The best liberal children's stories

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I was in a sociology lecture about a year ago and I can't remember the finer details but I do definitely remember the distinction being made between a cult and a sect; I don't remember which way round it is, but by and large the factor which causes one to become the other is the birth of children: adults tend to attempt to try and crystalize beliefs which may have splintered away from a larger social structure when they have children, so as to codify a manner of imparting their moral beliefs on their offspring. Before this they may not seek an 'anchor' or 'reduced' manner of expressing their moral compass.

Anyway, I've since been asked to write something for children, and I would want to do it from a liberal stance, with a moral kernel which prized moral values such as equality, plurality and creating meaning for one's own life.

I know we have plenty of wonderful liberal parents on the site -- do you have any favourite books you feel have been instrumental in your children's moral education?

Death Duck and the Tulip was an example I found very touching:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck,_Death_and_the_Tulip

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@The Pentacle Queen,

i'm not a parent, but as a life-long avid reader, i've always taken an interest in the books that the children of my friends are given to read in their early development. i've always made a point of making gifts of three books that had an early impact on me as a young child: The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, The Pokey Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowry, and Corduroy by Don Freeman.

In the last few years, I added Zen Shorts (by Jon J. Muth) to the list of books i like to give. As much as i like Zen, myself, i was mostly drawn to it because i thought that the beautiful watercolor illustrations would appeal to little kids.

Of course, i understand that i might be undershooting the age range that you're aiming for in your writing. If you are targeting seven-year-olds to, say, nine, then i suggest Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar

From ten-up, Judy Bloom, Susan Cooper, and (again) Louis Sachar all wrote pretty good pre-tween books or series that strike the chords of important human values.

i hope this was helpful, but i expect that i haven't named any esoteric titles.

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@The Pentacle Queen,

And tango makes three

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@The Pentacle Queen,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Has_Two_Mommies
I was listening to the author of this book the other day on the radio. I think it fits the bill.

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http://robertmunsch.com/book/love-you-forever
I can't read this book with out tearing up. I defy anyone to read it and do otherwise. The moral, no matter what, I'll love you forever.

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All-time best children's stories...

http://www.struwwelpeter.com/SP/inhalt.php

reasons not to suck thumbs...
http://www.struwwelpeter.com/SP/daumen1.php

reasons not to play with fire...
http://www.struwwelpeter.com/SP/paul1.php

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@The Pentacle Queen,

pretty much all of the books from the Oz series teach basic principles such as success coming from co-operation

it's fun to go past the first couple of books and dig into ones like Tik-Tok, the Patchwork Girl or Ozma of Oz

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@The Pentacle Queen,

Buddy by Nigel Hinton is very good. It's an older children's book, and a core component of many school's KS3 English.

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Astrid Lindgren´s books are good.
Popular amongst feminists is Pippi Longstocking. I hated the book as kid, never read it to my daughter.
The same with Struwelpeter.
Some of H.C, Andersen´s fairytales are liberal so are some other fairytales.
The Little Lord - is an oldfashinoed book but still brings out equality amongst people.
There are many books also amongst the older classical books and stories which show very clearly about being liberal

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How about the work of Madeleine L'Engel, particularly her trilogy which includes A Swiftly Tilting Planet, The Wind in the Door and another whose title I can't remember at the present time?

When I was in college and read The Tolkien Trilogy with the LOML, I noticed that liberals read those books although you may not want to take on a project which is that extensive.

For younger kids, there is the book based on the old folk tale of stone soup.

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@plainoldme,

My ex and I actually read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings outloud to our kids not once but twice, the first time when the oldest was 7 and the next one five and then again a few years later.

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@The Pentacle Queen,

I haven't read most of the works liberals lay claim to . My reading of the OZ books was so long ago that I don't feel comfortable arguing liberals are wrong, therein.

But as I read LOTR and The Hobbit annually, I know, without any doubt what-so-ever, that they are not liberal tracts. If someone disagrees, let's see your specific contentions.

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@Finn dAbuzz,

The most widely read conservative children's literature may be the many American comic books about (super)heros, villans, black and white morality. Until very recently all superheros were American and white. I recall many years ago in a USO center a bunch of African American marines huddling around a comic book with great interest. I later discovered that the book was about the first black super hero, The Falcon.

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The best liberal children's stories

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