I think this is a great book! Even some fathers could learn from reading it. I have babysat for young children of all ages and genders, and sometimes boys just prefer to play with dolls. There is nothing wrong with that it in my eyes, why not allow them to nurture something? That is just what this book shows you – that it is important to respect whatever a kid wants to play with. It is important to let their imagination run wild, what better way to do it than with something outside their usual realm of possibilities.
I think the book could have had a better ending. The Grandma tells the father that he needs the doll to learn how to become a father in the future. I think the book should have ended by stating, let kids be who they want to be! The book was written in 1972, so I do not think boys having dolls were any more accepted then than they are now, but I wish the book would end with having the father understand it is okay!
This is a great little picture book filled with so much love and some diversity. I will definitely remember this book and hopefully be able to use it sometime in the future.
It is interesting to think about how society thinks that boys and girls should behave. This book seems like it does a good job of showing boys that they shouldn't feel bad about prefering to play with dolls and it could be beneficial for boys to read who can relate to this character!
ReplyDeleteI would really like to read this book now! It is just infuriating that people would keep their children from doing something that makes them happy just because it makes them uncomfortable. One thought that I do have in the dad's defense though (and I haven't read the book so I could be waaay off here) is that perhaps the dad doesn't want his son to be made fun of? Maybe he is trying to protect him from the harshness of society, but obviously going about it all the wrong way? Its certainly something to keep in mine for the future, how will we strive to not mold students into prescribed gender roles?
ReplyDeleteI haven't read this book, but I think it would be a good one to show in the classroom. I actually would want to show it to the parents but I'm not sure how well that would work out. It is strange that our society can't accept sexes not going along with their assigned gender roles. I know many people who have kids and won't allow their boys to play with girl toys. It is also strange to me that it's always worse when a boy plays with girl toys rather than a girl playing with boys toys. Hm, why is that?
ReplyDeleteSome Fathers are just so set in their ways that they do not want to budge when it comes to deep set opinions...like about boys playing with dolls. The truth of the matter is my brother has 3 sisters. All we had were dolls, and he had some male dolls, like a bear and a cabbage patch kid, that's just how it was. If my child was a boy who wanted to play with girl toys, I wouldn't mind at all. They are toys. Children are supposed to play, and grow, and imagine. It doesn't matter if the toys are female or male or feminine or super masculine, whatever! As long as they are happy and having fun, I would be happy too. I should read this book, it sounds interesting.
ReplyDelete