Hello. First time poster here and new the industry. First, a huge thanks to all that post on this forum; I have found and read countless helpful posts and articles.
I have written my first PB, and we are currently working on bringing it to market as part of a boxed set with a doll (a la "Elf on the Shelf"). Due to the complexities of selling the book packaged with the doll (among other reasons), we will self-publish the book.
In order to appeal to a larger audience, we are considering having two versions of the book and doll made - male and female. The main character in the story is a friendly monster, which is what the doll will be. Our target audience/market (besides moms and dads) is 4-6 yr olds. We feel that kids - at that age - want toys of the same gender that they are. There is a bit of a trend in the toy industry to have more gender-neutral toys, but we don't feel that is a good fit for this product.
The idea we are considering is to have the illustrations in both versions of the book identical, with the exception of the monster, whose appearance will vary slightly depending on the sex. In addition, the manuscript of both versions will be the same, except for the monsters' name and pronoun usage.
My question is: are you aware of any books like this? Are we crazy for trying this?
Suggestions or advice, greatly appreciated!