For Christmas we gave Ned a baby doll. His Granny and I spent ages in the doll isle at Kmart inspecting every doll until we came across one that we thought looks suitably like a real baby. Ned has always been fascinated by babies and the local health nurse had suggested getting a doll as a nice way to instill gentle, caring behaviour in children. Ned christened the doll ‘Bubba’ and now Bubba goes many places with us in the stroller and gets lots of kisses and cuddles.
Yesterday while walking home from a trip to the park Ned held baby the whole way, cradling it in his arms and even holding it’s hand and gentling stroking it with his thumb, like I do to him when I hold his hand. He then eventually feel asleep still holding his baby.
It reminded me of a picture book I had once come across on the net and must track down. The book is called William’s Doll written by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by William Pene du Bois, published in 1973.
The book begins;
“William wanted a doll.
He wanted to hug it
and cradle it in his arms…”
William’s brother and the neighbours call him a sissy for wanting a doll and his father buys him all sorts of ‘boy’ toys, which he likes but he’d still like a doll. His Grandma comes to visit and she buys him a doll and explains to his father…
“so that when he’s a father like you,
he’ll know how to take care of his baby
and feed him
and love him
and bring him the things he wants,
like a doll so that he can
practice being a father. “
That sounds a bit harsh but good on Charlotte Zolotow for creating such a lovely picture book in a time when the concept was possibly controversial. Is it still controversial? We would love to hear from you who know this picture book and of others that challenge traditional gender roles.
Although Ned has a plethora of trains and trucks and ‘boy’ things, I’m glad that he has chosen to also nurture and care for ’Bubba’.
William’s Doll was also made into a short film, it’s quite cute – you can see a clip of it over at good old Youtube.
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