Based on the author's work with four- and five-year old children, this study presents the social construction of children's gender through examination of children's play, their conversation and their responses to feminist studies. The appendix provides a list of feminist and non-sexist children's stories. Includes a bibliography and an index. The author teaches women's studies and the sociology of education at the University of New England. A sequel, TShards of Glass: Children reading and writing beyond gendered identities', was published in 1993.