Preschool books with FEMALE main characters

[jamsmu]

Last week, there were a few posts about books for toddlers. One thing I remember people looking for was books with female main characters. I went through just one of my lists from a class I took called "Using Picture Books in the Elem. Classroom" (I loved this class!!) and came up with the following list. (I haven't read all of them, but know of most). There are so many more, but here's a start.

Chrysanthemum Kevin Henkes
Lily's Purple Purse Kevin Henkes
Ten, Nine, Eight Molly Bang
Patchwork Quilt V. Flournoy
Stellaluna Jan Cannon
Madeline L. Bemelmans
Martha Speaks S. Meddaugh
Mary Had a Little Lamb (contemporary) B. McMillan
The Mitten Jan Brett
Mrs. McNosh and the Great Big Squash S. Weeks
Of Mice and Beans Pam Munox Ryan
Olivia Ian Falconer
The Painter P. Catalnatto
Aunt Flossie's Hat (and Crabcakes Later) E. Howard
Flossie adn the Fox P. McKissack
Flower Garden Eve Bunting
The Jacket I wear in the Snow S. Neitzel
Lottie's New Beach Towel P. Mathers

[AngelaS]

Oh, I forgot about Chyrstanthemum! That is one of our FAVORITES!!

[slknight]

There was discussion on the other thread about "The Mitten" by Jan Brett because I had suggested it. The main character is a boy. I had it mixed up with the book we have, which is "The Hat," also by Jan Brett. "The Hat" does have a girl as the main character.

Looks like a good list. Thanks for posting.

[kransden]

Thanks, I shared this with the people on our daycare list.

Karin and Katie 10/24/02

[jamsmu]

I'll have to check that out. The list I used for this was from the ALA (I believe) and it said the MC is a girl... oh well... Jan Brett books are delightful no matter what.

[stefani]

Thank you for posting that list. DS will definitely get a good helping of books with female main characters.

[hez]

I just read it with DS yesterday before an attempt at nap time ;)

There are exactly 2 female characters (I was checking it out as we read!). The grandmother, and the mouse who tickles the bear's nose. All the rest of the animals seemed to be referred to as 'he' except the owl, who didn't have a gender-specific pronoun that I noticed.