Because of my obsession with antique books, Maeve has quite a few older books. She doesn't get her mitts on the delicate ones, but some of the children's books from the 1950's are still holding up pretty well.
Some of these books have aged perfectly; Goodnight Moon, for example, was written in 1941 (not that our copy is that old!) and is perfectly timeless. The only obvious hint to its age is the telephone in the room, which has a rotary dial. But nothing about Goodnight Moon makes me cringe, unlike a few of Maeve's other vintage books.
She has a book she adores about Mars; the whole book is illustrated in black, white, and red. It shows little boys eagerly looking through a telescope at the night sky, smart male scientists in white coats, and the only women in the whole book show up in an illustration at the end of the book demonstrating what a family living on Mars might look like. Mom is serving dinner, daughter sitting at the table. At least women get into space eventually, huh?
Maeve also has a very sweet alphabet book that was first published in 1958. M is for Mother, who is holding her perfect baby while in a tucked-in shirt and skirt, high heels, and the perfect coiffure. When I show Maeve that picture and she says "Momma" I always kind of laugh on the inside. I resemble that woman in no way except that she and I are holding babies. I am so grateful that no one expects me to look like the M is for Mother woman!
Someday, I will have to explain to Maeve why there aren't any girls looking at the sky in her Mars book, but it's kind of interesting to look back at children's literature and see what we've been showing our kids for the last seventy years.
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| Boys looking at stars |
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| Maeve looks at the future |
Love that last photo. Funny about the vintage books - never really thought about it, but I should! When Maeve gets older, Seven Great Women is an excellent book for girls. Also the Judy Moody and Junie B. Jones series are good books for a more rough and tumble view of girls.
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