A note (and some 80's styling tips) from the author

Evidence that I have always been effortlessly stylish

When I was little, I was a "tomboy". I loved He-man and Star Wars and wanted to be Astro until my sister kindly pointed out that I was a girl and therefore couldn't "be" him. So, sensibly, I settled for marrying him.

Now that I'm an adult I love Marvel and scary post-apocalyptic fiction. But, equally, I adore Marian Keyes and weep over Love Actually every Christmas.

This is starting to sound like a dating profile - but the point I'm trying to make is that being a girl doesn't mean you have to like princesses and sparkles any more than being a boy means you're a WWF Superstar of Wrestling.

When I started drafting our Christmas Gift Guides this year, I immediately hit this problem. Do we need separate lists for girls and boys? Would it make it easier for people searching for just the right present? Or am I just buying into outdated beliefs?

More of this please!

While I know kids often have distinctive likes that align with gender norms, I don't believe we should be pigeon-holing our kids into fairies or trucks from the get-go. I also think it's really important for kids to see that both sexes can have the starring role. After all, if the only books we give boys feature male heroes, what are we telling them - or not telling them - about what girls can do?

I don't want to be the reason a boy misses out on the genius of Rosie Revere, just because she's a girl, or why a little girl misses out on swinging from the clothesline (sorry Mum) pretending that she's Han Solo.

Remember this story that went viral last year?  Love.

So, after chatting with many friends, and a little soul searching, I've come to the decision that this site will be, as far as possible, a gender free zone. Sure, if a book is particularly great for encouraging girls or empathising with boys, I'll mention it - but, rather than listing a book as boys or girls, we're going to list books by interest (fairies, animals, trucks, monsters), age and occasion.

I figure kids should be kids, bookworms should be bookworms. On that note, keep an eye out for our gift guides for all bookworms - coming out this week!