Kids Books and Social Justice

One of the wonderful ways you can start the discussion of social justice, environmental awareness and other global issues is through literature written just for kids. On the other hand don't trust every book with an agenda or propaganda. While this is a great way to bring about some good conversations with your children. It can also be a way to do more damage than good.
A good friend introduced us to The Good Garden; How One Family Went from Hunger to Having Enough. This is a great book about a family in Honduras who is struggling to grow enough to eat, let alone pay back the man who they bought their seeds from. Then one day a new school teacher (probably a Peace Corps Volunteer) comes to the village school and teaches the families about seed saving, composting to add nutrients to the soil and water collection. This series of books is full of hope for the young reader. While making your child aware of a social or environmental issue around the globe, they also show solutions and hope.

When choosing books with an agenda you don't want to choose propaganda that leaves your child feeling guilty or hopeless about the situation. I have known children who upon hearing about topics such as; hunger, poverty, global warming, deforestation and other global problems have suffered a great deal of guilt and depression. Many children are sensitive and if a book is presented in such a way that the message only shows the problem and is not followed by a message of hope, it can be really too much for a child to process. Children do not understand difficult issues the same way adults do. This does not mean that we keep them in a little bubble of happy thoughts their whole life. But it does mean we need to be careful about the books we allow into our homes. If a book does not show children hopeful solutions it makes them feel as though there is nothing that can be done. What you want is for your children to feel compassionate about the issue. The end goal should be that your children feel like they can be a part of a solution or that an adult can help fix the problem. Not a false understanding that these problems will magically be solved, but that adults and in many cases children, are working towards helping.

A great example of a book that does a great job at showing a very real problem as a result of poverty, but gives much hope is the delightful book Beatrice's Goat. Its about the organization Heifer International. 
This is a story abou the simple gift of a goat and the impact it makes on one girls life.

Be careful what you bring home when you start introducing these topics to your children. You don't want your children to be bullied into taking action, but full of hope that they too can help. You want a book to inspire your children, while educating them about such topics. Children should be full of hope and compassion so that they might be encouraged to do what needs to be done for the benefit of others.

Happy Reading! I need to go Owen is playing in the toilet