Atheist children’s books?
I had this thought the other day, that were I ever to have children, I’d want them to have atheist books.
I’m not even sure I know what that means. It’s not like I have any bad memories (let alone experiences) of reading books with a religious bent as a child. Rather I have a very old and good memory of my mom explaining to me that there were no books I wasn’t allowed to read. If I was able to read the book, then I was allowed to read the book.
Even at a young age, hearing this “reading is allowed” policy filled me with an awesome sense of empowerment and freedom. And it encouraged me to keep reading so I could find out what was in those grown-up books that were still too hard to read.
Of course when it came to movies, they wouldn’t let me see a PG-13 movie which I desperately wanted to see until I turned 13, but that’s another blog post…
A quick Google search for atheist childrens books turned up some interesting results, including this list of Kids Books at Evolve Fish.
At which point I realized I was knocking on the wrong door. It’s not atheism I really care about (other than having religion-free books), it’s humanism I’d want to expose my hypothetical children to (which, to be completely frank, I don’t know much about). And science of course. And most-importantly, problem-solving.
justin, is there anything you want to tell us?
If you’re interested in this – and not to be evangelical or anything – you also might want to check out the Unitarian Universalist Church (to learn more about Humanism). I’ve been to one in Berkeley called UUCB (they even have podcasts) which is really beautiful.
I didn’t realize you were such a firm atheist.
Jackie, nope. just my own wandering thoughts.
Pamela, thanks for the link, I know about the Unitarian Universalists. Definitely sounds cool, but like so many things I believe, or just feel that I am, I don’t have a strong desire to congregate around that belief.
Joy, yep, though I don’t really think I’m being particularly firm. Just being myself.
Oddly enough, this will be a problem for me very soon. :-) I hadn’t actually looked around yet, but let’s just say I’ll be suggesting that my kid read His Dark Materials before they read Narnia. :-)
Annotated your comment as I didn’t know anything about “His Dark Materials.” Will be interesting to see/read what you do.
The best Humanist books are, in my opinion, books that focus on kindness and openmindedness. Best one I have is “Picky Mrs. Picky” She wont try anything new. It’s a great book about being flexible and willing to try new things.
Main things is to read lots and talk about them. And change them too. When we read Robin Hood, Maid Marion gets to decide if she will marry Robin Hood. Not the king. And the king who abandons his nation to go off to a foolish is war the real bad guy of the story.
Looking for kid’s books is a fun experience especially since there are millions to pick from. I found this website that offers so many books that show diversity. Check out the site http://www.leeandlow.com
Great little post. I remember a book at the school library all about how the earth came to be, then cool stuff about different countries and how many people were on the earth. I was fascinated by it. You think I can find a decent child’s book about the earths creation (big bang theory kind)? The few that are out there are just a little too grown-up for a 7 year old to understand… and the gazillion others are NOT of the scientific kind. I will check out this Evolve Fish site! Thank you.