Tomie dePaola’s picture book Oliver Button is a Sissy was published in 1979, but the title is still a gut punch. I can only imagine how jarring it was in 1979.
As the title suggests, this book is about gender roles, and, specifically, Oliver Button, a boy who likes things that aren’t traditionally masculine. The first page drives this home. The line of text at the top of the page reads, “Oliver Button was called a sissy.” Most of that first page is filled with an image of Oliver in the foreground, standing in flowers and holding a bouquet…while three boys play football in the background.
It is a measure of how much things have changed that by modern standards, Oliver’s interests are especially radical: dePaola shows him walking in the woods, jumping rope, reading, drawing, singing, dancing, and playing with paper dolls and dress-up. (Okay, those last two might still trigger some parents.)
His father pushes him to not “be such a sissy” and to go outside and play (any of a list of boy sports); the other boys openly mock him. When his mother also pushes him to get exercise, Oliver demonstrates his love of dance, and his parents are open enough to compromise and enroll him in dance class. He gets his own tap shoes and practices nonstop. The other boys tease him, take his shows, and write “Oliver Button is a Sissy” on the school wall.
dePaola’s illustrations are quietly heartbreaking: this is a child who is hurt and isolated for no good reason.
The teasing continues…but Oliver keeps practicing. Eventually, his teacher mentions a talent show to him. His mother makes him a costume, and he practices even more avidly.
When the big day comes, Oliver competes against a range of talents, and against both kids and adults. dePaola’s images of Oliver’s performance show a kid at ease dancing, even in front of a lot of people. Many people applaud. Oliver is disappointed, almost crushed, when he doesn’t win, but his family supports him.
And, the next day, when he goes to school, he sees the insult written on the school wall has been edited. “Sissy” is crossed out, and “star” written in its place, so the book’s text ends with “Oliver Button is a Star!” The final page shows him dancing. smile on his face.
This book is moving and masterful. dePaola doesn’t force a win at the contest, but he does show, without lecturing, Oliver’s persistence winning his peers over.
I recently read The Worlds of Tomie dePaola, where author Barbara Elleman argues this book is autobiographical, since Tomie dePaola loved reading, art, and tap dancing, and had no interest in traditional masculine sports…but nobody had to tell me. This book aches with remembered pain, and with sympathy for kids who have to go through this.
