Posted by Magnus Smith on June 11, 2017 at 04:49:18 user Magnus.
In Reply to: Re: Do boys read girls books? posted by Mike Dennis on June 11, 2017 at 01:04:00:
...can there really be ‘female’ and ‘male’ books?
The original question was about a male or female lead, and whether that mattered to children. It would be nice to think it doesn't matter, but I'm pretty sure it does.
Anyway, it has made me think...
AR, Enid Blyton, and many others were cunning in their use of a mixed group, so that the idea of a 'lead' character was carefully blurred. Was this a relatively modern trick, in the 1920s/30s? I wonder if older books (Treasure Island, for example) were more often stuck with a single lead character. Was that the exception or the rule?
Plus...
Who can name a book that deceives the reader as to a lead character's sex? I recall that the last page of "The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler" (1977 Carnegie medal winner) reveals the trick the author has been running throughout the book. Most people assume it is a stereotypical naughty schoolboy, not a tomboy.
Post a followup (Only if you agree to the Terms and Conditions)