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Tenets drawn from the social learning theory, semiotics and the schema theory formed the conceptual framework that was used to elucidate gender spaces in Maragoli children s play poetry in this book. This underpins how the poems are loaded with meanings that are decoded. The analytical research design was used to interpret the poems while the hermeneutic method was used to analyze the poems used in the book. The book underscores the children s portrayal of spaces assigned to each gender and the common spaces for both masculine and feminine genders in the play poems. The feminine gender spaces are mainly domestic and the public spaces assigned to females are scripted thereby curtailing the feminine gender s perspectives about issues. On the contrary, the masculine gender spaces are public thus opening males to outer horizons. Some play poems show that formal education has enabled both genders to go to school which is a public space and so share poems, including those that were hitherto, reserved for one gender only. The book emphasizes children s gendered bodies and the subversion of their cultural norms. The style and language in the play poems demonstrate gender spaces.

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Jane Bwonya holds a Bachelor of Education Arts Degree and a Master of Arts Degree in literature both from the University of Nairobi. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Literature from Maseno University. She has taught in Kenyan high schools for many years and has been a lecturer at Maseno University for over a decade.

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