Oliver Button Is a Sissy

Oliver Button is a Sissy by Tomie dePaola
Realistic Fiction

This book is about a young boy, Oliver Button, who likes to tap dance and do other 'girly' things. The boys at school make fun of him, calling him a sissy and writing "Oliver Button is a sissy" on the schoolyard wall. There is a talent show, and Oliver Button enters and dances his heart out. He doesn't win, and he's worried to go to school the next day, but when he does, he sees that the kids have written on the wall again. It now reads "Oliver Button is a sissy STAR!"

I adore this book. This is a great book for challenging gender roles. I think challenging stereotypes is always important, but often the books I see doing this involve having a female heroin rather than a male. While that's important too, I think it's great to see the role reversed and read about a boy who enjoys doing these 'girly' things. Likely, I wouldn't use this book as an instructional tool, but I'd have it in my library and might use it to address issues in the classroom, such as bullying.

dePaola, T. (1979). Oliver Button Is a Sissy. New York, NY: Harcourt, Inc.