‘I’m gonna live as hard as I can and as full as I can until I die. And I’m not letting these parasites, these oppressors, these greedy racist swine make me kill my children in my mind before they are even born. I’m going to live and I’m going to love Kamau, and, if a child comes from that union, I’m going to rejoice. Because our children are our futures and I believe in the future and in the strength and righteousness of our struggle.’ -Assata Shakur
Since my early twenties, when I started to seriously consider whether I want to have children, I’ve been increasingly hearing something like this from peers in the U.S.: “I don’t want to have children because of how terrible the world is right now, and I only see it getting worse in the future.” The “terrible” things of the world being the climate crisis, police violence, declining reproductive rights, rising fascism, and a long list of other horrors that come with late-stage capitalism.
I love children; that’s one of the main reasons I became a children’s book author. And I can understand the sentiment above. But it makes me bristle. People should always have the freedom to decide whether or not to have children, and it’s essential to realize that the attitude that people shouldn’t have children now reproduces eugenic rhetoric about who ought or ought not have a child.
To me, dreaming about a future where kids are part of your life—whether your own, your neighbors', or your friends'—is a radical act of hope for those of us engaged in struggles for social justice. If you believe that a better world is possible as much as I do, it’s a practice of hope to think with and about the people who will grow up in it, and grow up to shape it. Actively being in community with children is one way to practice dismantling nuclear family structures, become a better teacher and listener, and keep flexing your radical imagination. I often ask myself: What am I doing to make children in my community feel safer? How can I help students in my school district access media that represents them? How can I let the children around me know that I’m a trusted adult with whom they can discuss complex topics? How am I preparing for those discussions?
If you’d like to be in community with children, one place to start is getting a child in your life a book. As the banning of children’s literature becomes increasingly widespread, books by marginalized authors that introduce children to radical ideas aren’t getting into the hands of students who need them. I often hear people say that children are “too young” to learn about topics like racism, transphobia, or incarceration. But teachers and children literature authors have always shown that there’s an age-appropriate way to explain any difficult subject to a child. Adults can also learn so much about their own beliefs by creating space with a child to talk about concepts like justice, freedom, revolution, and community. Below are my recommendations for radical picture books to get you started! (It may be sweet to write them a little note on the inner cover page, too!)
1. My Rainbow by DeShanna Neal and Trinity Neal; illustrated by Art Twink
A mother makes a beautiful wig for her trans daughter!
2. A Map for Falasteen: A Palestinian Child’s Search for Home by Maysa Odeh; illustrated by Aliaa Betawi
This book gives children a peek into the history of Palestine and is also a great starting place to help children think critically about the role of maps and borders.
3. Jovita Wore Pants: The Story of a Mexican Freedom Fighter by Aida Salazar; illustrated by Molly Mendoza
This is a biography of Jovita Valdovinos, a woman from Mexico who disguised herself as a man to fight in the Cristero War. It is written by Valdovinos’ great-niece!
4. How Mamas Love Their Babies by Juniper Fitzgerald; illustrated by Elise Peterson
The first picture book to depict a sex-worker parent!
5. Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Peña; illustrated by Christian Robinson
This book explores the assumptions we make about others, following a young boy on a subway ride to visit his mother in prison.
6. A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara
A beautifully illustrated alphabet book of radical ideas and values!
7. See you Soon by Mariame Kaba; illustrated by Bianca Diaz
About a daughter and her incarcerated mother, this book addresses some of the questions children may have about prison and incarceration.
8. Can We Please Give the Police Department to the Grandmothers? By Junauda Petrus; illustrated by Kristen Uroda
A picture book that imagines a world where grandmothers are in charge of public safety instead of police!
9. We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom; illustrated by Michaela Goade
This book honors indigenous-led movements to protect water, and has a powerful “Earth Steward and Water Protector Pledge” in the back of the book for children to share.
10. The ABCs of Queer History by Seema Yasmin; illustrated by Lucy Kirk
This book introduces kids to queer events, trailblazers, and concepts in queer history!
11. Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompson-Bigelow; illustrated by Luisa Uribe
Celebrates the beauty in all names and the importance of pronouncing them correctly!
12. Freedom, We Sing by Amyra León; illustrated by Molly Mendoza
This lyrical poem is a great starting point to discuss the concept of freedom with children.
13. A Day With No Words by Tiffany Hammond; illustrated by Kate Cosgrove
Details a day in the life of a boy with autism, who uses a tablet to communicate with his mother.
14. The Light She Feels Inside by Gwendolyn Wallace; illustrated by Olivia Duchess
This book introduces children to radical Black women, such as Fannie Lou Hamer, Nina Simone, and Martha P. Johnson.
15. And last, the classic title Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin; illustrated by Betsy Lewis
This may be an unexpected pick from 2000, but it’s a great way to introduce young kids to labor organizing and unions.
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