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Humanist Parenting: Reviews

Children's books recommended for humanist families

BOOK REVIEWS By JENDY MURPHY
Head of Youth Services, Albany (NY) Public Library

  • April Pulley Sayre. "Vulture View". Henry Holt and Company, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-8050-7557-1
    Ages: Recommended for age 3 to 7.

    Winner of a 2008 Theodore Seuss Geisel Honor for Beginning Readers from the American Library Association, this non-fiction title looks and reads like a picture book. The accurate, non-judgmental information about vultures will appeal to those pre-kindergartners hungry for facts about their world. Parents looking for an introduction to death and decomposition will enjoy sharing this with their youngest children. "Vultures smell the air. They sniff, search, and seek for foods that…REEK!" Colorful cut-paper collages depict dead animals in a realistic but not gory manner. The story line follows the birds' use of sun-warmed air currents throughout the day, and their retreat to tree roosts when the night air cools. As indicated by the Geisel Honor, the reading level is easy enough for a first or second grader to read independently. Wonderfully and vividly illustrated by Steve Jenkins.

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  • Christopher Paul Curtis. "Elijah of Buxton". Scholastic Press, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-439-02344-3
    Ages: Recommended for ages 9 to 12.

    Elijah is the first child born free in Buxton, a community started by escaped or freed slaves near Windsor, Ontario. Stories for young people about the Underground Railroad are plentiful, but Curtis is the first to write about how these traumatized people created communities once they were safely out of the United States. This middle-grade chapter book won the 2008 Coretta Scott King Award for African American authors, as well as a 2008 Newbery Honor for excellence in literature for young people. What is of interest to humanist parents is that, unlike much African-American literature, it does not rely on religion or spirituality to explain a character's inspiration, success or maturation. The church in Buxton is only mentioned as a place where the community gathers to make important decisions. Elijah's father reminds him that even grown men can make tragic mistakes by having "faith" that something is true while forgetting or refusing to look at how things truly are. Other than the slave catchers, a self-proclaimed "Preacher" is the cause of the greatest treachery in the story. Elijah relies on lessons like these to make a painful but important decision at the climax of the book. For more information about the real Buxton, see BuxtonMuseum.com.

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  • Timothy Carter. "Epoch". Flux, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-7387-1066-2
    Ages: Recommended for ages 12 to 14.

    Reluctant teen readers will happily devour this Mad Magazine-esque spoof on religious fundamentalists who believe in the Apocalypse. Fourteen-year-old Vincent has been raised in the "Triumvirate" faith by fanatical parents. They compete with other fanatics who follow many different "One True Faith" dogmas to protest movies, books, clothes, you-name-it. Vincent has to obey, but he really doesn't buy their religion. The action starts when he discovers that, low and behold, the world really is going to end, not with angels, but with demons and pixies and elves! Vincent has to fight off mind-controlling elves, carnivorous demons, end-of-the-world cataclysms, and a nefarious multinational corporation. The book concludes: "Their time was up. This was well and truly…The End of the World."

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Excerpted from Parenting Beyond Belief

BOOK REVIEWS By DALE MCGOWAN

  • Hamilton, Virginia. "In the Beginning – Creation Stories from Around the World". Harcourt Children's Books, 1988.
    Ages: Read aloud to children as young as early elementary age, or self-reading for grades 4 and up.

    Probably the finest volume of comparative religion available for children, In the Beginning is just what is needed: a book that celebrates creation stories of all kinds as tales that are fascinating, imaginative – and mythic. The Judeo-Christian creation story is mixed among creation myths of Native American, Chinese, Tahitian, African and Australian origin, among others. As no one story is denigrated or exalted, children can examine the concept of myth without indoctrination or objectionable overlays of punishment and reward. Heads up: the myths have (fortunately) not been scrubbed clean of anti-female or racist themes, which can and should generate even richer discussion.
    Exquisite watercolor illustrations by Barry Moser.

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  • Shragg, Karen. "A Solstice Tree for Jenny". Prometheus, 2001
    Ages: 4-8.

    The young daughter of archaeologists wants to know if their secular family believes in the "same good things" as those around them who celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah and other holidays. Of course, her mother replies, though we don't believe a god created the world. "We think we can be very good people and know what is right to do," Mom explains, without relying on commandments supposedly handed down from a god. Jenny continues with thoughtful questions, finally deciding she wants a celebration too. Her family creates their own winter solstice celebration, complete with the ancient solstice tree.

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  • Humphrey, Sandra Mcleod. "If You Had to Choose, What Would You Do?" Prometheus, 1995.
    Ages 6-12.

    A well-conceived attempt to present the youngest children with situations requiring moral decision-making. Twenty-five short scenarios are presented in which a child grapples with questions of right and wrong in a commonplace setting. Each parable is followed by the basic question "What would you do?" along with a few corollary questions. Parents can and should scan the stories to find those best matched to his or her own child's level. Some are eye-rollingly simple, others more complex and interesting – including some that can even get the parent headscratching. Do you turn in a good friend for petty shoplifting? At the age of six, my son had a quick answer – "yup" – until I suggested the shoplifter was Sean, his dearest friend in the world. He offered to rat out half a dozen less precious acquaintances, but not Sean. The ensuing discussion was rich and rewarding, finally resulting in a nuanced solution of his own making (Sean gets one last warning before my boy drops a dime) – followed by an insistence that we read another of the stories, then another, then another.

    In another story, two sisters gather pledges to participate in a walk for the World Hunger Drive. Niki sprains her ankle halfway through and pleads with Leslie to go with her to the doctor. Leslie must decide whether to refund the money she collected from her friends and neighbors or to send it on to the World Hunger Drive, even though she hadn't finished.

    Now that's a brow-knitter worth pondering, a wonderfully complex, multi-dimensional, real-world situation that demonstrates the ineffectiveness of a commandments approach to morality.

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  • Emswiler, James and Mary Ann. "Guiding Your Child Through Grief". Bantam, 2000.
    Ages: For parents of children of all ages.

    Thorough, thoughtful, loving, well-informed. This is a powerful resource for secular parents helping a child who is dealing with loss and grief. The Emswilers confront the questions head-on and in detail, offering specific advice for dealing with holidays, helping grieving teens, even helping grieving step-children. The only mention of religious beliefs is an excellent one. Parents are invited to "share whatever beliefs your religious tradition holds about death and the afterlife," but are also cautioned not to say "God took Mommy because she was so good," or "God took Daddy because He wanted him to be with Him." Think about the implications of those two statements for about ten seconds and you'll see why the Emswilers label them no-nos. "Don't use God or religion as a pacifier to make grieving children feel better. It probably won't work," they note. "Do not explain death as a punishment or a reward from God." So much for the single greatest alleged advantage of the religious view of death. For secularists, there is even more to be grateful for in this terrific book: "It is also acceptable to say you're not sure what happens after death…it is always okay to say, ‘I don't know.'"

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  • Thomas, Pat. "I Miss You – A First Look at Death". Barron's, 2000
    Ages 3-8.

    Secular parents in search of ways to help the youngest children deal with death and loss can hardly do better than this lovely little book. In a scant twenty-nine pages of colorfully-illustrated kid-lit format, it seems to anticipate most everything likely to go through the mind of a young one upon the death of someone special. Once again, religious ideas get a nod but are denied a pedestal: "There is a lot we don't know about death. Every culture has different beliefs about what happens after a person dies. Most cultures…share…the idea that when a person dies their soul – the part of them that made them special – takes a journey to join the souls of other people who have passed away. It's not an easy idea to understand." It's true, of course – most cultures do share some form of that belief. But instead of following this acknowledgement with a hallelujah, Thomas chooses a Taoist metaphor, one that I have always found deeply moving: "Sometimes it helps if you think of the soul as a single raindrop, joining a great big ocean."

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  • White, E. B. "Charlotte's Web". HarperCollins, 1952, renewed 1980.
    Ages : 4 to adult.

    In his book "The Philosophy of Childhood", contributor Gareth Matthews calls special attention to two works of fiction for their substantive treatment of mortality: "Charlotte's Web" and "Tuck Everlasting". Children in the terminal wards of hospitals request and read "Charlotte's Web" over and over, especially after one among them dies. Death is not avoided or sugarcoated – it is the book's pervasive theme, from Fern staying her uncle's ax from Wilbur's neck to Charlotte weaving SOME PIG to prevent him becoming the Christmas ham to Charlotte's own demise and symbolic rebirth through the springtime hatching of her egg sac. Unnatural death is something to protest, goes the message – but natural death is to be accepted with grace and courage. A stunning work of American literature, to be enjoyed repeatedly. "Special treat": Look for the audio book of E. B. White reading "Charlotte's Web". Considered by many, including yours truly, to be the finest children's audio book ever. If your public library does not own a copy, suggest they buy two.

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  • McNulty, Faith. "How Whales Walked into the Sea". Scholastic Press, 1999.
    Ages: 6-12.

    Traces the evolution of whales from wolf-like land mammals over the course of twenty million years. The fossil intermediaries that filled in the blanks in whale evolution are brand-spanking new discoveries from the 1990s, so this fascinating book has the distinction of being well ahead of many high school and college textbooks. Each two-page spread takes a single, easy-to-follow evolutionary step, providing hypotheses for how natural selection may have spurred the development of each new form. A book likely to send parents' voices trailing off in wonder as they are reminded just how lovely and compelling the evolutionary process is.

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  • Lawson, Kristan. "Darwin and Evolution for Kids – His Life and Ideas with 21 Activities". Chicago Review Press, 2003.
    Ages: 12 and up.

    This is the book for kids who are finally ready to learn how evolution works and the amazing story of its development over centuries, its unlikely 19th century expositor, and the sixty-year torrent of outrage, critique and discovery that followed the 1859 publication of the Origin. At the end, your twelve-year old will know evolution in greater depth and detail than most adults.


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Onions and Atheism: A Children's Book

BOOK REVIEW By AMANDA METSKAS

For Humanist Network News.org Oct. 10, 2007

A book review of Onion Breath by Steph and Dan Allosso (Minneapolis, MN: Stay Outside the Box Publishing, 2007).

Are you concerned that spiders may crawl into your mouth while you are sleeping?

I read this book to the campers at the Mini Camp Quest session at the Atheist Alliance International Conference, and they were quite entertained by the kooky story and striking illustrations. As for whether the book will help normalize atheism, only time will tell.

One way I think it will help is that kids from non-religious families can add a story about an atheist family to their bookshelves. Whether it helps normalize atheism in broader society will depend on it being carried by libraries and bookstores, and being read by families who do not identify as atheists.

Some freethinking readers have critiqued the book for presenting a myth to explain why kids should try new things. The Allosso's respond to this critique on their blog, arguing that kids understand that this is a fictional story that takes place in a "make-believe world," just like many other children's stories.

For the most part, I agree with their response, but I have to admit that a little part of me wishes that the boys' were more skeptical of their nanny Shmirna's claims. Eugene asks on page 12, "Why should we believe she's telling the truth? I wonder if mom will let us hire a sleuth?," but the boys quickly proceed to accept Shmirna's story, and when they wake the next day spider-free they conclude that she was right, despite having seen no spiders in the morning in their pre-onion days.

On the other hand, there are only so many lessons that one can teach in a single children's book, and the authors were probably right not to burden the story with chapter and verse on the rules of evidence.

The story is a fable about trying new things, a topic to which a lot of kids and parents can relate. It seeks to normalize atheism, and it also challenges gender stereotyping; when Roy and Eugene ask Shmirna to teach their future wives to cook, she replies that she will teach the boys now instead.

Perhaps the Allossos' next children's book can explore skepticism in the same whimsical way they cover these themes in Onion Breath. In the meantime, parents can use this book as a jumping off point for a discussion about evidence by asking their kids if they are convinced by Shmirna's story, and what it would take to get them to believe her.

I highly recommend this book to parents, regardless of their worldview, who are looking for a fun story to read with their kids. It is probably best suited for kids ages five to ten. For more information about the book visit http://www.onionbreath.net

Amanda K. Metskas is the executive director of Camp Quest http://www.camp-quest.org. Her co-authored essay about Camp Quest appears in Parenting Beyond Belief, an edited collection on the challenges and joys of freethought parenting.



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