Shaping society one picture book at a time

Archie and his daddy. From NO! by Tracey Corderoy, ill. by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press 2013) | Image © 2013 by Tim Warnes

“We should not deny males the opportunity to nurture and care, just as we should not deny females the opportunity to kill and maim in the name of Western democracy, if they fancy it.”

— Grayson Perry, The Descent of Man

In his book, A Death in the Family, Karl Ove Knausgaard writes disparagingly about his father. It’s Norway, in the mid-1970s: 

… You could have taken him for one of those softie fathers beginning to emerge and assert themselves at that time, those who were not averse to pushing prams, changing nappies, sitting on the floor and playing with children.

- Karl Ove Knausgaard, A Death in the Family: My Struggle Book 1

 

People often say that the UK is not as progressive as the Scandinavian countries. True to form, by the time it was my turn to be a father, we hadn’t even begun to catch up.

It was 1999, and I was sharing the childcare duties (which, at the time, was quite unusual). I became used to being the only dad at the toddler group or baby gym or stuck in a creche. I was often the solitary father at the school gates. A lone wolf in the parenting world, I frequently resorted to making use of the women’s toilets to change nappies. I didn’t feel like a ‘softie father’. I felt like I was spearheading a movement. It was hard work - but the pleasure was all mine!

Knausgaard went on to become a hands-on dad himself. I love this description from the second book in his autobiographical series, My Struggle:

 

A large part of my relationship with [my daughter] Heidi was based on me carrying her. It was the basis of our relationship. She always wanted to be carried, never wanted to walk, stretched up her arms as soon as she saw me, and smiled with pleasure whenever she was allowed to hang from my arms. And I liked having her close, the little chubby creature with the greedy mouth.

- Karl Ove Knausgaard, A Man In Love: My Struggle Book 2

 

Sketchbook © 2002 by Tim Warnes

 In picture books, men/fathers tend to be represented in traditionally masculine roles.

They go out to work, leaving Mummy at home as the primary caregiver. They play football and fix cars, and loaf about watching tv (or reading a newspaper) while Mummy cooks dinner.

In the past, this would have been an honest reflection of societal norms. (My own father was the breadwinner, leaving mum to tend the home and kids - although he was changing nappies in the 1970s!). But read, for example, Judith Kerr’s The Tiger Who Came to Tea today, and the stereotypes represented can feel uncomfortable. Perhaps because the implication is that this is still the norm.

But of course, things are changing. Slowly, maybe; but changing nonetheless. Even in Busytown - the crazy world created by storyteller Richard Scarry!

Busytown (‘a community, full of friendly busybodies’) reflected small towns and big cities of the time - the 1950s. In ensuing years, Scarry was criticised for under representing female characters - and assigning those who did appear traditional roles. “If it’s wearing an apron they automatically assume it must be a female animal,” he complained. (I have my sympathies. The big bear in I Love You to the Moon and Back isn’t assigned a gender. In my head the character represents me - but it usually referred to as ‘mummy’ in reviews.) It was inevitable that Scarry’s hugely popular books have undergone a series of revisions to the text and art, making them more palatable to today’s readers. Which is a good thing if it means more kids get to enjoy them.

 

Detail from Richard Scarry’s Find Your ABC’s (Picture Lions 1973) © Richard Scarry 1973

 

Now father rabbits as well as mothers cook for their families, lady bears drive steamrollers and the cat labelled ‘beautiful screaming lady’ being rescued by a ‘brave hero’ in one of Busytown’s many conflagrations is the more prosaic, but accurate, ‘cat in danger’ being saved by a ‘firefighter’. I regret the loss of whimsy, but times change and what we lose in gently wry humour we gain in the next generation growing up to be not quite so rigidly sociosexually codified and casually racist as the one before, I guess. Good work, Lowly Worm and pals.

- Lucy Mangan, Bookworm | A Memoir of Childhood Reading

 

I frequently took the kids to the library to borrow a new selection of picture books. But my experience as a hands-on dad was (and still is) hard to find reflected in picture books. 

According to a survey of the hundred most popular picture books carried out by the Observer in 2017, 

 

Female adults undertaking caring roles were common in the stories, and there were twice as many female as male teachers. Mothers were also present almost twice as often as fathers. By contrast, fathers barely featured at all unless accompanied by a co-parent, appearing alone in just four books.

Donna Ferguson, Must monsters always be male? Huge gender bias revealed in children’s books

So it was a no-brainer that I would use any opportunities given to me as a picture book maker to make the changes I sought to see.

 November 19 is International Men’s Day. As well as raising awareness of men’s well-being, IMD celebrates the value men bring to the world, their families and communities by highlighting positive role models. 

Enter Daddy Rhino. 

His son, Archie (or Otto as he is known in the US) is a feisty little character, making his debut in the book NO! Written by Tracey Corderoy, its success led to a further four titles. I immediately related to Archie’s beleaguered parents (honestly, who knew parenting could be so exhausting?!). At that time, I was back at the school gate after a few years reprieve with kid number two - and noticed that things had progressed. Now I wasn’t the only dad doing the pick-up. Dads of all shapes and sizes made frequent appearances. I quickly befriended Andy, a full-time house-husband-artist. He was there to pick up his daughter every single day. Elsewhere, one of my brother-in-laws had given up his job to become a house husband and primary caregiver; the other shared child duties as I did. (These men were duly honoured in the book’s dedication!)

 

From NO! by Tracey Corderoy, ill. by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press 2013) | Image © 2013 by Tim Warnes

 

But Tracey’s text just didn’t reflect my own experience as a dad. Her original manuscript had Mummy doing the cooking, dropping off little Archie at school, collecting and being his source of comfort. And to be fair to Tracey, that was (is) the normal state of affairs. But I wanted to illustrate a modern attitude - more reflective of my life and community.

After some persuasion (publishers and authors can be set in their ways, too) Daddy Rhino was allowed to step up and take the place of Mummy Rhino. Through school runs, baking, gift wrapping, reading bedtime stories, playing and engaging with Archie, Daddy Rhino has helped challenge traditional gender roles.

From Why? by Tracey Corderoy, ill. by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press 2014) | Image © 2014 by Tim Warnes

In the 1990s, a social experiment was carried out to see what babies understand about gender roles in the home. The babies were given ‘mummy’ and ‘daddy’ dolls and, a selection of common activities for them to perform. These included hoovering, childcare and working on the car. The majority of babies chose the mummy doll for cleaning and childcare, and dads for boisterous play (and fixing the car). The studies were ‘a revelation to scientists because it showed just how early the home environment was shaping babies’ views.’

The experiment was repeated twenty years later by Professor Uta Frith for the BBC TV series, Babies: Their Wonderful World. Professor Frith noted:

‘We are living in a less gendered world. It’s not so easy to say what’s really typical for a man to do, what’s really typical for a woman to do. So, can we see that reflected in what the children absorb about their environment?’

The result? 

Today’s toddlers are a lot more even-minded about traditional gender roles in the home.

‘It appears that mummy is no longer seen by the toddlers as their main carer, and that cleaning is not predominantly a role for mummy. Similarly, today’s toddlers are just as likely to chose mummy as the parent to engage in boisterous play.’

Perhaps Archie’s daddy is a softie father. (Maybe I am, too.) But maybe that anthropomorphic rhino and I will help shape children's views for the better, making it a little easier for them to switch up the roles, if they fancy it.

 

From NOW!by Tracey Corderoy, ill. by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press 2016) | Image © 2016 by Tim Warnes

Good To Read

Kids’ books with positive male role models

The Archie / Otto series (No! Why? More! Now! It’s Christmas!) by Tracey Corderoy, ill. by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press)

Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl (Jonathan Cape 1975)

The Gruffalo’s Child by Julia Donaldson, ill. by Axel Scheffler (Macmillan 2004)

The Storm Whale by Benji Davies (Simon & Schuster 2013)

 SOURCESNO! by Tracey Corderoy, ill. by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press 2013)THE DESCENT OF MAN BY GRAYSON PERRY (ALLEN LANE 2016)MY STRUGGLE:1 - A DEATH IN THE FAMILY BY KARL OVE KNAUSGAARD. TRANSLATED BY DON BARTLETT (VINTAGE 2014)MY STRUGGLE:2 - A Man in Love BY KARL OVE KNAUSGAARD. TRANSLATED BY DON BARTLETT (VINTAGE 2014)BUSY DAYS ON ONE MAN’S ANIMAL FARM BY ELIZABETH GRICE (THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, 5 MAY 1994)RICHARD SCARRY - OBITUARY (THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, 5 MAY 5 1994)Bookworm | A Memoir of Childhood Reading by Lucy Mangan (Vintage 2018) MUST MONSTERS ALWAYS BE MALE? HUGE GENDER BIAS REVEALED IN CHILDREN’S BOOKS BY DONNA FERGUSON (THE GUARDIAN, 21 JANUARY 2018)internationalmensday.comWhy? by Tracey Corderoy, ill. by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press 2014)BABIES: THEIR WONDERFUL WORLD (BBC SERIES, 2018)NOW! by Tracey Corderoy, ill. by Tim Warnes (Little Tiger Press 2013)