The purpose of this study was to determine the social role of American women--their marital, maternal, and occupational status--as depicted in literature for intermediate grade children. The hypothesis of this study was that the sex stereotype of "kinder, kuche, kirche" was portrayed by the adult women characters found in the literature available to children of upper elementary school age. Three hundred and one contemporary American children's books were selected from two booklists and two paperback book catalogs. Discrepancy was revealed between the roles of the women in the novels and women's roles as revealed by statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor and the Census Bureau. Most women characters were portrayed as passive and stereotyped in actions and were rarely interesting personalities. Ten books were recommended to elementary grade children as legitimate and realistic portrayals of women. (Author/LL)