Comments on: Conservative Children’s Books: Keeping Young Minds Open to New Ideas

By: anonymous

anonymous — Fri, 06 May 2011 07:44:08 +0000

remember when kids used to read things that actually mattered? when books weren’t a way to press a political or religious pundit upon their feeble young minds? or if they did that they didn’t insult their intelligence and were actually smart enough to hide their message until later years in life? remember books like the wizard of oz and alices’ adventures in wonderland? books that left lasting impressions and are masterpieces of symbolism? yeah, maybe we should allow kids to read these instead of a political pundint force fead them by a parent whom only cares about “what they grow up to be” not who they are. I agree with the above comment, children should watch and know these things at a young age so that they can interpret them at an older age. This can also prove benificial towards their world views, complicating them beyond one viewpoint constantly pressed upon them by their parents without understanding exactly what these concepts mean. articles like this and comments that are generaly positive always anger me. why? because the people writing the comments are all providing just as much brainwashing as the “liberal media” (which doesn’t exist mind you) that they claim to be so dangerous towards childhood health! if parenthood is a teaching and learning experience towards both parties then shouldn’t you speak to kids on an equal level instead of talking down to them, spoon feeding them your ideals, and generaly creating clones of yourselves. let them develop viewpoints, then let yours be known. that’s all i have to say.

By: alucard

alucard — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 05:45:55 +0000

perhaps you could have your children read 1984. it is a socially important novel that i read at the age of 11. or perhaps they can read the prince by niccilo machiavelli. that book taught me all i need to know about government and it is at a very reasonable cost to. that is of course if you so-called conservative “adults” have heard of these books. at the age of 13 at the moment i try to have an open mind. but listening to people not backing up their arguments just gives me a headache. theres a show called neon genesis evangelion that they could watch. it is about a troubled young boy called shinji ikari who seeks himself through gratification of others. he eventually understands the truth and “kills” god. the symbolism in this is enormous and there is a lot more to the show then i just let on. that is just a teaser. content includes: extreme volence, rape, murder, satanism, masochism, atheist concepts, depression, symbolism, blackmail, demential, pschological trauma and in depth looks at the true nature of humanity and what he really defines himself by. ciao

By: Judy

Judy — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 01:55:49 +0000

I am looking for titles of childrens’ books from the past that espouse conservative views,+/or positive stories about the founding fathers. Have 3 very young grandkids living in an Obama adoring home. Help. Thanks, Judy (The Little Red Hen & The Ant & The Grasshopper are the only ones I can think of)

By: Innocent

Innocent — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 17:27:23 +0000

Hey noticed this post and wanted to recommend a terrific children’s book that is like a miniature Atlas Shrugged for children. It is called ‘The Fisherman’s Catch : A Conservative Bedtime Story’ and can be found at http://www.ConservativeBedtimeStories.com. It is a story really meant to help children, who here much of what goes on between their parents, have a base in the conversation and inoculate them against comments they hear in school.

The main thing it teaches is that Socialism ( handing out fish ) does nothing in the end, you see half way through the story the fisherman figures out a better way to catch fish and the village chief decides it is not fair that the fisherman should have more then others. The village chief thinks he is making everyone more wealthy by taking the fisherman’s fish and giving it to the less fortunate, however in the end no matter how much fish he takes from the fisherman the fisherman can always go and WORK and catch more, those that are just getting the fish for free stop working as they don’t need to exert themselves anymore and remain poor. This shows the fundamental difference between capitalism and socialism. In socialism it is someone else’s job to provide for you, in capitalism you may get charity on occasion but in the end you are expected to contribute. Truly a magnificent story and art design, can you believe it was made by a self-published author? The book is absolutely beautiful!!!

Apparently the author has plans to make more books like this but needs as many people as possible to purchase this first book so that he can afford to make more!

By: Pragmatist

Pragmatist — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:29:45 +0000

# 45 DES What an idiotic response no I dont but then Catholic Priests dont want children and dont want to play HAPPY FAMILIES either. You really should get out more.

By: Suzanne Nussbaum

Suzanne Nussbaum — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:06:12 +0000

I like the (few!) people who used their comments to suggest that parents get classic, older kids’ books for their children. Not to say that new, well-written children’s books (that aren’t written for diversity and other PC reasons) wouldn’t be welcome–but, of course, designed-to-be-conservative-in-value books are going to seem didactic and heavy-handed, like so many of the kids’ books since the 1960s. I would say, look for books written before the middle of the 20th century; for one thing, they have long narrative sections that don’t zip by with snappy dialogue, and readers do have to learn how to read those. Look for authors like Hilda van Stockum, Elizabeth Enright, Eleanor Estes, Madeleine L’Engle, Astrid Lindgren (does anyone else remember her BIll Bergson books?), Arthur Ransome, Edward Eager, E. Nesbit … I had a very happy childhood!! I also liked the comment that said, “Teach your kids science and languages”–I’m a Latin teacher, for younger kids (ages 9 and up) through high school. Have them learn a dead language like Latin, so they’ll have one subject where they have to focus on reading (not making posters or talking idly about their feelings and stuff).

By: moho

moho — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:11:20 +0000

Just ask the families of the dead at Fort Hood.

You mean these families?
The Luby’s massacre was an incident of mass murder that took place on October 16, 1991 in Killeen, Texas, United States when irate misogynist George Jo Hennard drove his pickup truck into a Luby’s Cafeteria and shot and killed 23 people, mostly women, wounded another 20 and then committed suicide by shooting himself. It was the deadliest shooting rampage in American history until the Virginia Tech massacre.

Its not generally known but that man was a secret jihadist.

By: moho

moho — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:09:28 +0000

That seems unfounded. What would you base that on?

But note the sorts of children’s books that have outlasted generations. Why do you suppose kids today still read the Little House books?

um…I’m sorry to break it to you but they don’t today. In my generation, we read those books because our teachers gave them to us to read. So, with almost any genre or type of book. Include them in the curriculum and they will be read by children who like reading. It doesn’t matter if they are about elves and fairies, gay fathers, hemp growing parents, young expansionist commanders or etcetera. Children aren’t that picky, and they certainly aren’t interested in your opinion of what was once socially relevant but today passe. I have a stack of comic books from the fifties and sixties that are almost completely inscrutable to today’s children but have a few young relatives that continue to read them over and over. Indeed, the more confusing the social fabric they encounter in these books, the greater their interest; something like a detective story.

By: Now and Then

Now and Then — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:29:48 +0000

How about a book by Glenn Beck about Glenn Beck as a little boy dreaming of becoming a big Glenn Beck who writes a book about a little boy named Glenn Beck . . . now THAT would be a book about Glenn Beck.

Oh, Hosannah . . . salla-ba-doo-lopsi-asha-sha-sha . . . pondo-raysom-a-kaka-doo-tha-la-la . . .

By: Drew

Drew — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:28:09 +0000

Moho, yes I’m well aware of the satire to be found in The Wizard of Oz. There’s far more than just the silver slippers and the “yellow brick” road (and the wizard of .oz, who turns out to be a fraud.) Not sure what that has to do with the subject at hand, though. If all you took from my post was “old books good,” you missed the point.

The modern stuff — the “social problem of the day” books that are written for kids — they have no lasting value. No one will be reading them in a decade or so because they are too connected to the times in which they were written. But note the sorts of children’s books that have outlasted generations. Why do you suppose kids today still read the Little House books? What is it about them that has such lasting appeal? Why do kids still read Narnia? Why has The Wizard of Oz (moreso the movie than the book) become such an iconic American story? Why does Dorothy want to go back to dreary ol’ Kansas anyway?