[1][2] She believes that denying young boys access to certain toys and absences of early interaction between father and child are destructive to expression and relationship formation.

[5][6] Many educators, for example, object to using texts representing gender-role reversal in the classroom, whereas others promote it, recognizing the critical role schools play in childhood identity and sexuality development.

[1] Rejecting condescension based on age, Zolotow appeals to genuineness by introducing themes such as death and anger, and in William's Doll, non-traditional gender stereotypes, to young audiences.

[3] Observing similar interactions between fathers and sons at local parks, Zolotow found inspiration in how men of the time period missed out on some of the pleasures of being closely involved with their children's early development.

[4][8] Sex stereotyping by educators is reinforced by inequity of time, encouragement, difficulty of assignments, and expectation of success offered between male and female students, labeled "hidden curriculum.

[6] Dr. Cecilia Silva, a professor at Texas Christian University, claims society is oblivious to this "boy code," only prominent when characters such as William contravene.

[4] Martha Goldstein-Schultz, a professor at the University of Connecticut, suggests family and consumer science classrooms as environments to promote discussions concerning sex stereotypes.

[8] She emphasizes the critical role schools play in childhood identity and sexuality development as platforms to encourage questions and acceptance through exposure to literature such as William's Doll.

[8] A study investigating student responses to a classroom read-aloud of William's Doll to a sample of young boys found that including literature with gender-uncomforant males elicits increased identification of textual interrelation.

Julie Wollman-Bonilla, a graduate of Harvard University's Institute for Educational Management, identifies elementary teachers' lack of selection of nonmainstream titles such as William's Doll.

[7] Texts displaying white, middle-class American values are the prevailing choice among elementary school educators, neglecting books representing the perspective of marginalized populations on the basis of sex, race, or socioeconomic factors.

[7] A song based on the story, with music by Mary Rodgers and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, was included in the best-selling Free to Be... You and Me children's album and songbook in 1972, where it was sung by Alan Alda and Marlo Thomas.