Early Readers

by Clare Langley-Hawthorne

Always on the lookout for some great new books for my twin boys to read, I was in two city bookstores last Friday when a depressing realization set in...As I scoured the shelves it became increasingly obvious how gender segregated these early readers seem to be. On the boys' side were books like the Zac Powers and Jack Stalwart secret agents series, Boy vs. Beast and Battle Boy while on the girls' side were the Rainbow Magic Fairy books, Ivy and Bean, Mermaid and Unicorn books. 


Although I know there are definitely cross-over books like The Magic Tree House books (which are, believe it, or not hard to find in Australia), the way the section was laid out made it clear that there were 'boy books' and 'girl books' and I had to wonder what kind of message this sent to kids (who are, after all, the readers of the future). 


Although  I'm not the sort who believes we should inflict some crazy gender neutrality on kids, it is kind of depressing that the majority of  'boy' books are all about aliens, battles and secret agents while the girls books were all pink and cutesy with themes of flowers, fairies, unicorns and magic...I wonder as these kids grow up how this will affect their reading choices (which, to be fair, vastly improve as they get to  middle grade and teen books).


My boys think I should rectify the situation by writing some awesomely cool series aimed just for them (I only wish ideas came that easily!) but all I can do is try to mitigate the situation by opening their minds to a whole range of reading choices. I remember growing up that, though there were obviously some girl/boy-centric books, there were heaps of stories that appealed to everyone. Both my husband and I grew up on Enid Blyton's Famous Five, Mystery and Adventure series and so when we talk about books that we loved as children we have lots of common ground. I just can't believe twenty-odd years later, that the gap between what boys and girls read seems to have grown wider - at least among primary/elementary school kids. 


Perhaps part of the reason is the perception that it is hard to get boys to read and so publishers have been focusing on 'cool' themes to try and encourage boys to pick up a book. Nothing wrong with that...but I have to admit, as a parent, I would love to see books that have broader appeal. Not to mention that the actual writing itself is pedestrian. I fear that the early book market become little more than a production line pushing out a plethora of bland, badly written books.


I feel like there are so many amazing children's picture books and then there is this huge gap until middle-grade or young adult books (where I think there are some fabulous things going on). Should I be worried that by the time my boys reach that point they will think that books are divided (like clothes) on gender lines (blue for boys, pink for girls...)?


So what do you think? Is reading in these early years getting more gender specific? Is anyone else depressed when they look at books aimed for 6-10 year olds?