Awesome Gabrielle Kent was talking about her new book, which features a strong central female character (and also a male character / compadre) - yet seems to be the latest victim in a long-running and extremely weird pattern of behaviour from book-buying parents.
Gender and children's literature are intertwined so tightly that I'm not in the least bit surprised to hear that "Knights and Bikes" has hit all the right buttons with an awful lot of people who want a bit more from children's books than the usual cliches and tropes.
And yet there it is again, Gabrielle's thread on Twitter is worth checking out (though not if you don't want to instantly feel like some parents could do with their heads knocking together).
The link to the Twitter thread is below...
https://twitter.com/GabrielleKent/status/1035991070620958721
It's funny isn't it, how fragile a thing 'Male masculinity' is when you consider what that bullshit term is supposed to represent (excuse my language!)
Supposed strength? Hah!
Superiority of intellect? Don't make me laugh.
For some people, passing on the hated binary expectations of gender seems like some sort of chalice they feel they absolutely have to pass down to their younglings (and sadly it's not just males doing this).
When we talk about this blog in the school playground at pick-up time, the mothers / fathers of the boys in C's class (who outnumber the girls 3 to one) nod with feigned interest but then quite categorically (and somewhat proudly) inform us that they'd never bother with our blog as they assume we deal primarily with 'books for girls' (which would be hilarious if it wasn't so utterly ridiculous).
In publishing it seems that there's no middle ground to be had - and though some publishers really don't do themselves any favours with cover / design choices for certain books, we live in an age where both boys and girls will find the most amazing story experiences in picture book and middle grade fiction that make the whole gender argument seem like it passed over decades ago.
And yet the reality is, sadly, that even a book that clearly features both a boy and a girl on the cover, a flipping TITLE that would appeal more to boys than girls (arguably) and doesn't even have a whiff of pink on the cover still gets passed over by mums / dads of boys who feel that they should be reading stories that trade ideals like friendship, caring, sensitivity - or have girs as their lead character shouldn't really be on their son's reading piles.
So why is this still happening? And why does this seem to be such a one-sided see-saw. Ask yourself the question "Would I stop my daughter reading a boy-oriented book or a book with a male lead character in case it turns them into a tomboy?"
Of course not - it's a ridiculous notion (as is the whole 'tomboy' thing in the first place).
Like the last ReadItTorial - where we took a deep dive into what happens when adults try to dictate children's reading matter / tastes, I can't understand the agenda of a parent or guardian who would snatch a book out of a child's hand and forbid them from reading it on the basis of character gender, subject matter (mature content notwithstanding, of course).
It's worth reading through Gabrielle's twitter thread and see the opinions of other authors who waded into the debate with gusto, calling it out for what it is - a clear case of parents pushing their own insecurities, old fashioned idylls and beliefs on kids who are far more accepting, far less concerned with gender bias and far more likely to know and develop their own book tastes without a 'helping hand' from mum or dad.
Personally, I hope Knights and Bikes sells well enough to spawn an entire series.
Oh and for what it's worth, Harry Potter is by far the least interesting / important character in J.K's mighty series IMHO, just sayin' :)