Ellen Handler Spitz reviews some children's literature and its contribution to the process of helping children to assimilate culture, and she discusses a number

of stereotypes of gender and parentage. Some of the influence of these stories and stereotypes is quite objectionable, such as the way our culture continues to perpetuate that a man must have prodigious physical strength in order to be worth- while, lovable, and effective as a man, while girls are expected to live in submission, passivity, cleanliness, and order and to be giving, nurturing, and kindly.