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1960: In My Garden by Charlotte Zolotow, Illustrated by Roger Duvoisin

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1960: In My Garden by Charlotte Zolotow, Illustrated by Roger Duvoisin

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Brief Summary:
In My Garden, written by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, follows an unnamed, young, female character throughout the spring, summer, autumn, and winter.  She names the things she enjoys about her garden during each season.

Text Analysis:
The nameless, young girl in this story is the sole character of the book.  She is illustrated as a caucasian child with short, black hair. She mostly wears dresses and skirts.  In the summer, she wears a modest bathing suit and snow gear when she ice skates on the pond in the winter.  It was common for girls to wear dresses and skirts during this time; the illustrations strongly reinforce this societal expectation.
In this time period, it was common that children were left unsupervised, which this book reveals in its illustrations. There are no adults depicted nor mentioned in the text. Her only constant companion is a little black cat. Throughout the story, the girl is only seen in the confines of her garden or house.  I think that Zolotow wanted to use her character's loneliness to potentially give her young readers someone to relate to. The absence of parents, siblings, and human friends emphasizes how lonely childhood could be. Some of her readers during this time period may have had similar experiences.
The character reveals that she enjoys playing with dolls, looking at a variety of flowers, butterflies, buying new sweaters and skirts for school--things that were typically expected for girls to enjoy. However, I did find it interesting that she spent the majority of her time out in nature as opposed to in the house helping with chores, cooking, and cleaning. She observed and interacted with the outdoor environment in each season. She laid in the tall grass, raked leaves, picked pears, swam in the pond, and ice skated.  I think these outdoor interests were commonly reserved for the male gender. This character is able to partake in things "meant" for both females and males throughout the book.
Although this character is lonely, she takes control of that loneliness by occupying herself throughout each season--essentially throughout her entire childhood. She has the foresight to know that her parents, who are absent, are not going to entertain her or initiate play or experiences for her.  Therefore, she has learned how to do these things for herself. She has had to create her own childhood and her own experiences within the environment of her own garden.

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1975: George the Babysitter by Shirley Hughes

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1975: George the Babysitter by Shirley Hughes

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Brief Summary:
In Shirley Hughes's George the Babysitter, a male character named George comes over to babysit while the mother of Mike, Jenny, and Baby Sue goes to work for the day. George not only looks after the children, but also does chores around the house like washing dishes, laundry, tidying up the children's bedroom, throwing away old toys, and grocery shopping.  The mother returns home just before bedtime to an exhausted George and her three children.

Text Analysis:
George the Babysitter is a story that challenges traditional societal gender roles of this time period. George, who appears to be a teenage boy, is the family's babysitter, a role that was traditionally reserved for females.   George takes on the responsibility of looking after three young children and the household in a way that proves he has had previous experience. He is familiar with the children, their home, and what is expected of him as the babysitter. There is no mention of a father figure, so the reader may infer that the mother is a single-parent and the sole income of the household--another aspect of the story that challenges the time period's norms.
The children spend part of their time playing, but often help around the house.  Mike and Jenny are the older two siblings who help George most often.  Some of their duties are typical of children their age--help clearing the table, tidying up, etc.--while other chores would be more appropriate for older children or adults. For example, Mike and Jenny give Baby Sue a bath and brush her hair and get her ready for bed. Overall, the children are seen throughout the story as ordinary children--making messes, playing made-up games, and watching television.  The author used the children as an example to her readers of what they should emulate as children themselves--playful, yet responsible and helpful without questioning the person in charge. The children did as they were told when they were told.
The children seem comfortable with their babysitter and trust George to take care of them. They listen to what he asks of them and follows his direction. It is clear that George is in-charge and has the power in this story. For example, they three children were playing an imaginary game and started getting rowdy and climbed on George who was sitting reading a newspaper. George "...had enough of this game, so they go out to the shop." He immediately put an end to the children's playing and they had no choice but to do as George ordered.

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Brief Summary:
In Too Many Toys!, Spencer has been given toys for nearly every occasion, at school, with his kid's meal, and from school. His mother had enough of all of his toys and tasked him with giving some away.  They haggled over which toys Spencer was going to get rid of.  He filled a box, but that box quickly became "the best toy ever!"

Text Analysis:
Spencer's family consists of his mom, dad, and himself. His mom is seen carrying the laundry and is also in charge of getting Spencer to give away some of his toys.  The dad is only seen once throughout the story and does not get involved when Spencer starts giving his mother a hard time about which toys he will be giving away. The text sends the message that in a "traditional" family structure, the mother takes care of the household and looks after and disciplines the children while the father figure does not get involved with these duties.
Spencer himself is a care-free, rambunctious little boy who's childhood is filled with receiving toys and playing with them--inside, outside, and in the bathtub. This may suggest to the reader that childhood is not fulfilling unless you have a lot of materialistic things such as toys and video games. This idea may be reinforced during this time period through advertisements on television and the internet.
Spencer takes on the primary role in this story and has control over which toys he does and does not keep. His toys take over the entire house, which also suggests that Spencer has a lot of control over his parents. Spencer's toys take up a large portion of each of the illustrations. Shannon my be using Spencer and his abundance of toys to help his readers learn from Spencer.  This young character can be seen as greedy because he is not willing to even get rid of his broken toys or toys he has not touched in a long time. Young readers may not agree with Spencer's decision to keep those toys.
Throughout the story, there is a power struggle between Spencer and his mother. His mother demands that he get rid of some toys, but he very keenly bargains and makes excuses to keep the toys his mother wants him to discard.  During this time period, it may have been common that the children are the ones that have control over some of the decisions being made at home with little discipline from the parents. His mother does threaten "no TV for a week," but there is no follow-through of this consequence within the story.  There does not seem to be an affectionate relationship between these characters.  While David is illustrated with a lot of energy and spunk, both of his parents look disheveled and exhausted. Perhaps, David seeks validation from the toys he receives which contributes to him having a difficult time parting with any of them. Ultimately, David wins in this power-struggle like many children his age may also experience at this time.

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2013: The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig, Illustrated by Patrice Barton

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2013: The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig, Illustrated by Patrice Barton

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Brief Summary:
In The Invisible Boy, Brian is a young boy who is overlooked by his teacher and excluded by his classmates because he is quiet and seems to be a little different.  He takes joy in drawing his own illustrations.  When a new student, Justin, joins the class, he gets teased by his peers.  Brian notices and writes him a note. Justin and Brian become friends.  They end up working on a group project where Brian gets to apply his drawing skills.  His classmates and teacher takes notice and Brian feels seen.

Text Analysis:
In this story, the text and illustrations help the reader think critically about accepting other's differences. Brian is different from his peers because he is introverted and enjoys drawing by himself and does not take up as much "space" as some of his classmates. Justin is different because he's new to the class and eats Bulgogi for lunch, which his classmates are unfamiliar with and tease him for.  The story leads children to realize that everyone is unique.  This can also be seen within the illustrations because the students in the class each look uniquely different because they are different races and ethnicities. The students in this classroom are diverse and are an accurately reflect what a class may look like during this time period.
The children in this text take on a primary role.  Their teacher is only mentioned and seen in the illustrations a few times. This shows the readers that the role that children play in society is important, especially in the school environment.   The author and illustrator use Brian's classmates as an example of how not to be.  The students' actions to exclude Brian may not have always been intentional, but the text and illustrations let the reader see several different perspectives and may cause the reader to pause and think about their own actions. Education during this time period started to become more student-centered than teacher-centered. Students being the focal-point of this picture book emphasizes this.
The children are not only the centerpiece, but they also hold the power throughout the story. In particular, Brian uses his own power of writing and drawing to befriend Justin when the other children started to exclude him like they did Brian.  Brian had the wisdom to recognize that Justin was being treated similarly to himself and took action to respond differently than his peers typically would.  Throughout the story, the actions the students take communicate that their actions greatly impact others--positively and negatively. The students realize later the power that their actions have. This inspires change in their behavior and they become more inclusive of one another and their uniqueness. During this time period, children are being more explicitly taught how they impact society.

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Children's roles in society have greatly changed throughout history.  This change is evident across these four picture books. Charlotte Zolotow's 1960 children's book shows how children had little adult supervision and were expected to keep themselves busy and entertained. Their lives were very separate from the adults around them; their problems were not considered complex; their daily lives did not seem to have a great impact on society. This is a drastic contrast to the main character in 2013's The Invisible Boy, Brian. Brian's problem of being "invisible" is a complex, important problem worth exploring and allows for deeper thought and conversation about peoples' differences--a life-long skill the readers will need well into adulthood.
The three young children in George the Babysitter  from 1975, the children were not, for the majority of the story, independent thinkers, like Brian. Their problems were solved for them. They also did as they were told, when they were told by the person in-charge of them. This is what society expected of children during that time period; some may still have this same expectation present-day.
We see children's problems become a little more complicated with Spencer's clash with his mother in David Shannon's 2008 Too Many Toys!  Spencer's power-struggle with his parents over getting rid of some of his toys shows how Spencer was resistant to the adult's demands.  He used his own thought processes to bargain with his mother to keep his toys. While Spencer's problem might be relatable to many readers, it revolved around materialistic things. In contrast, Brian's obstacle revolved around a social-emotional struggle--something all readers, no matter the age--can relate to. Brian also did not need any adult intervention to resolve his problem.
While I think that children need guidance from adults to come to a solution to their problems, at times, it is imperative that children learn to think independently. Children should recognize that they are powerful and play a key role in society. We are seeing more children's stories that present intricate, real-life, social-emotional dilemmas. This allows for deeper conversations about real-life and literature amongst readers.