Gender Roles in Children's Literature: A Review of Non-Award-Winning “Easy-to-Read” Books

This study replicates the work of Crabb and Bielawski (1994), who analyzed gender differences in character representation found in Caldecott award-winning children's literature, in relation to the utilization of production, household, and leisure artifacts. This study examines non-award-winning “easy-to-read” books. The data showed that both female and male characters are most likely to be pictured in a leisure activity. Otherwise, male characters are apt to be seen with a production artifact, while few are shown with a household artifact. For female characters, if they are not in a leisure activity, they are equally likely to be seen with either a household or production artifact. The real difference in character depiction lies with male characters not being featured in household activities. These findings were different from Crabb and Bielawski's study. They found that female characters were most likely represented utilizing a household artifact, while male characters were primarily depicted with production artifacts.