Marlo Thomas and Friends: Free to Be You and Me Re-release

Thirty-five years ago, Marlo Thomas, best known as the star of That Girl, pulled together a collaboration of art and stories for a children's book called Free to Be You and Me.

The book has just been re-released. It includes the original material from Shel Silverstein, Judy Blume Gloria Steinem, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and other contributors, but it now also includes updated extras and CD instead of a record.

All proceeds from the book will go to the Free to Be Foundation, which basically strives to distribute as many copies of their book as possible. It's not precisely a charity; it's more like a self-sustaining foundation whose only purpose is to perpetuate its message (thereby making money, coincidently).

Here's the mission statement from their website:

Free To Be Foundation was incorporated in 1973 to develop and market educational products that challenge stereotypes, fight discrimination, and encourage individuality and the freedom to pursue ones talents and dreams. For nearly thirty years, the foundation has distributed the Free To Be...You And Me book, album, and video to parents and educators all over the world.

All of our work seeks to ensure children's wholeness as human beings: their right to nuturing care from women and men; their right to schools, homes and a society that are free from descrimination based on sex, race, culture, class or any condition of birth; their right to nonsexist, multiracial education; and their right to grow up in a positive, diverse, supportive setting that encourages independence.

Lots of stars have contributed to the success of the series, whether it be on TV series, CDs or books. The foundation has given away books to schools and the price of the material is not unreasonable (the book is just over $10).

When Free to Be You and Me was first published kid lit was rife with gender stereotyping, and here was a book that not only strove to be gender neutral, but also had a positive message about going against the "rules" of gender at the time.

That it was ground breaking and a sign of times in 1973 can't be denied, but it's difficult to place it in toady's world, even if it does include updates.

Is the squishy feel-good message of Free to Be You and Me still needed? In 1973, spreading cultural diversity and telling kids that they're great even if they're different or they cry was a breakthrough. Today we have dolls that do that. Even hyper-commercialized cartoons do that.

So is Free to Be You and Me just an appendix, something that can be easily removed while the world continues to function? Thomas believes it's still needed.

There's also the nostalgia factor. Kids who grew up with the series are having their own kids today and they want to share. Free to Be You and Me struck a cultural chord when it came out, topping the New York Times Bestseller's list. The kids from that era will be buying it for their own kids.