A study of 6,000 children's books conducted for the journal Gender and Society has found that 31 per cent of the best-sellers featured a female lead character, compared to 57 per cent featuring a male.
In books where the characters are animals - such as Fantastic Mr Fox and Winnie the Pooh, female role models are even scarser. According to the study, the imbalance has worsened since the turn of the 20th century.
Lead researcher Janice McCabe, of Florida State University, called the trend inherently sexist.
‘Books contribute to how children understand what is expected of women and men, and shape the way children will think about their own place in the world,’ she said.
‘The persistent pattern of disparity among animal characters may reveal a subtle kind of symbolic annihilation of women disguised through animal imagery.’
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