Give the Gift of a Libertarian Children's Book

While not an exhaustive list by any measure, these are some of my favorite children books with libertarian themes. I have only included books that I have read.

Please add any recommendations to the comments section.

Pre-school

Little Red Hen

The Three Little Pigs

The Ant and the Grasshopper

The Emperor's New Clothes

Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss

Thidwick the Big-hearted Moose by Dr. Seuss

Grades 1 – 3

They can read the above books or read to them the Little House and Narnia books.

An Island Called Liberty by Joseph Specht

Grades 4 – 5

Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little House: The Rose Years by Roger Lea MacBride

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis

Grades 6 – 8

The Shadow Children Series by Margaret Peterson Haddix (okay for some 4^th and 5^th graders)

High School

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell

Why do libertarians like the Little House books so much?

Why do libertarians like the Little House books so much? Well, yes, Laura Ingalls Wilder was the mother of Rose Wilder Lane who wrote one of the great libertarian books, The Discovery of Freedom, but, in the end, it is about the story and the message.

Here is what Robert Thornton said in an article originally published in The Freeman in 1972"

"These books can help us recapture the spirit of the pilgrims, patriots, and pioneers who founded this nation and made it great. Part of that spirit is the taste for independence and a sense of individual responsibility.

Laura's family didn't expect anyone else to take care of them. They took care of themselves and recognized that having freedom means the freedom to fail as well as to succeed. Another part of this great spirit is not to bemoan one's fate or complain about not getting one's "fair share" of the world's goods. Another, is a sense of community where so much is accomplished on a voluntary basis, everyone pitching in to contribute whatever he can in time, talent, and money."

Go read Robert Thornton's complete review at Mises.

Book Review: An Island Called Liberty

I can’t believe I have not before now reviewed the wonderful libertarian children’s book, An Island Called Liberty by Joseph Specht. My youngest daughter actually brought this oversight to my attention a few days ago. This book should be owned by all liberty-loving parents.

The story starts out as the islanders are living a live-and-let-live life on Liberty Island. They are accepting of the preferences and choices of their fellow islanders and as long as one’s actions don’t violate someone else’s rights, the government does not interfere. In fact, there are only two laws: (1) keep your promises (enforce contracts) and (2) don’t harm others or their property. In other words, Liberty islanders live by the Libertarian non-aggression principle.

Unfortunately, this free and prosperous island is turned into a burdensome welfare state due to the well meaning intentions of some. It begins when compassionate Flo thinks there should be a better way to help those who need help. Even though the needy are being helped by private charity, that does not matter to do-gooder Flo as some are not contributing their “fair share.” She convinces the citizens of Liberty to pass a law so everyone will pay to help the poor. This leads to the creation of a bureaucracy to administer the program.

Once the precedent has been set, more and more well intended government programs are added over the years. And with these programs come higher taxes, bigger government, and increased regulation. In the end, the burden of bigger government is too much and the industrious islanders soon stop producing, thus the comparison to Atlas Shrugged some reviews have made.

In the end, the good citizens of Liberty realize the error of their ways and go back to smaller government and doing for themselves. But there is a warning for them and for us,

“But don’t think such lessons live on forever,

You see, despite that their kids were outstandingly clever,

The lesson they learned from way back when,

Eventually faded . . . and it happened again.”

Book Review: Among the Hidden

Among the Hidden is the first of seven books in Margaret Peterson Haddix’s dystopian Shadow Children series. A totalitarian government has taken power after a famine hits America. The new government’s response to the food shortage was to limit families to no more than two children; this policy is known as the Population Law and enforced by the Population Police. The punishment for having a third child is death. Twelve year old Luke Garner lives with his family in the country on a farm. Luke is a third child and, therefore, must hide. He has never been off his family’s farm. Since the property is shielded by woods, his parents allow him to work and play on the property. Until, the government takes half of the land to build a subdivision for privileged government bureaucrats called barons. Once the trees have been removed he is confined to his house. Having become accustomed to playing outside, he is miserable being restricted to the house.

One day after the subdivision is built he notices, while looking through a vent, a face peering out of a window from a house next door. He knows it is not the face of the owners or their two teenage sons since they have already left for the day. Later he gets the courage to run over to the house where he discovers another third child - a girl named Jen. Unlike him, Jen is able to venture outside of her house as her parents, being privileged government workers, have been able to get her a shopping ID. She also has a computer and is active in an illegal Internet chat room visited by shadow children. She is trying to organize a protest rally at the president’s house. She is a lot more knowledgeable than Luke about the hows and whys of the Population Law. She gives him books to read so he can understand more. Ultimately, he decides he is not brave enough to join Jen at the rally. He regrets that he doesn’t have the courage to stand up for himself and other shadow children.

SPOILER ALERT

After a few weeks of hearing nothing due to the government’s total control over all media, he sneaks over to Jen’s house to see if he can find out what happened. He enters the chat room on Jen’s computer to see if anyone has heard from Jen. He sets off the security system and Jen’s father – Mr. Talbot - catches him in the house. He tells Luke that Jen and everyone at the rally were mowed down by the Population Police. The Population Police have been monitoring the chat room since the rally. Mr. Talbot tells Luke that he must assume another identify and leave his parents and brothers. Mr. Talbot has contacts and is able to get him the ID of another 12 year old boy who recently died. He is also able to get him a scholarship to an exclusive boarding school.

Here is Laissez Faire Books review of Among the Hidden.

Addendum: Now that I have read all seven books, I was most likely wrong to state that the location was America. The location can probably best be described as some fictitious small country.

Second addendum: There is a study guide for Among the Hidden.

The Shadow Children Series

Many books written for children listed on the two lists of Children’s Literature of Liberty (see my September posts) are very heavy handed and, therefore, have not attracted a mainstream audience. Sure there are a few libertarian parents who have paid their children to read these overbearing lifeless attempts at fiction, but for the most part there is a reason they are out of print. That is certainly not the case with Margaret Peterson Haddix’s Shadow Children series as it is a very popular series among middle school children. And for good reason, they are extremely well done. My eleven year old daughter actually recommended this series to me and I have really enjoyed the first four.

This series is listed as being appropriate for children 8 – 12. However, I suggest parents of children younger than ten read the books first to see if they are appropriate. This warning is especially true of some of Haddix’s other books.

I hope to review each book here but I am afraid I will give too much of the plot away so I am going to suggest that you buy the books and not read my reviews. If, however, you are buying the books solely for your children then by all means read my reviews.

Book Review: Yertle the Turtle

Yertle the Turtle celebrates its 50^th year anniversary this year. I have given this book to many friends with young children. Did I do this because I think these little tots will become libertarians when they grow up because Mack revolted against Yertle the Turtle King? Of course not. First and foremost, it is a great story for parents to read to their children. In fact, it is one of the better Dr. Seuss books. What more could one ask for? Well, yes it does make the point that one shouldn’t just do as one is told by an abusive ruler but more importantly it teaches a child about standing up to injustice. I have heard parents tell their children that “life isn’t fair.” I think that is one of the worst things a parent can tell a child. At five years of age, a child wants to believe that the world is fair and just. Why would we want to tell them otherwise? They will find out soon enough that life isn't always fair, but at that age, it is a parent’s or teacher’s job to attempt to make the unfair fair. As a child gets older, he needs to be encouraged to stand up to injustice. I think this book teaches that. Yertle becomes a power hungry ruler and forces his subjects – the other turtles in the pond – to build a tower for Yertle to sit upon. The tower is made up of stacked turtles. Mack is the turtle on the bottom of the stack. When he complains, Yertle demands that he be silent. How dare he question the great turtle king? Eventually Mack burps and knocks Yertle off his throne. The story ends with, “And the turtles, of course . . . all the turtles are free. As turtles, and, maybe, all creatures should be.”

There are actually three stories that make up the Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories book. The first story is Yertle the Turtle, the second one is Gertrude McFuzz, and the last one is The Big Brag. While Gertrude McFuzz isn’t as fun to read as Yertle or The Big Brag, it does have a good moral with a warning about the perils of vanity. The Big Brag is as much fun to read as Yertle and has a very funny ending. In fact, I recall laughing out loud the first time I read it to my girls. It makes the point that those that brag, very often exaggerate their skills and their bragging gets in the way of their work. I have found - as I am sure you have as well - that those who brag are insecure but the truly gifted rarely feel the need to brag. I work with a lot of incredibly bright people – many are internationally recognized as the top experts in their field – and rarely do the truly accomplished ones tell you where they went to school or brag about their achievements. However, the insecure ones will remind you that they graduated from so and so college or that a certain project would not have been successful without their input. Maybe they were never taught as children that humility is a virtue.

I will continue to buy this book for new parents.