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My students love this book. I really don’t. At all.
One of my students chose this book as her library choice for the week and asked me to read it during choice time in the classroom. Only a few pages in, we had a crowd of listeners, several of whom had heard the story before and one who joyfully recited all of the words from memory. (And, for me, THAT was a joy because this particular child isn’t typically seen as a ‘reader’ in our classroom. But, this book showed the sheer love he has for the written word, at least in this text.)
The struggle I have with the book is its sickening reinforcement of gender stereotypes – that girls are ooey-gooey romantics obsessed with princesses and ponies, and boys are overwhelmingly interested in tough, buff muscle “dudes,” motorcycles, and fighting. While the girl narrator and her story princess push back against the idea of female subservience (by ‘pumping iron’ and becoming a Warrior Princess), at the end, I still felt a little ill at ease by all the gendered bullshittery. (Yes, I made that word up, but it seems appropriate.) With one author and THREE illustrators, I expected more. (Why? I don’t know. My bad.)
I acknowledge and appreciate the way the book helps solidify a love of the written word for some of my students, but I wish the book didn’t so willfully reinforce gender stereotyping. This will never become a whole-class read aloud in my classroom, but I will read it at the request of individual readers, though they can expect my interjection of questions like, “Do all girls like ponies and all boys like fighting monsters? How could we change the story to better reflect what we like or to show that not all boys or girls like the same things?” (You get the idea.)
One of my students chose this book as her library choice for the week and asked me to read it during choice time in the classroom. Only a few pages in, we had a crowd of listeners, several of whom had heard the story before and one who joyfully recited all of the words from memory. (And, for me, THAT was a joy because this particular child isn’t typically seen as a ‘reader’ in our classroom. But, this book showed the sheer love he has for the written word, at least in this text.)
The struggle I have with the book is its sickening reinforcement of gender stereotypes – that girls are ooey-gooey romantics obsessed with princesses and ponies, and boys are overwhelmingly interested in tough, buff muscle “dudes,” motorcycles, and fighting. While the girl narrator and her story princess push back against the idea of female subservience (by ‘pumping iron’ and becoming a Warrior Princess), at the end, I still felt a little ill at ease by all the gendered bullshittery. (Yes, I made that word up, but it seems appropriate.) With one author and THREE illustrators, I expected more. (Why? I don’t know. My bad.)
I acknowledge and appreciate the way the book helps solidify a love of the written word for some of my students, but I wish the book didn’t so willfully reinforce gender stereotyping. This will never become a whole-class read aloud in my classroom, but I will read it at the request of individual readers, though they can expect my interjection of questions like, “Do all girls like ponies and all boys like fighting monsters? How could we change the story to better reflect what we like or to show that not all boys or girls like the same things?” (You get the idea.)
