Political Children's Books for Democrats

Recently, Stumped Speech reviewed a highly irresponsible children’s book, Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under my Bed! Partisan not in the youthful values of sharing and honesty, but of low taxes and a hands-off government, the conservative book was disheartening to those who plan on raising their children to have open minds and to perhaps think for themselves.

Not to be outdone, a sister book was published in the same year by a relative unknown, Jeremy Zilber, called Why Mommy is a Democrat.

Unlike the liberal-bashing in Help! Mom!, this book takes a more positive tone, emphasizing why Democrats are good. Mommy is a squirrel with a healthy, happy young brood. Each page is a lesson in why one should be a Democrat: “Democrats makes sure everyone always has enough to eat, just like Mommy does. Democrats make sure everyone plays by the rules, just like Mommy does.”

The gross over-generalizations are paired with dreamy color pencil drawings of the squirrel children playing games, going to the doctor and cleaning up after themselves, all under Democrat-momma-squirrel’s watchful eye.

The book would seem rather underwhelming and droll if it weren’t for what is going on outside the window of the squirrel family’s tree house. A homeless man wearing a baseball cap with an American flag on it encounters presumed Republicans acting counter to what Mommy and the good Democrats do.

On the page where we learn that Democrats make sure no one fights, just like Mommy does, we see the homeless man reading a newspaper with the huge headline, “WAR!” On the page where children can find out that Democrats make sure everyone is treated fairly, a fat, well-dressed couple stroll by the homeless man, ignoring him with upturned noses. The wealthy sir is trailing money and carrying a newspaper headline touting the latest tax refund.

While slightly less pervasive, the subliminal message is clearly present: Republicans are the evil antithesis of Democrats. (The children often play with donkey toys.) And of course, the overt message is that Democrats rule and Republicans drool, because Democrats are, you know, nice. They are warm and fuzzy, like Mom. 

While slightly more heartwarming as a bedtime read than the depressing story and scary drawings in Help! Mom!, Why Mommy is a Democrat is no less of a detriment to young minds, contributing only to their closing.

Fortunately, a movement large enough to get these two books noticed outside Rush Limbaugh has not yet sprung up. The question is, does the political mind warping of our children stop with simple literature? We already have religious-themed cartoons, so what next, The Justice League goes partisan? The name is already ripe for the political picking. I don't doubt that someone will snatch that up and attempt a re-branding.