Look, it's me!

This book explores gender stereotypes by focusing on the life and interests of a young child called Frankie, who is intentionally not portrayed as a girl or a boy and demonstrates that it doesn’t matter.

Frankie is portrayed as having lots of interests that we might typically consider feminine or masculine. The adults in Frankie’s life are very accepting of Frankie and don’t encourage stereotypes. The parenting and housework is equally shared by both parents. There are a variety of skin tones used throughout the book to suggest Frankie has friends from various cultural backgrounds. The dolls also have different skin tones. The children do not judge each other for their choice of play.

The only child with a disability in this book is a wheelchair user spectating at the fair. Another child who looks like his sister is looking at him. There could have been children with disabilities shown interacting, such as at the kinder, on the camping trip or playing sport with Frankie. There was a missed opportunity to include diversity by having children with hearing aides, glasses, visible disabilities such as Downs Syndrome or sensory issues such as wearing ear protection or a hoodie. The page focused on “what are you good at?” unfortunately had a sports focus which isn’t very inclusive of children with disability.

Encourage the strengths and interests of children without imposing gender stereotypes