Boys and Girls: Superheroes in the Doll Corner

by Vivian Gussin Paley, Philip W. Jackson (Foreword by)

"Paley has a sharp ear for the rhythm and inflections of childhood. Her vignettes give us a revealing glimpse into children's inner lives, and her discussion of her own discomfort with boy's play and approval of that of girls raises and important issue."—Carole Wade, Psychology Today

"I will admit my biases up having a three-year old daughter of my own made it impossible for this book to be anything but fun to read. I dare anyone who enjoys children not to enjoy this story about stories, this narrative about narratives."—Jerry Powell, Winterthur Portfolio

Genres: Education, Teaching, Nonfiction, Psychology, Gender, Parenting

128 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1984

About the author

Vivian Gussin Paley was an American pre-school and kindergarten teacher, early childhood education researcher, and author.

She taught and did most of her research at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. Despite her status in the field today, she has described the first thirteen years of her teaching career as being an "uninspired and uninspiring teacher."

Reviews

[Bea Elwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Understand this was published in 1984, by a 25+ veteran teacher, and she makes some comment about how stereotypes are there for a reason, but also this is a journey that a person takes who wants to understand how our understanding about things are changing. I appreciate that she tries several approaches to being a more mindful teacher who considers gender issues and inequality in her classroom. This is some work that needs to be as open minded today. I loved how easy this read was and how relatable as a teacher she was, and her insights into how her thinking about boys being boys and girls being girls does change as she experiments with things in her classroom. I would love to know if Charlotte or Teddy were in fact queer students as they seem to come up as the outliers to gender norms in the narrative. In fact my biggest reservation with this work was it's heteronormativity (but again it was published in 1984). I think that this would make a great companion read to The Curse of the Good Girl, as some of the social conditioning and policing of gender rules are in fact enforced from a young age by our peers. A thoughtful journey if only slightly dated.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neste livro, publicado originalmente em 1984, Vivian Paley investiga o comportamento das crianças no jardim da infância. A ênfase dada no livro é para as brincadeiras que as crianças desenvolvem em seu espaço, que a autora chamou de "doll corner", onde convivem super-heróis e bonecas. O curioso é que, como o livro é de 1984, Star Wars tinha um destaque absurdo nas brincadeiras dos meninos, enquanto as meninas variavam mais em seus momentos de faz de conta, ligados ao espaço doméstico, e aos contos de fadas, mas também com outras atrações, como, por exemplo, Scooby-Doo. Por mais que a autora traga um texto consistente e interessante, as interpretações apresentadas no prefácio e no posfácio são ainda mais interessantes, até porque, obviamente, já se passaram mais de quarenta anos desde a publicação do livro e novos achados nessa área foram encontrados. De toda forma, os estereótipos de gênero não mudaram tanto assim e continuam a ser subvertidos por adultos ou por crianças, seja na realidade, ou numa performance exagerada mais próxima do faz de conta.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, the science-y person in me really wants some cold hard facts to back up any assertion, but this book has some really great anectodotal information based on a very detailed log of a kindegarten teacher recording and observing her class (and herself). It's like being a fly, not on the wall, but inside her head, as she tries to analyze differences in behavior for boys and girls. Your guess as to they "why" behind the what is as good as hers, though. It has definitely helped me realize that dealing with young boys is actually one of my strengths and something that I feel passionate about in education (which is good since well over half of the special education population is male). And, I'm very interested in research in this area. As far as text books go, it's definitely an easy and enjoyable read.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book. It was very interesting to read her insights in the way children play differently. Some of the things were pretty obvious to any parent who has watched their children play and I don't really care for generalizations about people but all in all it was an interesting read.

[Cindi (Utah Mom’s Life) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit outdated--children don't get to play in kindergarten any more--but an interesting view of children and the way they interact.

[Jamie Hornych · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I came away with a better understanding and acceptance of gender stereotypes and the fantasy play of both sexes, what I took away the most from this book was "Whew, I'm so glad I have a girl."

[Kacie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it for class. I don't think it helped with the content of the class but it was definitely the cutest research I've ever read.

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for an assigned book. There was like no ending though..

[Nojood Alsudairi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any one who has boys and girls at home or in class should read this book.