From early childhood to becoming a young adult, stories shared help form the foundation for our ideas as we mature into adulthood. What we read becomes what we perceive, influencing the future of our society, shaping our personal beliefs as well as defining the overall culture. The “glass ceiling” is an unseen and theoretical barrier keeping women from reaching higher levels of economic, social and political status. Gender bias in children’s literature perpetuates this glass ceiling. Children’s books are dominated by male central characters from the Cat in the Hat to Babar, and from Peter Pan to Peter Rabbit. New research has found this causes a gender disparity sending children a message that “women and girls occupy a less important role in society than men or boys.” (“Gender in 20th Century” p. 2) In almost 6,000 children’s books published between 1900 and 2000, the study, led by Florida State University sociology professor Janice McCabe, found males are central characters in 57% of children’s books published each year, with only 31% having female central characters. Male animals are central characters in 23% of books per year, while female animals are central in only 7.5%. The Caldecott Award, given to the top children’s book each year, has had only one standalone female character since the award was established in 1938. The study also found books with male animals were more than two-and-a-half times more common. Since children’s books are a “dominate blueprint of shared cultural values, meanings and expectations” (Gender in 20th Century, p. 2) they contribute to how children understand what is expected of women and men. It also shapes each child’s world view. In seeking to understand why there is such a persistent inequality among animal characters in books for kids some publishers, who are under pressure to release books that are more gender balanced, use