The European G-BOOK Projects: Tackling Gender Stereotypes and Promoting Respect and Diversity through Children’s Literature

Children’s literature plays a crucial role in the development of gender identity of girls and boys, who tend to accept the models presented to them and identify with characters that belong to their same gender group. Traditional gender role models are still predominant in many European countries, reinforcing inequality in society. There are still significant differences in the way European countries address gender identity in books for young readers. Where gender equality is more respected, the production of gender-positive children’s literature is more widespread. The paper reflects on the relevance of Elena Gianini Belotti’s books in the field of children’s literature starting from the results of the European project G-BOOK (UniBO). While it is true that since the publication of Gianini Belotti’s text, gender-positive literary production has spread increasingly, this production is unevenly distributed among European countries. Therefore, it is very important to strengthen gender-positive children’s literature by offering books with characters that break stereotypes.