Kid Lit Goes Political

Children's books get hyper-partisan
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 26, 2009 4:33 AM CST
Kid Lit Goes Political
A sample page from DeBrecht's 'Help Mom! Radicals Are Ruining My Country.'   (Worlds Ahead)

Hyper-partisan children’s books are on the rise, bringing the culture wars to an age group typically sheltered from political extremes. Katharine DeBrecht's new Help! Mom! Radicals are Ruining My Country!—which lampoons liberals—is but the latest example. While political books for kids are nothing new, “the ones we saw starting about two years ago were really something different,” a University of Wisconsin expert tells CQ Politics. They “demonstrated a mean-spiritedness that we don’t typically see."

The books come from both the left and right, though conservative-themed works seem to have better luck finding niche publishers. One of the best-known liberal books, Why Mommy is a Democrat, is self-published. Do they really influence kids? Probably not, says the UW expert. Generally, children who receive such books live in highly partisan households and already have been indoctrinated with mom and dad's beliefs.
(More Democrats stories.)

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