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ED 127 556 CS 002 868

AUTHOR Roberts, Patricia; Chambers, Dewey TITLE Sugar and Spice and Almost AlwaysNice: A Content Analysis of tl- Caldecotts. PUB DATE 76 NOTE 11p

EDFS PRICE MF-$0.83 HC-$1.67 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Awards; *Childrens Books; *ChildrensLiterature; Content Analysis; Elementary Education;*Females; Illustrations; Sex Discrimination; *SexRole; *Sex Stersotypes IDENTIFIERS *Caldecott Awa-rd

ABSTRACT The children's books which havebeen awarded the for each year's finestillustrations in juvenile literature exemplify the best in bookmaking and in color reproduction and are among the bestexamples of art available to children. However, a recent study of thecontent of these books shows that both the text and theillustrations portray female characters as subordinate to the other sex, as the onewho fails, as the caretaker of the home, as the nurturer of thefamily, and as the character seen most often in the home environmentand least ofter in business and the professions. Thus, anassumption that the Caldecott-award-winning books are not stereotyping thefemale image can be challeIged. (JM)

*********************************************************************** Documents acquired by ERICinclude many informal unpublished * materials not available fromother sources. ERIC makes everyeffort * * to obtain the best copyavailable. Nevertheless, items ofmarginal * * reproducibility are oftenencountered and this affects thequality * * of the microfiche andhardcopy reproductions ERIC makesavailable * * via the ERIC DocumentReproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is not * responsible for the qualityof the original document.Reproductions * * supplied by EDRS are the'est that can be made from theoriginal. *********************************************************************** O. U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. EDUCATIONS. WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION TP,S DOCUMENT I-4AS BEEN REPRO- STAR AND SPICE AND DUCED ExACTL Y AS PE CE,vED AROM ALMOST ALWAYS NICE: THE PERSON OR CROAN:ZAT,ON ORIG1N AT1NG IT POINTS 0, vIEK OR OPINiONS A Content Analysis ofthe Caldecotts STATED DO NOT NEZESSAR,LY REPRE SENT or-c,c,AL NATtONA, INSTITU.TE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POL tCv by

PaLrieia RoherL--; Assistant Professor ofEducation, Dewey Chmber,-; Dr. Patricia Robert,s, California State University Sacramento, California

and

University of The Pacific Dr. Dewey Chambers,Professor of Education, Stockton, California*

nation when the Each April Hollywoodsprinkles stardust around the its ranks and presents the annual Academy Awardstap excellence within This ritual is followed by "Oscars" to its elite andmost talented. music and the "Emmy" th- "rlrixv", recognizingthe very best in recorded America and indeed, the world for outstandingachievement in television. national magnitude, are heed t,hese awards. They, like most awards of

coveted. sought by authors, In the literary world,coveted awards are eagerly A major award will guarantee illustrators and publishinghouses as well. Anytime a book is singled boosted sales, prestige andincreased royalties. literary jurists; authors, -)ut as "outstanding"by a reliable body of

illustrators and au _ishinghouses have reason to rejoice. Books for chi:Ldren The children's book fieldis crowd with honors. is richer because o: uhem. receive recognition for manyreasons and the field those that are presented Th,, most prestigious,perhaps, of these awards are Children's librarians gathertogether by Amell_can Library Association. books for children (.ach yearand decide whichof the many thousands of new

this twoyear investigation, *Dr. Chambers served asDr. Roberts' advisor for and doctoral dissertation. 2 The awards, in the form will be singed out as"the best of the year. 1) literary quality and2) for of a medal, are givenfor two reasons: is the Newbery excellence of illustrations. The first mentioned award

this committee feelsis the finest Award. It is presented to what The winner of this writing, by an Americanauthor, of the past year. The second award, award is almost guaranteedto be an instant classic. It is presented to the presented by this group, isthe Caldecott Award. in a children's artist who produced thefinest illustrations of the year classified as picture storybooks, meant book. Most often these books are two to approximatelyeight. to be enjoyed byyoungsters from about age Newbery winner, basks in theliterary The Caldecottwinner,as its fellow the field. spotlight andusuallyenjoys great Fzuccess in excellence. The Caldecott Without questionthese awards do recognize reproduction, and are winners exemplify the finestin bookmaking, color and meant for, probably the host examples ofreal art available to, These award winning children. They arehy and large, delightful: children's librarians and hooks are widely read,strongly recommended by primary grades of the often find their wayinto nursery schools and the They are beautiful. They, by the nubile schools. Everyone loves them. that they most oftendeserve. nature of the award,enjoy a greatness best in the These honored books forchildren,which exemplify the very touted aesthetics nf illustratioc, may,however, offer more than the offer? What value presented to childreA. What soc5al message do they books contain? structures do they represent? What, beside art, do these (2-8) these books Psycholcgists have indicatedfor years that the ages

Ono of the importantlearnings during are gearedtoward, are important ones.

behavior. Recent movements by this time is toidentify with sex role -3- responsible groups have questioned thestereotyping of sex role behavior-- particulary the fPmalP sex role behavior--inthe media. Any thinking person would have to include children's books as apart of that media. Certainly the most distinguished of these booksneed scholarly evaluation to see what, in fact, these books might offer youngfemales concerning their role in the greater society.

A recent study, The Female Imacre in theCaldecott Award Winning Books, by Dr. Patricia Roberts as her doctoraldissertation at the University of

The Pacific has asked that Question and hasre,Leived some surprising answers.

In order to analyze the sex role behaviorsof the female image in these books, the'content analy:is for the study wasimplemented in four (4) steps.

First, the establishment of the contentvalidity for the definitions used in the hypotheses relating to the female sexrole behaviors was conduct2d by a jury of sociologists from the Universityof The Pacific, Stockton, California,

Delta College, Stockton, California andCalifornia State University, Fmsno,

California.*Second, a content analysis instrument,Content Analysis Form

For The Female Image (CAFFI) wasdeveloped for judging sex role behaviors of

of .93 for the female characters. Next, an inter-rater reliability factor determine the instrument was established. Last, the instrument was applied to a text and illustrationanalysis of the female image L. everyCaldecott winner from 1938-1974.

The anaJysis of the text andillustrations of these books revealed that the human, animal and inanimatefemale characters were shown as subordinate to the other sex, as the one whofails, as the caretaker of the home, asthe nurturer of the family and as thecharacter seen most often in the home environment, and seldom seen leastnumber of times in business and theprofessions.

Delta Community *Ct. Lewis, Univers"- of ThePacific; E.H. Brimberry, San Joaquin College; Milton B S. John Dackowich and William York,California State University, Fresnclifornia.

1-1 -4-

The Female ImaRe as subordinateto the other sex. The female ii_ge was judged to be subordinateto the male image in the illustrations as well as in the text of these bookswhen one examines them for this conte4t.

There were numerous female characterswho were placed in a lower or infezdpr position, and who fell under theauthority of others or who lacked autnoty character, Katy, in Th themselves. For example, when the leading female inferior EpT Tree (Scribner's1950) is considered, one sees Katy in an

position when compared with herbrother, Carl. Katy and Carl are on ar

Easter Egg hunt at Grandmom's farm. Carl finds eggs. Katy can't find

Finally, Katy ventures up to the attic, finds aEy. Katy ['eels stupid.

several old decorated eggs andbrings them to the kitchen to show the

choose one of the eggs Katy foundto others. Grandmom says everyone may special find--yet keep for their own. The eggs are Katy's treasure--her

the text tells us that C zachooses first. Another example is . firecrackers to him to She 11ks behind herolder brother and gives he: be real actors." Her uncle shoot. He jeers at her "...Only boys can

laughs at her saying "You arebrave...for a girl." (Mei Li, Doubleday,

(Dutton, 1972) the rice dumpling maker 1932). In Funny Little Woman,

hides behind a statue tryinr to escapefrom a horned, fanged male creataq.e mal who grabs her with aclawed hand. She then clings to a rock but the

creature pulls her into arowboat and rows her across ariver to a strano

in others of these books. house. These examples are repeated

The Female ImaRe As The One WhoFails. There were various female

goal ot. characters who showed adeficiency or lack in attaining a desired

analyzed. Fp2" who showed an omissionin performance when these books were laughing example, tne unfortunateric dumpling maker fails to keep from (Funny Little which causes the wicked onito discover her hiding place. Woman, Dutton, 1972). In A Story-A Story, frustrated Moatia, The Fairy-

Whom-MenNever-See fails to escape from the trap of the spider man.

(Atheneum, 1970). There is young, unhappy Ceci in ,

(Viking, 1959) who stands behind a tree and cries, "Don't let them hit it. Don't let them break my pinata." The text tells us that Ceci can't move or lock when the pinata isfinally broken. Lonely, Baboushka, in

Baboushka and The Three Kings, (Parnassus, 1960), hunts for a path, searches from village to village, never stops and neverfinds what she seeks. Cinderella in The Little Glass Slipper (Scribner's 1954) puts up with everything. When her work is done, she creeps to the chimney corner and sits there in the ashes. She thinks, "A ball is not for such as I."

She exTects snubs from her stepsisters. In Chanticleer and The Fox

(Crowell, 1958), the dairy woman and her two daughters chase the fox unsuccessfully until they think "their heartswould burst." Madeline fails to find Genevieve(Madeline's Rescue, Viking, 1953). In Mei Li

(Doubleday, 1938) young Mei Li asks, "What can I bt good for?" Her brother scoffs at her saying, "What can agirl do at the fair?"Mei Li is too frightened to shoot offfirecrackers. She is unsure of hitting the Good Luck Bell with her penny andasks her brother to throw the penny for her. Other unfortunate girls move through many otherCaldecott winners as well.

THE FEMALE IMAGE AS THE NURTURER. The female image was seen as the nurturer of the family in many of these books. She took care of sick members of the family, soothed and cared forscratches and hurt feelings.

She comforted and helped others withdifficulties. She contributed to the feeding, rearing, fostering,educating, the bringing up and the training of other family members. First, there is Old Joney, the servant in (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1973) who does her -6- best to help Duffy learn the Devil'F, name. In The Fool of the World. and

The Fl-ing Ship (Farrar, 1968), the unnamedmother packs hampers of food with soft white rolls, cooked meats andbottles of corn brandy for her sons as they prepared to leavehome. Unprosperous Baboushka asks the three

Kings to rest in her hut in Baboushka andthe Three Kings (Parnassus,1960,.

Ceci's mother and Maria plan Ceci's first Posadain Nine Days to Christmas

(Viking, 1959). In Chanticleer and the Fox(Crowell, 1958), the poor but managing dairy woman takes care of herself andher two daughters. She is quick to rush outeide when she hears thewoeful cry of the Chanticleer.

There is an unnamed mother who reads astory to her children and whose words are lost in the noise of thehurricane wind in ,

(Vikinp, 1957). The fairy godmothc- in TheLittle Glass Slipper (Scribner's,

1954) comforted Cinderella and halped herattend the ball. Solicitous

Miss Clayel in Madeline's Rescue(Viking, 1953) took the girls for walks, lights at bedtime and rushed told the i.rls to sleep well, turned out the (Scribner's, to the girls' room when shefeared a disaster. In , wife searching for a cough mixture, 1950). There is a helpful policeman's making a chest plaster and knitting a yarnscarf by her husband's bedside A jin.le in White Snow, Bright Snow(Lathrop, Lee and Shepherd, 1947).

111, in (MacMillan, 1945) cites, "Granny, Granny, I am

send for the doctor to give me apill." nurturing role A myriad of other femalecharacters are seen in the

in other winners.

THE FalAIE IMAGE AS THECARETAKER. There were female characters in and the sewing, these books who cleanedthe house, who did the laundry the food. The girls who shopped for food,who prepared the food, and grew The female character work in the garden in Time ofWonder (Viking, 1957). -7 prepares for cooking as doesthe old woman in (MacMillan,

1971) who gathers wood for her fire. C-ci's mother goes to the market in Nine Days to Christmas(Viking, 1959). Mrs. Wing in Mei Li (Doubleday,

1938) bakes and fries and chops. Abe's mother bakes gingerbreadmen in

Abraham Lincoln (Doubleday, 1939). An unnamed mother in They Were Strom and Good (Viking, 1940) cares for beesand takes honey from the hives.

In The Rooster Crows (MacMillan,1945) Mother milks a cow. Grandmom in

The Egg Tree (Scribner's,1950) dyes eggs and cooks an enormous cookie rabbit. Miss Clavel prepared camomile tea for Madelinein Madeline's

Rescue (Viking, 1953). liked to makedumplings out of rice. She pats and shapes the rice flour. She cooks for the wicked oni and claims she will have fun forweeks and months cooking rice. (Funny Little Woman, Dutton, 1972).

The female characters in these booksoften clean the house. The

Tmliceman's wife sweeps. Mei Li sweeps. Maria sweeps. Baboushka sweeps,

scrubs, and feeds wood into the stoveand prepares lonely meals for herself.

Sam, though allowed to dream in Sam,Bangs and Moonshine, (Holt,1967)

washes the dishes, makes the beds and sweepsthe floors. The female

characters pack and unpack. Abraham Lincoln's mother packs pots and pans

and household goods, while the unnamedmother in Time of Wonder(Viking,

1957) packs boxes in the car. Female characters sew, prepare thelaundry and and provide clothes for the family. Abraham's mother spins and sews makes him a pair of breeches. Old Joney in Duffy and The Devil(Farrar,

Straus and Giroux, 1973) is too old to do herfine chores of spinning,

sewing and knitting and so receives the aid of Duffy,who claims to spin

like a saint and knit like an angel. One looks closely to find Mother

carrying what appears to be a clothesbasket in - CY-

with the dressing (Houghton Mifflin, 1952). The female characters assist and undressing of family members. Cinderella aids her stepsisters as socks in The they prepare for the ball. Peter's mom takes off his wet Duffy Snowy Day (Viking, 1962) withoutsaying one word in the text. pulls off the squire's boots as hesits back in an armchair in front 1973). of the fireplace. (Duffy and The Devil, Farrar, Straus and Giroux,

A host of other female characterslabor and perform caretaking tasks in these winners.

The Female Image In The Home Environment. The female image in this study was seen most often in the homeenvironment in the books. These in a social unit were the characters who werein their dwelling place or in formed by a family living together. The female characters were seen in the the bath tub, in the dressing room,in bed, in the living room, kitchen, on a patio, in the yard, atthe water pump and in thegarden.

They lived on farms, in small townsand villages,in a house on the heather, a house by the seashore andin castles, When not performing Often, they were the nurturers andthe caretakers. became "reminder" these service functions, thefemale characters sometimes

inactive. They stand in females. As "reminder" females, they appear doorways (The Biggest Bear,Houghton Mifflin, 1952). They look through Ship, Farrar, 1968; Sam, windows. (The Fool of The World and The Flying Child, MacMillan, Bangs and Moonshine, HoughtonMifflin, 1952; Prayer For a (May I Bring A Friend, 1944). They sit in the background andwatch. in the text yet are Atheneum, 1964). Sometimesthey are allowed to speak (Where The Wild Things Are, not seen anywhere In theillustrations. illustrations yet Harper and Row,1963). Sometimes they are seen in the , Viking,1962). are not allowedto speak in the text.

9 -9- exist in lese medal Other seeminglyunimportant female characters award books in too great anumber. the other sex, Considering all the incidentsof being subordinate to to be subcrdinate to the female charactersin these books were judged The female characters the male characters82.00 per cent of the time. (58.00 per cent of the time) were seenmainly in the home environment the time), and laboring performing nurturingbehavior (83.00 per cent of The female characters with caretaker tasks(69.00 per cent of thetime). cent of the time inwhich were seen as the onewho fails over 50.00 per who could be failure situations occurred. There was only one character Madeline's Rescue judged as a significantworking woman--Miss Clavel in

(Viking, 1953). female image in these It appears that the sexrole models for the defined. There is most distinguishedpicture story books are narrowly about the damage that may concern by scholarsand professional groups If narrowly defined, thenthe be done by narrowlydefined role models. illustrations and in female sexrole models inthese picture storybook who interacts withthem. the words may belimiting to the young female be, in fact, These vicarious experiencesin the "very best" books may vehicles may likely present restrictive. These possible instructive It appears that some oflife's confining experiences tothe young girl. They are never experiences are taboo forfemale sex role modeling.

viewed or read about inthe Caldecott Medalbooks. suggest that these Some readers of theCaldecott Medal books may characters which winners present sexrolebehaviors for the female activities of the femalesin our are reflectiveof the majority of in these picturestory society and, thus, maypreceive the female image -10-

that these books as "sweet and nice". However, other readers may suggest award-winning books may, indeed, limitthe sex-role behaviors of the female characters and thus present anincomplete or colorless portrayal

if one of the female image. Still other readers may indicate, that even considers these behaviors as a "norm",there is little "spice" in the narrowly defined sex-role behaviorsof these female characters. eed, there may be little zest and piquancyfor a reader when he/she looks at the female image in these booksand sees the limited and fixed patternof behaviors.

Whatever the reader's point of view,if one assumes that the Caldecott

Medal Award Winners are not stereotyping thefemale image, this assumption can be challenged.

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