Stereotypical Role Models in Western and Non-Western Children's Literature. Abstract A study investigated the portrayal of mothers and fathers in Japanese and non-Japanese children's literature and how stereotypically they are depicted as role models. Japanese public libraries contain many translated foreign books, mostly Western in origin. The first hypothesis, that mothers and fathers are still depicted in stereotypical situations, was supported. English-speaking mothers were depicted most frequently as cooking or making pies and cakes.
Findings show that traditional stereotypical images still exist in children's literature.