Nonviolent and Nonsexist Books for Children

The following list of books can be found in the public libraries of most large cities. The following symbols were used: P = picture book, I = intermediate age level (8 to 12 years old).

Allfry, Katherine. Golden Island. Doubleday, 1966. Nonsexist (I). Adventure of a girl and a dolphin. Very much a story about dealing with reality and growing up.

Arneson, D.J. Secret Places. Photos by Peter Arnold. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971. Nonviolence (P). Little boy shares his joy and love of nature and woods, through colorful pictures, and his hope it will not be ruined by industry.

Basllevsky, Masey. Branislav the Dragon. D. Mackay Co., 1967. Nonviolence (P). Nonviolent dragon and his adventures.

Bonsall, Crosby. It’s Mine—a Greedy Book. New York: Harper and Row, 1964. Nonviolence (P). Learning how to share, working out own problems.

DeRegniers, Beatrice. Catch a Little Fox. Illustrated by Brinton Turkle. Seabury Press, 1968. Nonviolence (P). Story in song about children out to catch animals. The illustrations are particularly good.

Evans, Katherine. A Bundle of Sticks. Chicago: Albert Whitman and Co., 1962. Nonviolence (P). Fable of how a weaver teaches his sons that we are strongest when we all work together.

Hall, Mari. Play with Me. (Unable to get publishing data.) Nonviolence (P). Little girl tries to catch some animals to play with, but they all run away. When she sits quietly without moving, they all come back and sit beside her.

Hamanda, Hirosuke. The Tears of the Dragon. Parents Magazine Press, 1967. Nonviolence (P). Boy tries to convince village elders that dragon they have never seen is not evil; so he goes off to invite dragon to his birthday celebration. A very beautiful book.

Hoffman, Phyliss. Steffie and Me. Harper and Row, 1970. Nonsexist (P). About a very mischievous little girl—adventurous.

Hutchens, Pat. Tom and Sam. Macmillan, 1968. Nonviolence (P). Fable about getting along with your neighbor.

Janosch. The Crocodile Who Wouldn’t be King. Putnam, 1971. Nonviolence (P). Crocodile king’s son refuses to be like violent smelly father, and goes off to live peacefully.

Jewell, Nancy P. Try and Catch Me. Harper and Row, 1972. Nonsexist (P). Little girl’s joy in discovering nature, using her imagination, and being adventurous.

Jewett, Sarah Orne. A White Heron. New York: Thomas Crowell Co., 1963. Nonviolence (I). Story of a girl’s love for nature and her difficult decision to protect a bird from a hunter.

Keats, Ezra and Jack. Letter to Amy. New York: Harper and Row, 1968. Nonsexist (P). Decision of boy to invite girl to his birthday party despite the fear of the boys making fun of him.

Kishida, Eriko. The Lion and the Bird’s Nest. Crowell, 1972. Nonviolence (P). Old lion agrees to allow bird to lay eggs in his crown. Story about the power of kindness.

Konigsburg, E.J. From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Antheneum, 1967. Nonsexist (I). Girl decides to leave home with her younger brother to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Konigsburg, E.J. Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley and Me. Atheneum 1967. Nonsexist (I). Friendship of two girls and their magical adventures. It is only after one is way into the story that you find that one girl is white and the other black.

Krumgold, Joseph. Henry 3. Antheneum, 1967. Nonviolence (I). Boy tries to find way to end all wars. Book is sexist, but good on feelings and dealing with reality of the world.

Lasker, Joe. Mothers can Do Anything. A. Whitman, 1972. Nonsexist (P). Beautifully illustrated book about all the things mothers do.

L’Engle, Madeleine. Dance in the Desert. Ill. by Symeon Shimen. Farrar Straus Giroux, 1969. Nonviolence (P). The illustrations in this book are magnificent, better than the story. Family plans to cross the desert which is full of dangerous animals. Story tells of a night all the animals danced with the infant son.

Lionni, Leo. Swimmy. New York: Pantheon 1963. Nonviolence (P). Swimmy is a fish that organizes little fish to swim as one big fish so they no longer will be afraid of the giant predators of the ocean.

Piatti, Celestino. The Happy Owls. Atheneum, 1964. Nonviolence (P). Legend about happy owls and why they were peaceful.

Steptoe, John. Stevie. Harper and Row, 1969. Nonviolence (P). Problems of a boy relating to younger foster brother.

Waber, Bernard. Ira Sleeps Over. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1972. Nonsexist (P). Boy is afraid to take his teddy bear with him when he goes to sleep at a friend’s house. The illustrations are good. Both parents are shown cooking dinner, etc.

Watson, Sally. Other Sandals. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966. Nonviolence, Nonsexist (I). Girl leaves kibbutz for the summer to live in city, and makes friends with Arab girl despite her hatred for the Arabs. Beautiful description of life in a community setting.

Zolotow, Charlotte. The Hating Book. Harper and Row, 1969. Nonviolence (P). How misunderstandings can cause ill feelings and how they can be straightened out.

Zolotow, Charlotte. The Quarreling Book. Harper and Row, 1963. Nonviolence (P). How a quarrel is started and how love and joy break the pattern.

Zolotow, Charlotte. William’s Doll. Harper and Row, 1972. Nonsexist (P). Little boy wants doll despite disapproval from people around him.

Patty Lyman was a member of the Philadephia Life Center when this article appeared.