Timmy is Mommy's Boy

I began this book as a project for a class at Berea College. The class dealt with some topics that are highly debatable and affect us all. Gender, identity and self-image played major roles in class discussions. As part of my research for the class I looked into single parent homes and how they affect any children within the families. Specifically I looked at single mothers who have sons.

Studies show that single parent families are on the rise and even more are including children. The way that boys grow up in single mother homes was a very interesting topic. Many mothers fear that their sons will be “weak” or “sissies” without a strong male influence. Still others fear that their sons will receive bullying and harassment in school for displaying these feminine tendencies.

It was working from this knowledge that I created this small illustrated children’s book. I hope that the small boys who read it will see that it is okay to be feminine sometimes and even act like their moms. After all, not all boys are the same. There are others like them out there who also display more feminine traits and aren’t always the rough and tumble stereotype.

This book is hopefully easy enough for a child to read alone but I earnestly hope that it is read to them by their mothers. This creates a strong bond between the mothers and sons. Also, it is beneficial for boys to be read to because it helps them develop cognitive skills and become better readers on their own. Other studies show that boys develop slower and struggle with reading so I hope to do my part to help the situation.

At the end I have included a section explaining the choices I made and what I hope families will take away once they have read the book.