their scope for developing and the way they act without being held back by restrictive stereotypical gender images, it is important for them to learn about the different ways of being a girl or a boy.

Picture books in which strong, cool, cheeky, brave, adventurous, fearful, sad, reserved, cuddly girls and boys play a role, who live in relationships with thoughtful, caring, unemployed, achievement-oriented, professionally successful fathers and mothers, show the children how diverse and colourful the various kinds of lives led by girls, boys, men and women can be.

Whether children want to take on board these ways of living for themselves is, in turn, a completely different question.

For (certain) children, however, there is another important reason to have access to picture books that show the diversity of the lives of children, women and men. More and more children nowadays live in so-called patchwork families, that is, families in which the children live and grow up with single fathers or mothers, with step mothers or step fathers, with lesbian mothers or gay fathers.

These children also have to have the opportunity of recognising themselves in picture books, to encounter the familiar and to feel "at home" when reading and looking at picture books.

On this note, we hope you have lots of fun "analysing" picture books and buying new ones, if you want.

Checklist contents:

Questions on children, girls and boys in picture books p 3

Questions on mothers, fathers and families in picture books p 4

Questions on fairytale figures in picture books p 5

Questions on animal figures in picture books p 5

Questions on sexual violence and prevention in picture books p 5

Recommended picture books with a short description of content from page 6 on

(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for your national country)

I. Children, girls and boys

1. Are there picture books in which girls and boys deal with becoming a girl or a boy?

Yes

No

I am interested in knowing such picture books (see page 6)

2. Are there picture books in which different sides of boys are shown, in which boys are, for example, strong, cool, cheeky, brave, adventurous and fearful, sad, reserved, cuddly?

Yes

No

I am interested in knowing such picture books (see page 6)

3. Are there picture books in which the main character is a boy who is mainly fearful and/or sad and/or reserved and/or shows his "weak" side?

Yes

No

I am interested in knowing such picture books (see page 6)

4. Are there picture books in which different sides of girls are shown, in which girls are, for example, strong, cool, cheeky, brave, adventurous and fearful, sad, reserved, cuddly?

Yes

No

I am interested in knowing such picture books (see page 6)

5. Are there picture books in which girls have exciting adventures and/or assert themselves, even against what their parents want or against other adult attachment figures?

Yes

No

I am interested in knowing such picture books (see page 6)

6. Are there picture books in which disabilities in children are dealt with?

Yes

No

I am interested in knowing such picture books (see page 6)

II. Mothers, Fathers and Families

1. Are there picture books in which mothers are thoughtful, caring and achievement-oriented, successful (in their career)?

Yes

No

I am interested in knowing such picture books (see page 6)

2. Are there picture books in which fathers have new, modern ways of living or who are unemployed?

Yes

No

I am interested in knowing such picture books (see page 6)

3. Are there picture books in which the (good) relationship between fathers and their sons is at the forefront?

Yes

No

I am interested in knowing such picture books (see page 6)

4. Are there picture books in which the (good) relationship between fathers and their daughters is at the forefront?

Yes

No

I am interested in knowing such picture books (see page 6)

5. Are there picture books in which "patchwork families", which are becoming more and more common in society, play a role?

These might be:

- Single mothers or fathers with their children

- Divorced or widowed mothers or fathers who have new partners and the children have to come to terms with the new step father or step mother

- Lesbian or gay marriages or partnerships where there are children

- Families with transsexual or transgender people

Yes

No

I am interested in knowing such picture books (see page 6)

6. Are there picture books in which migration families are the main characters in the story?

Yes

No

I am interested in knowing such picture books (see page 6)

III. Fairy tales

1. Are there picture books that ironically play with traditional fairytale figures or that give fairytale characters "untypical roles"?

These might be, for example:

- Princesses who do not want to get married or who at least do not want to marry the prince who has been chosen for them

- Princes who do not want to marry sensitive princesses, but courageous, adventurous and independent princesses

- Princes who fall in love with other princes

- Kings who do not want to reign, but prefer to spend their time with the children, with the family

- Loveable step mothers

Yes

No

I am interested in knowing such picture books (see page 6)

IV. Animals figures

1. Are there picture books in which animals are the main figures in the story and that cannot be clearly identified as male or female animals?

Yes

No

I am interested in knowing such picture books (see page 6)

2. Are there picture books in which same-sex (love) relationships between animals are shown?

Yes

No

I am interested in knowing such picture books (see page 6)

V. Sexual violence and prevention

1. Are there picture books that deal with sexual violence against boys?

Yes

No

I am interested in knowing such picture books (see page 6)

2. Are there picture books in which children develop their own strategies in order to be able to defend themselves against sexual violence?

Yes

No

I am interested in knowing such picture books (see page 6)

3. Are there picture books that deal with the sexual violence in the family or close to the family?

Yes

No

I am interested in knowing such picture books (see page 6)

Recommended picture books on the subject of:

I. children, girls and boys

1. Picture books in which girls and boys deal with becoming a girl or a boy:

(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for the country you life)

2. Picture books in which different sides of boys are shown, in which boys are, for example, strong, cool, cheeky, brave, adventurous and fearful, sad, reserved, cuddly:

(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for the country you life)

3. Picture books in which the main character is a boy who is mainly fearful and/or sad and/or reserved and/or shows his "weak" side:

(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for the country you life)

4. Are there picture books in which different sides of girls are shown, in which girls are, for example, strong, cool, cheeky, brave, adventurous and fearful, sad, reserved, cuddly:

(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for the country you life)

5. Picture books in which girls have exciting adventures and/or assert themselves, even against what their parents want or against other adult attachment figures:

i(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for the country you life)

6. Picture books in which disabilities in children are dealt with:

(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for the country you life)

Recommended picture books on the subject of:

II. Mothers, fathers and families

1. Picture books in which mothers are thoughtful, caring and achievement-oriented, successful (in their career):

(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for the country you life)

2. Picture books in which fathers have new, modern ways of living or who are unemployed:

(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for the country you life)

3. Picture books in which the (good) relationship between fathers and their sons is at the forefront:

(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for the country you life)

4. Picture books in which the (good) relationship between fathers and their daughters is at the forefront:

(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for the country you life)

5. Picture books in which "patchwork families", which are becoming more and more common in society, play a role:

(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for the country you life)

6. Picture books in which migration families are the main characters in the story:

(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for the country you life)

Recommended picture books on the subject of:

III. Fairy Tales

1. Picture books that ironically play with traditional fairytale figures or that give fairytale characters "untypical roles":

(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for the country you life)

Recommended picture books on the subject of:

IV. Animals figures

1. Picture books in which animals are the main figures in the story and that cannot be clearly identified as male or female animals:

(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for the country you life)

2. Picture books in which same-sex (love) relationships between animals are shown:

(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for the country you life)

Recommended picture books on the subject of:

V. Sexual violence and prevention

1. Picture books that deal with sexual violence against boys:

(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for the country you life)

2. Picture books in which children develop their own strategies in order to be able to defend themselves against sexual violence:

(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for the country you life)

3. Picture books that deal with the sexual violence in the family or close to the family:

(Please fill in the picture books you recommend for the country you life)

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