Author Feels Her Children's Book is the Right Reading for Conservative Kids
by Mary Rettig
September 1, 2005
(AgapePress) - Concerned conservative parent Catherine DeBrecht says she got tired of seeing children's books -- as well as TV and movies -- barraging youngsters with liberal ideology, so she decided to write a book that would reflect her values.
DeBrecht claims she saw that her own children were being bombarded from the Left by television, books and movies. But when she went looking for something presented from the conservative side, she had a difficult time finding material. That, she says, is why she wrote her book Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed! (Xulon Press).
The book tells the story of brothers Tommy and Lou, who decide to earn money for a swing set by opening a lemonade stand. But unfortunately, the author notes, the boys' dream gets stuck in "Liberaland" as press-hungry liberals keep "appearing from behind their lemon tree" to raise outrageous obstacles and institute one ridiculous law after another.
In the story, a liberal mayor taxes Tommy and Lou's profits, a liberal lawmaker outlaws sugary drinks, and an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer objects to the brothers' display of their Christian faith. The Left-leaning villains of DeBrecht's fanciful tale all but ruin the boys' enterprise "by taking half of their money in taxes, making them give broccoli with each glass sold, and making them take down the picture of Jesus atop their stand," she says. Ultimately, the liberals end up taking over the children's lemonade stand and offering the public sour lemonade at astronomical prices.
Liberals is just the first story in DeBrecht's four-book "Help! Mom!" series. Although there is a political message behind the book, she insists that it is still a fun story that will not go over kids' heads. "I know that there are liberals who raise their children with liberal values; I'm going to raise my children with conservative values," she says. "This book is not required reading in the public schools -- it's a book for conservatives who are going to pass on their conservative values. It's a good tool for them to use."
However, liberal pundit Alan Colmes has denounced the deliberately Right-slanted story by the conservative mom, calling it "blatant brainwashing." The Wall Street Journal has also criticized it, describing the children's book as "politically abrasive."
But DeBrecht argues that liberals have been publishing books about homosexual kings and socialist fish for children, and there has barely been a peep about it. Therefore, she says, there should be no problem with someone like herself writing a book for kids about traditional conservative values.
Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
