Conference turris::womannotes-v2

    What age children?  I'm a pretty good resource for 4th-8th grade
    children's literature, but you sound like you are looking for something
    for younger children.
                            
    New Words bookstore in Somerville has a non-sexist rack of books
    for young children.
    
    When I was at Smith, one of the very best courses I ever took 
    was a children's literature course with Jane Yolen --has anyone
    read any of her stories?

Well, our daughter is almost 4 years old, so that's the age group I'm
interested in myself, right now, but she's getting older, we are expecting
another child in a few months, and other people are probably interested, so
please go ahead (and maybe give the age range in the note.)

    Jane is a really neat person.  Aron, surely you've met her at a
    Boskone?  Her Commander Toad stories are for very young readers,
    and have a lot of puns in them.
    
    I've just asked my chldren's librarian for a list of s.f. and
    fantasy from 1987 which she recommended, and one of Jane's books
    is on the list.  Another, which is about strong, competent girls
    and women, is _Marda_Choria_ by Ardath <mumble>, and which I enjoyed
    thoroughly.
    
    							Ann B.

    I saw  an interesting book of fairy tales called "Don't Bet on the
    Prince"  in which the woman and men both had to be self-sufficent.
    I  didn't get a chance to read much of it, but it certainly seemed
    well done.

--David

    Jane is not only a very good writer, but she's a wonderful
    storyteller. At the last couple of cons I went to in Minneapolis,
    Jane told a few "bedtime stories" -- both funny and scary -- one
    night.
    
    (And, yes, milk and cookies were passed around to the audience.)
    
    --- jerry

    Mercedes Lackey has a trilogy aimed at a younger audience.  I only
    read the first one, but the heroine is female and it includes an
    understanding account of a lesbian relationship (two, actually).
    
    Moyra Caldecott's _Guardians of the Tall Stones_ trilogy is also
    good for strong female protagonists, though she lets males get in
    on the act as well.  Barbara Hambly also does some more balanced
    stuff (_Dragonsbane_ is one I particularly like).  Robin McKinley's
    _The Blue Sword_ and _The Hero and The Crown_.  Just about anything
    by Anne McCaffrey.  'Course, it will be a while before a 4 year
    old works up to all these.

    In the same vein as .6, I would also recommend (for older
    children) books by Meredith Pierce. THE DARKANGEL and
    A GATHERING OF GARGOYLES are the first two books in the
    as-yet-uncompleted "Darkangel Trilogy"; they sound like they
    might be horror novels, but the aren't. Spooky and eerie,
    yes, but not horror. Pierce's two other novels, aimed at a
    younger audience than the Darkangel books, are THE FIREBRINGER
    and THE WOMAN WHO LOVED REINDEER.
    
    --- jerry

    "A Wrinkle In Time" by Madeleine L'Engle is one of my all-time
    favorite books, and has been so since I read it as a child. 
    The strength and love shown by Meg in the story is very powerful.
    
    There have been two sequels, "A Wind in the Door" and "A Swiftly
    Tilting Planet", neither of which as satisfying to me as "Wrinkle".
    I highly recommend it to anyone over the age of, say, eight.
    
    				Steve

    ditto..
    
    Madeleine L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time, A Winde in the Door,
    and A Swiftly Tilting Planet are all major favoriites of mine
    and books that I reread every few years...
    
    She has written other books that I do not like as well, and I would
    agree with Steve that WiT is the best of the trilogy.
    
    Bonnie

    Interesting. I am a *major* fan of Madeleine L'Engle's books
    (I finally got a chance to meet her at an sf convention a
    couple of years back, and she was quite taken with the fact
    that I brought all sorts of very obscure books of hers to
    get autographed), and when I finally read A WRINKLE IN TIME
    and its sequels (after reading a number of her other books),
    I was disappointed. I thought they were among her lesser books.
    
    My all-time favorite novel of hers is A RING OF ENDLESS LIGHT,
    closely followed by A SEVERED WASP (which, unlike most of her
    books, is written for adults rather than children).
    
    In fact, I would highly recommend A SEVERED WASP to readers of
    this conference.
    
    --- jerry

    I would recommend A Ring of Endless Light to ANY reader of
    any age.  Magnificent.
    
    I also like Wind in the Door.
    
    --bonnie

    Ever since I taught myself to read, I have pretty much devoured
    anything and everything I can get my hands on. Madeleine L'engle's
    books are among my favorites. I loved A Wrinkle in Time and even
    more, I loved a Ring of Endless Light. (I had forgotten the name
    of the book or the author, but I remember the story very very well.
    Thank you for mentioning this and bringing the title and author
    to my conscious mind again!)
    
    -Amy.

    By the way, the "Wrinkle" series has definite strong female
    role models.  The Murry family, around which the series revolves,
    is fairly typical, with a mother who has won a Nobel Prize for
    biology and a physicist father who is consulted by the White House.
    Meg Murry, the oldest child, is the lead character in "Wrinkle",
    and pulls the story along on her strengths.  I forget exactly what
    "Wind in the Door" is about, but "A Swiftly Tilting Planet" focuses
    more on Meg's youngest brother, Charles Wallace.
    
    I'm going to try to locate these other L'Engle books...
    
    				Steve

    Re role models: Maybe I'm weird (OK, stop that, you guys!), but I
    usually identified with whichever character was doing things I wanted
    to do, regardless of age, sex, or even species. (In the Black Stallion
    books, I wanted to be Flame...) It would never have occurred to me that
    a girl could read, say, "The Jungle Book," and would fail to identify
    with Mowgli because he was a boy. 
    
    If you really want a female role model, though, how about "The Secret
    Garden"? Mary goes through some pretty harrowing experiences, and deals
    with them in a variety of ways, not all of them good. She is on her own
    most of the time, she learns through experience and from interacting
    with others, and eventually she passes on her new knowledge to a boy
    who suffers many of the same problems she did. The focus is on
    self-discovery, cooperation, and valuing others - plus the (to me)
    endlessly fascinating idea of exploring hidden places. 
    
    -b

    somewhere around the same age groups as "A Wrinkle In Time", I loved
    everything by Zylpha Keatley Snyder.  Several of the books she has
    written are about girls growing up - and they do a hell of a lot
    more than pay attention to boys (particularly in "The
    Changeling")...they are also very entertaining and I have found
    them to be not overtly sexist (it's been a while since I read 'em,
    so I never checked the covert aspect...)
    
    other titles (I think) include
    Eyes in the Fishbowl
    Black and Blue Magic
    		goldern, there were a whole slew of 'em and I've plumb
    		fergot...
    
    -Jody
    

    
    I loved Eyes in the Fishbowl! (All these memories...) Another good
    one was called Enchantress from the Stars. Female protagonist, strong
    woman...also a good story. I don't remember who the author is.
    
    -Amy.
    

How about ?Zona Henderson?  ?The People? (help me out jerry!)

I used to read a lot of Andre Norton when I started reading SF, but gave
up on her later...

I won't even mention Marion Zimmer Bradley...  I feel that's a given... I'd give
anything to be in a Tower.  What is really interesting is that the stories were
actually written very ad hoc, and not with the emphasis on certain values that
they seem to be.  Even the '''bad things'''  are looked at with an eye toward
understanding... 

That's one thing I always liked about SF was that they tended to have a varied
of different role models, not even just feminist, and a lot of the characters
tended to be different enough that I got used to identifying with just about
any type of character.  Beth already mentioned that...

JMB

    re:.17,.18
    
    Yep, ENCHANTRESS FROM THE STARS was by Sylvia Louise Engdahl.
    
    re:.19
    
    Zenna Henderson.
    
    --- jerry

    I liked Henderson's "People" books, but found them a bit simplistic
    for my tastes.  I'm not sure I'd recommend them to children
    specifically.
    
    Since we're on an SF roll here, I'll put in a plug for almost any
    of James Schmitz' books, especially his stories about Telzey Amberdon,
    a teenager with very strong ESP powers, and a mind of her own. 
    Schmitz was writing science fiction with strong female protagonists
    long before it became the "in thing".  Most of the stories center
    on young heroines, and are suitable for teenagers to read.
    My picks would be:
    
    		The Witches of Karres
    		The Universe Against Her
    		Legacy
    		The Telzey Toy
    		The Lion Game
    
    "Agent of Vega" is a collection of early short stories, also with
    strong female protagonists, but they're not as polished as the later
    tales.  "Witches of Karres" is a riot for all ages.
    
    				Steve

    The "people" books are more on a teenage level than a child's level...
    tho there is one Hennderson story..."The Anything Box" that I read to my 10
    year old when she was about 6 and which she really loved.
    
    Bonnie

    Though I mostly read in French when I was small, and most of the
    French children's book wouldn't mean a thing to the WN readers,
    there are two books which I believe are "universal" and depict strong
    and beautiful (beautiful in the moral sense, if such a thing can
    be said) women:
    
    - The Life of Helen Keller (either a biography or an autobiography);
    
    - The Diary of Ann Frank
    
    I think those books are more geared to adolescents than to small
    children, but I must have been around 10 when I read them and I
    think they were "just about right for my age".
    
    Joana

Re: .3

Aron, wake up!

There, that's better.

Yes, I've met Jane Yolen when I gave her a bidder registration number a few
years ago.  Since I had no idea what she was supposed to look like, I dutifully
asked for her id like I did to everyone else and she was very nice about it
(she didn't say anything, just handed me her license.)

Anyway, we have 2 of her books...  (Spoiler warning! :-)

"Comander Toad in Space" -- the female toad crewmember is the ship's engineer
and is the best shot.

"The Emperor and the Kite" -- the emperor of China is imprisioned in a tower
and the country overrun, but his youngest daughter rescues him with her kite,
he regains the throne, and she is ignored nevermore.

And thanks to everyone for their replies (I'm still catching up...)

    re:.24
    
    Her license? But doesn't that say "Jane Stempel" on it, rather
    than "Jane Yolen"? :-)
    
    --- jerry

    I didn't know who she was either -- one day I found myself chatting
    with a very interesting parent of one of my elementary school students
    in the teachers' room.  (I taught music so I didn't know all the kids
    backgrounds.)  She mentioned having just finished a new book and I said
    something utterly stupid like "Oh, maybe if you give us a copy we can
    let people know we have an author among us!  By the way, what's your
    name?". 
    
    She was slightly amused by it; I was embarrassed when she told me who she
    was!
    
    Anyway, after meeting her, I resolved to take her course, and it
    was the best course I ever took at Smith. 
                              

    re:.26
    
    Interesting. How long ago was this?  I know her son Adam somewhat,
    who is a fantastic blues guitarist, and he's about 18 or so. I
    know she has a daughter whose age I don't know, but I'm pretty
    sure is younger than Adam.
    
    --- jerry

    1981 or 1982.  
    
    (I don't mind mentioning Jane Yolen in a public conference, because
    she is a well-known person, but I feel uncomfortable discussing
    any former students by name in a notesfile.)

    re: .1
    
    BTW, New Words Bookstore is in Cambridge in Inman Square, address
    is 186 Hampshire Street (it's across the street from the Merit Gas
    station) and they do have a great selection of children's books.
    
    And once again I will reference Robin Tyler, feminist comic, who
    does a great routine re: children's fairy tales of the Walt Disney
    ilk.  Irreverent, funny, sharp.
    

From off the net: good role models for girls and boys.
	Mez


		NON-SEXIST CHILDREN'S BOOKS
                ---------------------------

An introductory list prepared and distributed in Fall 1987 by the
Montgomery County (Maryland) Chapter of NOW (National Organization
for Women), at (301) 236-0069, in cooperation with the Child Care
Technical Assistance Office of Montgomery College, at (301) 424-2912

PRESCHOOL
---------

Bang, Molly.  "Ten, Nine, Eight."  Greenwillow 1983.  A black
	father puts his toddler daughter to bed.

Brenner, Barbara.  "Bodies."  E.P.Dutton 1973.  Photographs of boys
	and girls using their bodies, sometimes shown nude.

Brownstone, Cecily.  "All Kinds of Mothers."  McKay 1969.  Shows
	mothers of different races loving their children while
	working inside or outside the home.

Cooney, Barbara.  "Miss Rumphius."  Viking 1982.  A girl is
	inspired by her grandfather to do "something to make the
	world more beautiful."

Eichler, Margrit.  "Martin's Father."  Lollipop Power 1971.  A boy
	is nurtured by his father.

Felt, Sue.  "Rosa-Too-Little."  Doubleday 1950.  A hispanic girl
	discouraged from getting a library card because of her young
	age successfully struggles to achieve her goal.

Goldstein, M.B.  "Fish for Supper."  Dial 1976.  Wordless book
	about an intrepid grandmother who goes fishing daily.

Klein, Norma.  "Girls Can Be Anything."  Dutton, 1973.  A girl is
	convinced that she can become a doctor, a pilot, or even
	president.

Maury, Inez.  "My Mother the Mail Carrier/Mi Mama La Cartera."
	Feminist Press 1976.  Spanish/English story of a hispanic
	single mother and her daughter.

Merriam, Eve.  "Mommies at Work."  Knopf 1961.  Shows mothers
	working at various interesting jobs outside the home.

Portnoy, Mindy Avra.  "Ima on the Bima:  My Mother is a Rabbi."
	Kar Ben 1986.  A girl describes her mother's activities as
	a religious leader.

Rice, Eve.  "Benny Bakes a Cake."  Greenwillow 1981.  A boy makes
	his own birthday cake.

Sendak, Maurice.  "Outside Over There."  Harper 1981.  A brave girl
	rescues her baby sister from goblins.

Van Woerkom, Dorothy.  "The Queen Who Couldn't Bake Gingerbread."
	Parents Magazine Press 1975.  A king and queen learn to
	judge others by their qualities rather than their
	appearance, in addition to learning self-reliance an
	mutual consideration.

Van Woerkom, Dorothy.  "Becky and the Bear."  Putnam 1975.  A
	clever girl deals with a bear.

Waber, Bernard.  "Ira Sleeps Over."  Houghton 1972.  A boy learns
	that other boys also crave the security of a stuffed
	animal.

Zolotow, Charlotte.  "William's Doll."  Harper 1972.  A boy's
	nurturing play is encouraged.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
-----------------

Facklam, Margery.  "Wild Animals, Gentle Women."  Harcourt 1978.
	Women pursuing the exciting field of animal behavior,
	studying various animals including chimpanzees and sharks.
	Gr. 5+

Greenfield, Eloise.  "Rosa Parks."  Crowell 1973.  Story of the
	black woman whose refusal to be intimidated on a public bus
	helped to inspire the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
	Gr. 2-4

Greenwald, Sheila.  "Give Us a Great Big Smile, Rosy Cole."  Little
	1981.  A young female violinist faces the problems of fame.
	Gr. 3-5

Griffen, Judity Berry.  "Phoebe and the General."  Coward 1977.  A
	colonial-era girl thwarts a spy trying to kill George
	Washington.  Gr.  2-4

Herzig, Alison Cragin.  "Oh Boy! Babies!"  Little 1980.  A class of
	boys learns how to care for babies.  Gr. 4+

Jordan, June.  "Kimako's Story."  Houghton 1981.  A Japanese-
	American girl becomes an explorer while dog-sitting for her
	neighbor.  Gr. 2-4

Klagsbrun, Francine.  "Free to Be You and Me."  McGraw-Hill 1974.
	Collection of poems and stories discouraging stereotyping.
	Gr. K-2

Konigsburg, Elaine.  "A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver."
	Atheneum 1973.  Recollections by Queen Eleanor of Aquitane,
	who flouted 12th Century convention with her courage and
	wit.  Gr. 5+

Lurie, Alison.  "Clever Gretchen and Other Forgotten Folk Tales."
	Crowell 1980.  Girls overcome obstacles as fairy tale
	heroines.  Gr. 4+

Magorian, Michelle.  "Goodnight, Mr. Tom."  Harper 1982.  Formerly-
	abused boy flourishes under the loving care of a foster
	father.  Gr. 5

Moskin, Marietta.  "Lysbet and the Fire Kittens."  Coward 1973.  A
	girl responds to a fire by sounding the alarm and rescuing
	her pet cat and its new kittens.  Gr. 2-4

O'Dell, Scott.  "Island of the Blue Dolphins."  Houghton 1960.
	Brave girl lives alone on Pacific island.  Gr. 5+

Reiss, Johanna.  "The Upstairs Room."  Crowell 1972.  Two sisters
	hide from the Nazis in a Dutch farmhouse.  Gr. 4+

Slepian, Jan.  "The Alfred Summer."  Macmillan 1980.  Four Young
outcasts, two of them handicapped, cooperate to build a
	boat.  Gr. 5+

Yashima, Taro.  "Crow Boy."  Viking Press 1955.  Young Japanese boy
	ridiculed for being different is finally appreciated for
	his unusual talent.  Gr. K-2

JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
-----------------

DePauw, Linda Grant.  "Founding Mothers: Women in America in the
	Revolutionary Era."  Houghton 1975.  Includes biographies
	of soldiers, spies, and activities.  Gr. 6+

Kherdian, David.  "The Road from Home: the Story of an Armenian
	Girl."  Greenwillow 1979.  Woman driven from Turkey who
	arrives in the United States as a "mail order bride" must
	deal with many challenges.  Gr. 6+

Lord, Athena V.  "A Spirit to Ride the Whirlwind."  Macmillan 1981.
	Thirteen-year-old girl comes to realize the importance of
	political involvement during the 1836 textile strike among women
	workers in Lowell, Massachusetts.  Gr. 6+

Speare, Elizabeth.  "With of Blackbird Pond."  Houghton 1958.
	Defending another woman from witchcraft accusations requires
	bravery.  Gr. 6+

Taylor, Mildred.  "Let the Circle Be Unbroken."  Dial 1981.
	Conditions in rural Mississippi during the Depression call
	forth the courage of an eleven-year-old girl.  Gr. 6+

SOURCES FOR ADDITIONAL TITLES
-----------------------------

Adell, Judith and Hilary Klein.  "A Guide to Non-Sexist Children's
	Books," Vol. I.  Academy Press Unlimited (176 W. Adams Street,
	Chicago, Ill.  60611) 1976.  Obtainable from Montgomery
	County Public Libraries, Gaithersburg Regional Library.

Conford, Ellen.  "Persons First."  Montgomery County Dept. of
	Public Libraries 1983.  Obtainable from Montgomery County
	Public Libraries, (301) 279-1401.

Father Gander.  "Equal Rhymes Amendment."  Larcheveque, Inc. 1985.
	Obtainable from publisher at Box 454, Indianola, Iowa 50125
	for $11.95 including shipping.

1987 Early Childhood Books.  A catalog of Gryphon House.
	Obtainable from the publisher at 3706 Otis Street, P.O. Box
	275, Mt. Rainer, Md. 20712, or call toll-free (800) 638-0928.

McBride, Brent and Jim LeVine.  "How to Start a Father Child
	Group."  Bank Street College of Education 1987.  Contains a
	list of books showing fathers in nurturing and non-
	traditional roles.  Obtainable from the publisher at 610 W.
	112th Street, New York, M.Y.  10025 for $5.00.

"Ms. Magazine."  Back issues of the last ten years, available in
	many libraries, contain information on non-sexist books
	for young people.

Pogrebin, Letty Cotton.  "Growing Up Free."  McGraw 1980.
	Obtainable by calling (212) 719-9800.

Racism and Sexism Resource Center.  Bulletin on Interracial Books
	for Children and related catalog.  Council on Interracial
	Books for Children.  Obtainable from the publisher at 1841
	Broadway, New York, N.Y.  10023.

Sadker, Myra and David.  "Now Upon a Time."  Harper & Row 1976.
	Obtainable from Montgomery County Public Libraries.

Shaffer, Susan.  "101 Books for Summer Reading."  Mid-Atlantic
	Center for Sex Equity.  Obtainable from the publisher at
	5010 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.  20016, or call
	(202) 885-8536.

Sprung, Barbara.  "Non-sexist Education for Young Children."
	Citation Press (for Women's Action Alliance).  Obtainable
	from the publisher at 50 W. 44th Street, New York, N.Y.
	10036.

Wilms, Denise and Irene Cooper.  "A Guide to Non-Sexist Children's
	Books," Vol. II.  (1976-8t).  Academy Chicago (425 N. Michigan
	Avenue, Chicago, Ill.  60611).  Obtainable from the Cheshire
	Cat Bookstore, 5512 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington,
	D.C. 20015 for $8.95.