BY NEH-I URKIEL-TAYLOR

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Just by looking at the cover of ' V
Miriam Schlein’s book, The Girl Who Would

' Rather Climb Trees, ‘you can see that the main

hen I was a child there was a chil-

dren’s album I spent a lot of time

listening to: Free To BeiYou And
Me. The title song had lyrics that were very
inspiring and memorable to me: “There’s a
land that I see where the children are free and ,
I say it ain’t far to this land from where we are
 Every boy in this land grows to be his own
man. In this land, every girl grows to be her
ownwoman.”

Three children’s books from the
same era feature this theme: The Girl Who
Would Rather Climb Trees by Miriam Schlein;
Oliver Button Is a Sissy by Tomie dePaola;
and Jesse ‘s Dream Skirt by Bruce Mack.

These three books encourage children’s
approaches to resolving conflicts, freedom of
self-exploration, tolerance and respect of gen-
der role differences.

4

character, Melissa, is a no-frills kind of gal.
Melissa is happy to read, play ball, do. puzzles,
watch birds, bike ride, jump rope and climb
trees. She is very confident in these activities. _
We might refer to her, although the ‘book does
not, as a tomboy.

The question for Melissa is what to
do with the dolly presented to her by the
female adults in her life. After numerous awk-
ward attempts to play with the doll, she solves
her indifference in a very practical manner. In
this story, Melissa tries out but cannot actively
engage in the role that she is expected to
accept as a female in her family.

Jesse, the boy in Jesse ’s Qream
Skirt, is challenged in a similar way. Jesse
desires more than anything in the world to cre-
ate a skirt for himselfto wear everywhere he
goes. This is accomplished with the help of his
mother Jean.

Jesse is a younger character than
Melissa; therefore, he seeks security and sup-
port from his pre-school teacher, Bruce, in
order to solve a peer conflict that arises
around his skirt-wearing. Bruce encourages
open discussion of the feelings the other chil-
dren have about Jesse’s dream skin. During
the preschoolers’ discussion a classmate
named Sarah says, “My mother told me that a
long time ago girls weren’t allowed to wear
pants.” (By the way, that story is depicted in
the children’s book Bloomers by Rhoda
Blumberg.) _
From the first illustration in Jesse is

Dream Skirt, illustrator Marian Buchanan
shows us a diversity of male “dress” that
spans multiple cultures and colors. In this
story the natural and inquisitive child finds
support. Children who would rather not take
part in the experience of skirt dressing are

allowed that option too. It is okay for children,

to watch and not say anything at all.
Unfortunately, this book is out of print, and

4"‘. .

  

despite three unsuccessful attempts I have
been unable to locate the parties originally

- involved in its creation. I found my copy at

Recycle North in Burlington, Vermont.
_ A third book, Oliver Button Is a

Sissy by Tomie dePaola, is another wonderful
example of a character who successfully
makes the transition from being misunder-
stood and unappreciated to being more fully
accepted by the people in his life. Unlike 
Jesse’s mom Jean, Oliver’s mama and papa do
not accept Oliver’s behavior. Initially, his fam-
ily is negative and unhealthy in their
approaches to change Oliver.‘ This book corn-
bines the ideas that the other two books
demonstrate — help and encouragement in the
situation from a mentor, and self-perseverance
in order to solve one’s own problems.

Oliver Button is a STAR is a 2001
video release by the TCGMC/Oliver Project
and Vermont filmmaker John’ Scagliotti. The
documentary — based on dePaola’s book — was
aired as a PBS Family Special on bullying,
tolerance, and youth empowerment. It
employs an innovative mix of live perfon'n-

ance, traditional storytelling, animation, musi- ..,-I

cal adaptation of Oliver Button is a Sissy, film
clips, classroom footage, home movies and
childhood memories from Tomie dePaola,
dancer Bill T. Jones, arctic explorer Ann
Bancroft, and makeup artist Kevin Aucoin to
explore bullying and gender differences in
children.

Both Jesse and Oliver are boys who
participate in activities commonly referred to
as feminine. Yet, neither thinks of himself, as
far as the reader is told, as being a girl. The
expressions of their gender and the behaviors
that their families and friends see do not
match Jesse’s, Oliver’s or Melissa’s‘gender
identities. Each child’s_ self expression and/or
participation in activities outside a traditional
gender role does not necessarily carry over
into the way each child identifies themselves
mentally, sexually or emotionally as a male or
a female.

The messages in all three of these
books are very enabling — excellent examples
of youth that are self-aware and resilient. It is
important that anyone reading books like the

: three above understand and be able to explain

the difference between gender role, gender
expression and gender identity.

“And you and me
are free to be
you and me.” V

‘Neth is currently involved in The‘Rainbow

Library, a reference library and Vermont
resource for queer-themed picture books,
videos, and family information. Library staff is
willing to facilitate reading circles with your
friends and family, group, school or organiza-
tion. Call 652-0878 to learn how you can
become involved, to get a bibliography or to
learn more about the library