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B.C. publisher hopes to break gender stereotypes with children’s books

Market becoming more receptive to characters that don’t fall into specific gender roles
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B.C. publisher Caitlin Press has a mandate to print books that portray strong male and female characters, often going against traditional gender roles. Alison’s Fishing Birds is one recent publication that portrays a female protagonist in a non-traditional light. (Submitted by Sheryl McDougald)

B.C. publisher Caitlin Press wants to reassure parents that there are children’s books that don’t conform to gender stereotypes.

The Halfmoon Bay-based company reached out the Gazette following a story about a Colwood mother expressing her disappointment in a pair of books on sale at Costco.

The books, with one labelled for boys and the other for girls, showed male characters how to build compasses and prepare for hikes, while girls were taught how to knit and cook.

Caitlin Press publisher Vici Johnstone said that, while society has come a long way when it comes to these stereotypes, there is still work to be done and that many consumers still expect their characters to fit into certain archetypes.

“To come to the defence of authors and publishers, I think there’s still an expectation there in our society that girls should be pretty and that they should be preparing to raise a family, and yet the exact opposite is happening,” she said. “Our goal as a publisher is to try and balance that a little bit.”

The company’s mandate is to publish books that reflect B.C.’s diverse cultures and is committed to its origins as a feminist literary press. Johnstone said that the company strives for gender neutrality when it comes to its authors and the stories they tell.

While Caitlin has only published a few children’s books, Johnstone hopes that can change in the future and she’s evidently proud of the kids’ books that she has printed. Those include Alison’s Fishing Birds, a story by renowned B.C. author Roderick Haig-Brown that was first published posthumously in 1980 because publishers of the day didn’t think there was a market for it given its female protagonist.

Alison spends much of her time outdoors and encounters some of B.C.’s varied birds along the way and shows a strong sense of environmental responsibility.

Johnstone says the story, which is illustrated by Sheryl McDougald, has been a hit with parents and kids.

“I think it’s always a matter of getting it into the right hands … we’ve had lots of feedback from the people who have bought it and their children and they love it,” she said.

Another book, titled Dipnetting with Dad, focuses on a father and son relationship, but includes female characters that also fish and chop wood.

“The shift is that, 20 years ago, nobody would have even thought twice about the different roles that girls play and boys play,” Johnstone said. “I think there’s still some of that out there, but I think the publishers and writers and producers are very much thinking now that we have to at least acknowledge that there’s a broadening of that.”

Johnstone pointed to Orca Books, Tradewind Books and Arsenal Pulp Press as other B.C. publishers who are striving to tell progressive stories.

joel.tansey@goldstream

gazette.com