It's still a man's world in children's literature, but parents can improvise

My five-year-old insists that Bilbo Baggins is a girl.

The first time she made this claim, I protested. Part of the fun of reading to your kids, after all, is in sharing the stories you loved as a child. And in the story I knew, Bilbo was a boy hobbit, whatever that entails.

But my daughter was determined. She liked the story, but Bilbo was definitely a girl. So would I please start reading the book the right way?

I hesitated. I imagined Tolkien spinning in his grave. I imagined mean letters from his testy estate. I imagined the story getting as lost in gender distinctions as dwarves in the Mirkwood.

Then I thought: what the hell, it's just a pronoun. My daughter wants Bilbo to be a girl, so a girl she will be.

And you know what? The switch was easy. Bilbo, it turns out, makes a terrific heroine. She's tough, resourceful, humble, funny and uses her wits to make off with a spectacular piece of jewellery. Perhaps most importantly, she never makes an issue of her gender - and neither does anyone else.

The first time my daughter heard the album Free to Be . . . You and Me, she asked, "Why isn't it all right for boys to cry?"