Propaganda is appearing in books for children of younger and younger ages in order to accustom them to destructive ideas. Examples include this picture book about communism and “how Karl Marx’s ideas have made the world a better place.” Or this one called “My Princess Boy,” in which said boy dances in princess dresses and leotards “like a beautiful ballerina” with a not-so-subtle message of toleration for “gender expression.” Incidentally, this one is listed as a “Teacher’s pick” on Amazon.
There are now even board books promoting things such as “They, He, She” which claims to be a “gender inclusive pronoun board book for babies and toddlers,” or “Whoever You Are: A Baby Book on Love & Gender,” which features images of men in drag. The list of progressive baby books is endless: “No! My First Book of Protest” (because every toddler needs to be encouraged to protest more!), “Antiracist Baby,” “All Kinds of Families,” and so on, ad nauseam. And it is, indeed, nauseating—I can hardly stomach writing out such titles. Many perverted ideas of postmodern neo-Marxists and outright predatory groomers are being inculcated into our children to warp them from the cradle onwards.
When did baby books become all about politics? What we need are simple, wholesome, moral stories with tasteful art that reflect the beauty and importance of everyday life, tales that reinforce the goodness and security and stability of the little world that toddlers inhabit. We need to return to traditional stories to feed young minds and imaginations in a normal and healthy way.
Here are seven recommendations.
’I Am a Bunny‘ by Richard Scarry
This is a classic. The story is refreshingly simple: A rabbit explores the world around his tree. The illustrations are lovely, and some of the highly detailed depictions of animals remind me of old-fashioned field guides such as Audubon’s. I think that the title reflects something of the simplicity of the story and the value of that simplicity: It’s just a quiet celebration of things that are, the plants and animals, the passage of time and seasons, and our awareness of our own existence. Such a contemplative approach to the reality of the world around us is healthy for children and adults alike.
’Are You My Mother?‘ by P.D. Eastman
In this story, a baby bird hatches while his mother is away looking for food, so the baby bird sets out to try to find her, asking various animals in turn, “Are you my mother?”
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Of course, the conflict resolves in the end, with the baby bird reuniting with his mother (with a little help from a human). It’s a story about the parent-child bond, and it also reinforces some natural distinctions along the way, such as when the cow responds to the titular question with, “How could I be your mother? I am a cow.” Cows don’t give birth to birds. It’s obvious. Part of the humor of the book is that the baby bird is so ignorant that he doesn’t realize this at first. Such innocent humor would be lost on many a modern reader who might object that cows can give birth to birds if they want to (I can see the protest signs and academic paper titles now: “Species differences are a social construct!”). But for the rest of us, we rejoice in these simple truths and the order that we find in nature, which doesn’t bend to our whims.
’Mommies Say Shhh!‘ by Patricia Polacco
This board book follows the classic pattern of identifying different animal sounds, but with a twist. Ms. Polacco has selected some less common animal sounds to highlight, such as squirrels going “chee, chee, chee” and the repeating refrain of “Bunnies say nothing at all.” In addition, the artwork is very traditional (even down to the clothes worn by the human characters) and quite lively and colorful. It also captures something of “dogness” through the many illustrations of dogs running around the farm, causing havoc.
’1 Is One‘ by Tasha Tudor
Speaking of the reinforcement of fundamental truths, the title of this board book reaffirms objective truths such as the unchanging nature of numbers. It’s a simple counting book that makes numbers concrete by applying them to real, homey things—“3 is three swallows up in the sky /4 is four sheep nibbling rye.” Most importantly, it’s written and illustrated by Tudor, arguably one of the best children’s illustrators ever. Her pictures are realistic, detailed, and gentle, although still a touch whimsical, and they reflect the peace and innocence that should characterize childhood. She includes lots of elements of the natural world.
’The Mitten‘ by Jan Brett
Another of the great children’s author-illustrators, Ms. Brett’s books are real works of art that combine folklore, natural imagery, lots of detail, beautiful colors, and a warm and comforting mood. Elements of various world cultures and elaborate borders are distinctive aspects of her work. In this story, a boy drops his mitten in the woods, and one by one, various forest animals creep inside it, the mitten expanding to include them all. This story is also available as a picture book.
’Sheep in a Shop‘ by Nancy E. Shaw
This entry comes from Ms. Shaw’s series of stories about anthropomorphized sheep having adventures and causing chaos. In this story, they go shopping for a birthday party, making a mess in the process, only to discover that they don’t have enough money to pay for everything. I won’t spoil the charming solution that they come up with to solve this problem. With delightful illustrations and fast-paced rhyming, this will likely become a favorite; maybe it will even become the story that you’re asked to read over and over again. Even then, I don’t think you’ll mind too much.
’Goodnight Moon‘ by Margaret Wise Brown
No list of board books would be complete without this quintessential classic. This is one that I actually remember from my own childhood. According to Brown’s biographer, Leonard Marcus, “‘Goodnight Moon’ was one of the first books for young children that focused on the everyday and recognized its value and significance for young children.” The slow, quiet development of the story, which is really just highlighting various aspects of the room in which it’s set, casts a spell of calm that has enchanted generations of children.
Very young children haven’t yet lost their sense of wonder at the “ordinary” things of the world, which are new, fresh, and awe-inspiring. That sense of wonder ought to be fostered from the nursery on, and these books help to accomplish that.
