Free to Be-- you and me

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Ed. statement from cover.
Book: Dear you, lots of love, me / Marlo Thomas -- Free to be-- you and me / Stephen Lawrence and Bruce Hart -- Boy meets girl / Peter Stone and Carl Reiner -- When we grow up / Stephen Lawrence and Shelley Miller -- What are little boys made of? / Elaine Laron -- Ladies first / Shel Silverstein ; adapted by Mary Rodgers -- Don't dress your cat in an apron / Dan Greenburg -- Parents are people / Carol Hall -- The pain and the great one / Judy Blume -- Sisters and brothers / Stephen Lawrence and Bruce Hart -- The southpaw / Judith Viorst -- The old woman who lived in a shoe / Joyce Johnson -- My dog is a plumber / Dan Greenburg -- Dudley Pippin and the principal / Phil Ressner -- It's all right to cry / Carol Hall -- William's doll : based on the book by Charlotte Zolotow / adapted by Mary Rodgers and Sheldon Harnick -- The field / Anne Roiphe -- Three wishes / Lucille Clifton -- No one else / Elaine Laron -- Glad to have a friend like you / Carol Hall -- Zachary's divorce / by Linda Sitea -- Helping / by Shel Silverstein -- The sun and the moon / by Elaine Laron -- Atalanta / Betty Miles -- If wishes were fishes / David Slavin -- Free to make some music -- Free to get started / by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. -- What buying this book will do-- / Gloria Steinem -- The rhyme and reason behind Free to be-- you and me / Letty Cottin Pogrebin.
CD: Free to be-- you and me (performed by the New Seekers) / music by Stephen Lawrence ; lyrics by Bruce Hart -- Parents are people (performed by Marlo Thomas & Harry Belafonte) / by Carol Hill -- Sisters & brothers / (performed by Voices of East Harlem) / music by Stephen Lawrence ; lyrics by Burce Hart -- It's all right to cry (performed by Rosie Grier) / by Carol Hall.
A compilation of inspirational stories, songs and poems that celebrate individuality and challeng stereotypes.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Its Heart Is in the Right Place submitted by Meginator on June 22, 2019, 9:52am This anthology certainly has its heart in the right place, but even in this updated edition its age starts to show. Some of the songs don’t really work as text alone, but they do come to life on the included cd. I love the book’s focus on individual autonomy and stereotype busting, particularly when it comes to gender expectations (what an amazingly progressive point of view this must have been in the early 1970s!), but the its rigid focus on gender roles might almost have the opposite effect by reinforcing children’s expectations about what behaviors and interests are appropriate for them. Even a song/poem like “Parents are People” gives the women a much different range of potential interests than it gives the men. Unsurprisingly, the book doesn’t allow for nonbinary or trans identities, and has only one overt nod to racial diversity; while understandable within the context of its creation, this lack of real diversity rankles nonetheless. I would consider this as a supplement, perhaps, but we are currently riding an explosion of excellent children’s literature exploring gender identities that makes this classic unfortunately out of date.