The Hard Truths of History
story time
good books for bigs and littles
Recently, I’ve been reading two books with my daughter on relatively serious issues: slavery and the Holocaust. Yep, you read that right. Slavery and the Holocaust. I’ve written before about children’s books that address serious issues (see here), and here I am doing it again. Fear not, sometimes my kids and I read Babar and Madeline too, but sometimes heavier books get pulled off the shelf at the library and make their way home.
What I like about books like this is that they introduce topics that are sometimes hard to discuss with children, but which are relevant to the way the world is. Children’s book authors have the ability to tell history through stories, and phrase things in ways that are understandable to children—and perhaps in a less terrifying way than I might inadvertently put them. As always, I’m not sure exactly sure how much my daughter understands (or in what uncomfortable context she might bring up issues from these books), but I think books like these can offer a gentle introduction to a topic that needs telling: People and the world aren’t always as they should be.
Image from Amazon.com
moses
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Kadir Nelson was nominated for a Caldecott award and received a Coretta Scott King award for its illustration. It tells the story of Tubman’s decision to flee the South and her subsequent resolve to return and free other slaves. It is told from a Christian point of view—the story is narrated as an ongoing conversation between Tubman and God—which may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it is presumably true to Tubman’s belief system. The book, ultimately, is a story about courage and conviction, and of course faith, told through Nelson’s stunning representational artwork. The last illustration of the book, in particular, looks like something that could hang in a museum. The artwork gives a solemnity and a humanity to the book that is powerful.
Image from Penguin Random House
the tree in the courtyard
The Tree in the Courtyard: Looking Through Anne Frank’s Window by Jeff Gottesfeld and illustrated by Peter McCarty (also an award-winning illustrator) is another feast for the eyes. McCarty’s simple black and white illustrations are incredibly poignant, as is Gottesfeld’s chosen point of view for the story: Anne Frank’s journey is told from the perspective of a tree in the courtyard of the factory annex where she hid, a tree which she, in fact, wrote about in her diary. There is a surprising and hopeful “twist” at the end of this story, which I found particularly interesting.
This epilogue, like the prologue of Moses, ground both stories in our history and offer teachable moments for teachers and parents to discuss values with the children in their care.
Do you have favorite books about tough issues? Share your suggestions in the Comments section below.
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