"Gender Stereotyping and Under-representation of Female Characters in 200 Popular Picture Books: A Twenty-first Century Update"

From the Plain Dealer:

Images of men continue to dominate children's picture books, according to the study done by psychology professor Mykol Hamilton and economics professor David Anderson of Centre College in Danville, Ky., and Michelle Broaddus and Kate Young, recent graduate students at the college.

The study, published in the journal Sex Roles, showed that there were twice as many male as female main characters in the books examined and that male characters appeared in 53 percent more illustrations. Men, in general, were depicted in stereotypical jobs and frequently outdoors.

Not one image showed a father kissing, hugging or feeding a baby.

Weird.  I'll head down to the children's room and check this out.  The study looked at bestselling picture books of 2001, as well as seven years of Caldecott winners.