William's Doll

William's Doll
AuthorCharlotte Zolotow
IllustratorWilliam Pène du Bois
GenrePicture book
PublisherHarper & Row
Publication date
1972
Pages30 pp
ISBN978-0-06-443067-8
OCLC347798

William's Doll is a 1972 picture book by Charlotte Zolotow, one of the first children's texts to address nontraditional gender stereotypes. The story follows William, a young boy who wishes for a doll to care for. His father is unhappy with this, instead giving him toys that he considers to be more gender appropriate. Finally, his grandmother fulfills his request, explaining to her son that it will let him practice good parenting.

Zolotow cites personal observations about the relationship between her husband and son as inspiration for the book.[1][2] She believes that denying young boys access to certain toys and absences of early interaction between father and child are destructive to expression and relationship formation.[3]

The book is often used in the classroom for lessons on gender roles, intolerance, or general anti-bias education.[4][5][6] To counterbalance inherent micro-inequalities in the classroom, William's Doll is employed as a method through which educators expose students to the concept of sex-stereotyping.[4] While exposure through children's literature has been employed by many marginalized populations, representations of males such as William with traditionally female characteristics have not been as easily welcomed.[5][6] Many educators, for example, object to using texts representing gender-role reversal in the classroom, whereas others promote it, recognizing the critical role schools play in childhood identity and sexuality development.[7][8]

A song based on the story was included in the 1972 best-selling Free to Be... You and Me children's album and songbook.[9] In 1981, William's Doll also became a 14-minute film starring Craig Salles.[1]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference zolotowcom was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Johnson, Nancy J.; Giorgis, Cyndi (2006). "Talking with Charlotte Zolotow". Book Links. 15 (6). ProQuest 197210015.
  3. ^ Zolotow, Charlotte (1998). "Making Picture Books: The Words". The Horn Book Magazine. 74 (2): 185–189. ProQuest 199349189.
  4. ^ a b Marshall, Carol Sue; Reinhartz, Judy (21 November 2012). "Gender Issues in the Classroom". The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas. 70 (6): 333–337. doi:10.1080/00098655.1997.10543538. JSTOR 30185879. ProQuest 196868730.
  5. ^ a b Tunks, Karyn Wellhousen; McGee, Jessica (June 2006). "Embracing William, Oliver Button, and Tough Boris: Learning Acceptance from Characters in Children's Literature". Childhood Education. 82 (4): 213–218. doi:10.1080/00094056.2006.10522825. S2CID 145102079. ProQuest 210389626.
  6. ^ a b Silva, Cecilia; Kucer, Stephen B. (1997). "Expanding Curricular Conversations Through Unification, Diversity, and Access". Language Arts. 74 (1): 26–32. JSTOR 41482835. ProQuest 196878718.
  7. ^ Wollman-Bonilla, Julie E. (1998). "Outrageous Viewpoints: Teachers' Criteria for Rejecting Works of Children's Literature". Language Arts. 75 (4): 287–295. JSTOR 41962063. ProQuest 196857007.
  8. ^ Goldstein-Schultz, Martha (1 August 2016). "The Living Gender Curriculum: Helping FCS Students Analyze Gender Stereotypes". Journal of Family & Consumer Sciences. 108 (3): 56–62. doi:10.14307/JFCS108.3.56. ProQuest 1815971560.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference mcsr was invoked but never defined (see the help page).