Can The Right Books Make Feminist Kids?
Writer Viv Groskop field-tested some feminist books on her two little kids, and found that the answer to the question, “Can you radicalise young children in a few easy reads?” is, unsurprisingly, no. Groskop explains that she’s dissatisfied with her kids’ current bedtime-story fare, and wants something that will teach them feminist gender roles. She writes, We often read Captain Pugwash and Asterix – but there are no girls in those stories. I was happy with Babar until Celeste became pregnant with triplets and never came out of the nursery again. In Peepo the mother is always ironing. Of course, there are some successes for both boys and girls. Ludwig Bemelmans’ Madeline is a wonderful tale of convent girl derring-do, with lots of boy characters, too. Julia Donaldson’s books (The Gruffalo, The Smartest Giant in Town) are great fun, but not exactly politically inspiring. I wanted to find something feminist, subversive. The Female Eunuch for five-year-olds. But while teaching little kids
