Do you think that children's books should be gender neutral?

Those "for boys" and "for girls" books really annoy me. It's silly to assume girls won't be interested in stories with lots of action, or that boys won't like a story with fairies. This kind of thing trains children to be more rigid about gender roles, which limits their choices in life.

In a book shop I came across "Bible Stories for Boys" and "Bible Stories for Girls". I thought maybe for the girls' one they might have chosen stories they thought might appeal to girls because they had female characters, but no, as it turned out the books were exactly the same except that one was blue and the other was pink.

by Jennifer Muirhead

How ridiculous!

Well said Jennifer.

I saw the Bible Stories books on Amazon and had wondered how they had decided which storied were for girls and which for boys..... which was bad enough but somehow it seems even worse that they are both the same!

No, it does not worry me in the slightest -boys, from my experience, often play and think differently to many girls so I cannot see what is wrong with a Boys Annual or a Girl's Annual or similar.

If it annoys you, then do not buy them as there are so many books that do not have this gender stereotype.

I do not, however think either is "off limits" as you put it, for the opposite sex.

by Finy

I think the for boys and for girls are silly. I don't think they should be banned necessarily...but it can be hard for some parents to recognise that ALL books really are for either boys or girls.

by lizzi

No, I don't think any books should be off-limits for either of the sexes. I know my son loves dolls, as much as he does Batman. Anything stereotypical really bothers me.

by thriftyfrugalfun

What Jennifer said. I really dislike when publishers assume what boys and girls may be interested in. I also think they limit themselves by narrowing their target markets.

by Vee

Yes, I think that's a great idea. It's utterly ridiculous to make everything gender specific.

by meggf

I absolutely think that books should be gender neutral. There's no reason why a girl shouldn't be allowed to colour in a digger if she wants to and a boy should be able to have a princess story read at bedtime without being told that's girly.

by VerityG

Yes I think they should stop doing this.

by Maria

No

by fran.

Oh boy, did I ever try too hard on this one!!
"Do you think that children's books should be gender neutral?" Brain went into meltdown trying to figure what "neutral sex" they were going to write books in! Well, it's midnight, I'm half asleep, my broom won't start and the dog ate my homework.
We want children to read LOTS. Books should be unisex, universal and CHEAP. Books should not be so ridiculously priced. Reading should be a joy, not a drain on the pocket :(

by Rice

I agree with Finy, I think that is taking gender neutral a bit far. Everyone can read any book anyway...

by brigi