Picture book "Birds Are Singing".
Whether it was then or is, when it comes to love, it always reminds one of the classic questions: "Why do you love me?" "But the answer for girls is easy to move towards objectification of women." Because you're good looking? Because you're well-behaved and sensible? Because you bore me a baby? ......
Although 2022 has long since moved away from those old-fashioned years, at the beginning of this new year, we are still shocked by the social news that ignores women, belittles women, and oppresses women. While we praise Gu Ailing as the light of women, there are many more women who cannot speak out in a powerful male discourse system. They are the main force of housework at home, and when they marry, they have to exchange for a sky-high bride price, and after marriage, they become tools for childbearing. In the double hints from family and society, how many highly educated girls still regard "meeting the needs of others" as their self-worth.
In this edition, we have selected a group of children's books related to the growth of girls. Girls can fight like boys, but they don't have to think of "extraordinary achievements" as the only proof of breaking through the cage. Girls should grow up calmly, have their own favorite things to do better than to cater to others, whether beautiful or not, whether they have achieved worldly success or not, can have the confidence that you love me because I am me, not anything else.
1. Care about the physiological changes of girls
"She's Coming, Please Prepare," by Yumi Stearns Melissa Kang, by Jenny Latham, translated by Xu Chencheng, | Dolphin Press, September 2021.
Age of readability: 9+
This book is written for girls who are about to enter puberty, easier than textbooks, citing the experience of many people who have come over, in a playful, frank and lively way, to answer various menstrual problems encountered by adolescent girls in a playful, frank and lively way.
"The Body Book for Girls", by [Beauty] Kelly Dunham, illustrated by Laura Taradi, translated by Zhang Yue, CITIC Publishing Group, September 2020.
This is a small encyclopedia for girls' adolescent growth, which not only includes menstrual knowledge, but also popularizes a series of physical and psychological changes that girls will experience during their growth, such as breast swelling, feelings of heartbeat for the opposite sex, wanting to dress themselves, and staying safe in the real and virtual worlds, providing positive guidance for the confusion of adolescent girls.
2, do not let girls encounter gender discrimination and appearance anxiety again
Birds Are Singing, by Marl Pavon [Spain] By Maria Shiron, translated by Zhao Bo, Magic Elephant | Guangxi Normal University Press, October 2016.
Age of readability: 4+
The girl Namita has been looking for a place for herself, but she lives in a big family, her mother tells her that she should stay in the bedroom to help everyone make the bed; grandma tells her that she should stay in the kitchen to prepare lunch for the family; her father makes her stay with her brother and sister and watches them; her aunt instructs her to go to the street to buy groceries... Her life was full of family arrangements.
One day, Grandpa told her that she should go to school to clean up. It was at school that Namita began to read, and she was no longer confused about her direction and position, because she knew that "my position is where my feet can take me."
"The Mask of the Fox", by Yan Haijing, illustrated by Wang Yi, Xinjiang Youth Publishing House, November 2018.
Age of readability: 6+
This story blends modern ideas with elements of Chinese mythology, dissolves girls' facial anxieties, and helps girls find their true beauty.
The story is about a girl with a birthmark on her face who decides to go to the legendary fox mask, and I heard that after wearing the mask, she can become beautiful and will no longer be inferior because of the birthmark. She met the fox, and after some twists and turns, she also got the fox's mask, and when she returned home, people praised her for being beautiful, and she was happy, but it wasn't until many years later that the little fox came to her that she realized that what really made her beautiful was not the fox's mask, but something else...
"Please Listen to Me", by [Wave] Elizabeth Brammy, [French] Remy Kurjung, translated by Huang Xun, Oriental Doll | Jiangsu Phoenix Children's Publishing House, September 2020.
Age of readability: 7+
This is one of the "My Growing Up" series and is suitable for lower elementary school children.
The little girl Tamara's math is terrible, but her brother is very good, and she is most afraid of her father telling her to "Come, Tamara, just two minutes, let me see your homework." Dad thought that girls were born to read liberal arts, and boys were born to deal with mathematics, even the teachers at school thought so.
It was all a source of Tanmara's anxiety and stress, but eventually Tamara figured it out that she had to study hard and prove herself, but everyone had their own talents and didn't have to nest other people's standards on themselves.
3, boys can do, girls can also
"Math Girl", by [West] Miguel Tanko, translated by Zhu Xing, wave flowers and flowers | Tianjin Education Press, July 2020.
Age of readability: 5+
Everyone has their own hobbies, and this little red-haired girl's hobby is math. She would use mathematics to explain everything she saw, such as the ripples that were stirred up when she drifted in the water called concentric circles.
This book encourages girls to transcend the social bias that "girls don't learn mathematics, physics and chemistry well" and help them understand the joys of mathematics.
"Boxing Girl", by Remy Guqiong, translated by Zhang Xin, Baya Bridge | Zhejiang Children's Publishing House, September 2018.
Xiao Ganba zhi'er lives between his father and brothers, and often has to do housework for his brothers... Until one day she decided to change her weakness by practicing boxing. So in the training of the master, how can she stand out?
Through the story of girls and boxing, the book encourages girls to stand on their own feet and bravely face injustice.
"Mulan", adapted by Ye Junliang, painted by Clemans Polly, magic elephant | Guangxi Normal University Press, July 2020.
Age of readability: 3+
The book was first published in 2015 and won the Chen Bochui International Children's Book Award. Adapted from "Mulan Poems" by Ye Junliang, a publisher in France, French picture book writer Clemens Polley draws illustrations in the form of prints, vividly telling the story of Mulan women dressed as men and serving in the army for their father.
Darwin Girl, by Jacqueline Kelly, translated by Zou Jiarong, Dandelion | Guizhou People's Publishing House, October 2018.
Age of readability: 10+
The book won the Newbury Children's Literature Prize. The story takes place in 1899 in a small town in Texas, USA, where twelve-year-old Carly is the only girl in the family of seven children, but her mother wants her to become a noble lady, and in home economics classes, she needs to learn piano, sewing, weaving, and cooking, so that she can better serve her husband when she grows up and marries.
Unwilling to accept her mother's arrangement, Carly became interested in science and, under her grandfather's guidance, began reading Darwin's On the Origin of Species and observing animals and plants with her grandfather. In the process of observing nature, she gradually found her own way and understood what kind of person she would become.
Girls Can Do Everything, by Caryl Hart, Illustrated by Ali Pai, translated by Wu Lin, Inspired Culture | Hebei Education Press, September 2020.
Every girl has a unique charm, they can be very elegant, they can be busy; they can be bright and beautiful, they can dress casually; they can meditate, read, play the violin, draw, they can also be soldiers, they can play dinosaurs, turn their heads, be conductors, hang upside down in mud; they can dance, sing, they can ski, kick, climb, parachute, show their extraordinary strength and athletic potential... The book lists the myriad possibilities for women and the various activities girls engage in, encouraging girls to pursue their dreams.
4. Outstanding women who have contributed to the world
Lights! lens! Alice! Mara Rockleaf/ by [Italian] Simone Chilawlo, translated by Zhang Haoyue, Fantasy | Dolphin Press, May 2019.
The book is based on the life experiences of Alice Guy, the legendary female director of the world's film history, and shows the adventure story of the pioneer of the film. In order to shoot a good shot, she would climb into the tiger cage herself, let the actress jump from the bridge to the top of the speeding train, shell the pirate ship... She is eager to express stories that interest her, and is driven by inexhaustible enthusiasm, surprising the audience again and again.
The Girl Who Wrote Poetry with Numbers, by Zovi Tucker, illustrated by [Salvador] Rachel Kettlestler, translated by Chang Li, Dandelion | Guizhou People's Publishing House, August 2021.
This is a biographical picture book about the founder of computer programs, mathematician, and daughter of the famous English poet Byron, Edda.
Edda was different from an early age, she was not limited to the constraints of the times on women, rather than sewing and painting, she preferred to study some installations on her own, solving mathematical problems... She spent her life practicing her dreams and actions, and a hundred years later, her prophecy came true.
Classics: The Woman Who Changed the World, by Marcia Williams, translated by Daisha, | Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, September 2020.
This is a well-illustrated collection of women's biographies, from the warrior Boudica to Queen Elizabeth I, from the pilot Amelia to the scientist Marie Curie, a total of 95 great women in politics, sports, medical care, science and other fields to see how they changed the world.
The inscription is from the picture book "Birds Are Singing" produced by magic elephants.
Edit | Shen Chan, Luo Dong
Proofreading | Guo Li