"When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen." When I read those words as a child, I was transfixed.
The Secret Garden became my favorite children's book. It remains one of the few children's books I enjoy reading again every few years. Mary Lennox is a fascinating character, a brave and resourceful girl if there ever was one.
However, Mary isn't perfect and that is part of the fascination, seeing her transformation from a selfish, sickly petulant child to a healthy and happy young girl. The setting, a 100-room home on the edge of the moors in Yorkshire, England adds to the enchantment. The mysterious Colin, engaging Dicken, and practical Martha are all well developed characters, but it is Mary who has always captured my attention. She is willful, stubborn, and determined in the face of isolation and rejection.
Where do you find books like The Secret Garden (compare prices), books that girls and boys will enjoy and that will reinforce the concept of females, including girls, as strong and resourceful? Ask women you respect about their favorite children's books, check booklists and recommended reading lists, and see if the same books tend to be mentioned again and again. Look for books in a variety of genres, from mysteries to sports books. Check the biography and autobiography sections in the children's section of your favorite bookstore or library.
The following are some of the resources that provide information about books featuring strong and resourceful female characters:
The Amelia Bloomer Project
Learn all about the Project and the booklists of recent books in which "...girls and women overcome the obstacles of the intersecting forces of race, gender and class."
Beyond Female Protagonists - Female Voices in Picture Books
Professor Kay E. Vandergrift of Rutgers University provides a bibliography of picture books plus a bibliography for adults, along with links to some of her articles.
Girls Worth Knowing
This annotated list is divided into three categories: Picture Books, Books for Middle Readers, and Books for Older Readers. The list comes from the San Francisco Public Library in California.
Recommended Reading: Women's History Month
The New York Public Library's Women's History Month section includes annotated recommended reading lists in five categories: Picture Books, Folk and Fairy Tales, Stories, Recordings/Videos, and Non-Fiction.
Remember, as I continue to research and work to develop the About Children's Book site, I would appreciate receiving your recommendations of children's books and children's books websites. If you have something to share, post your suggestions on the About Children's Books Forum. Thank you!
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