Radical Children's Books: A Reference List

Ideas about illustrating and writing a series of graphic novelettes/ children's books that tell the history of Latino social movements are bouncing around in my head. It all started when I was drawing a picture of the zapatistas for my brother...Anyways, it has fueled my motivation to continue my search for radical literature to indoctrinate youth and here are some lists I have found or compiled with asterisks by the ones I've used or read personally. I plan to continue to update so that it gets bigger and more precise..

Historical
*Freedom School, Yes! - Floyd Cooper (civil rights era education project in Mississippi)
*Encounter - Yolen (Landing of Columbus through the eyes of a native child)
*Cats in Krasinski Square - (Based on the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, when a jewish ghetto resisted being take to the concentration camp)
*Flowers for Mariko- (a Japanese family leaving an American internment camp)
*Si, Se Puede- (the LA janitors strike through the eyes of the strike leader's son)
*The Story of Harvey Milk- (the first publicly elected gay official)
My Dream Martin Luther King- Faith Ringgold
*If a Bus Could Talk: Story of Rosa Parks- Faith Ringgold
Auntie Harriet's Underground Rail Road- Faith Ringgold
*A Golden Age- (recounts the history of a post world war II generation and the significance of the radio in that history)

Labor
*Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel - Virginia Buton
*Si, Se Puede- the LA janitors strike

Indigenous Resistance
Story of Colors - Subcomandante Marcos
Questions and Swords - Subcomandante Marcos
Brave Eagle’s Account of the Fetterman Fight - Goble
A Boy Called Slow - Bruchac
Crazy Horse’s Vision - Bruchac
Red Hawk’s Account of Custer’s Last Stand - Goble
Rabbit-Proof Fence - Pilkington
Battlefields and Burial Grounds - Echo Hawk
Death of the Iron Horse - Goble
The Defenders - McGovern
Osceola: Seminole Warrior- Oppenheim
Osceola:1804-1838 - Koestler
Cochise - Schwartz
With All My Might - Dean
Geronimo: Apache Warrior - Haugen
Geronimo: Wolf on the Warpath - Moody
Geronimo: Apache Freedom Fighter - Hermann
Sitting Bull Remembers - Turner
The Story of Sitting Bull - Eisenberg
Tecumseh: Shawnee War Chief - Fleischer
These Lands are Ours - Connell
Crazy Horse: Sioux Warrior - Haugen
Crazy Horse - St. George
Black Elk - Shaw
Ishi - Peterson
Not Guilty - Sullivan

General Anti-Authoritarian
*Yertle the Turtle - Seuss
*The Sneetches - Seuss
The Butter Battle Book - Seuss
Anarchist Farm - Jane Doe
Harold and Maude
Table where Rich People Sit - Baylor
Tacky the Penguin - Lester
Araboolies of Liberty Street - Swope
Work, Work, Work - Quinn
Anarchist Stories for Children - DeVoy
Calvin and Hobbes Guide to Life - Banks
Children’s Guide to Nihilism - Aragorn!
Bear and Raccoon Stories - Aragorn!
Anti-Authoritarian ABC’s zine

Anti-Authoritarian Biographies
*Life and Times of Emma Goldman - Emma Goldman Papers Project
A Visit to William Blake’s Inn - Willard
Zhuangzi Speaks - Chih-chung Ts’ai
The Trouble with Henry: A Tale of Walden Pond - O’Neil
A Man Named Thoreau - Burleigh
Into the Deep Forest with Thoreau -Murphy
Henry David’s House - Schnur
Walking with Henry - Locker
A Hound, a Bay Horse, a Turtle Dove - Wood
What Befell at Mrs. Brooks - Overlie
A Mind with Wings - JHusman
Luisa May and Mr.Thoreau’s Flute - Dunlap
Henry David Thoreau - Reef
Henry David Thoreau: Writer and Rebel - Stern
Henry Works - Johnson
Henry Climbs a Mountain - Johnson
Henry Builds a Cabin - Johnson
Henry Hikes to Fitchburg - Johnson

Insurrection/Creation
Where the Wild Things Are - Sendak
The Secret World of Duvbo - CrimethInc
I’m in Charge of Celebrations - Baylor
Super Cilantro Girl - Herrera
Math Curse - Scieszka
Piggy in the Puddle - Pomerantz
Naughty Parents - Gosney
The Way to Start a Day - Baylor
Uno’s Garden - Base

Direct Action
The Luddites - Liversidge
The Story of John Brown’s Raid - Kent
The Lorax - Seuss
Hoot - Hiaasen
Flush - Hiaasen
The Sheep Look Up - Brunner
Quest for the Faradawn - Ford
Little Squatter’s Handbook - Cordelia and Ziggy
Pom Poko (video)
Missing from Haymerket Square - Robinet
Breaking Free: The Adventures of Tintin - Daniels
Farewell to Shady Glade - Peet

Queer Families
One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dad- Johnny Valentine
Heather Has Two Mommies- Leslea Newman
*All Families Are Different
Daddy's Roomate- Michael Willhoite

Interracial (link to a wonderfully detailed website)

Anti-Racist
BLACK IS BROWN IS TAN - Arnold Adoff
BON ODORI DANCER by Karen Kawaamoto McCoy and Carolina Yao
BRINGING ASHA HOME by Uma Krishnaswami, illustrated by Jamel Akib
THE COLORS OF US by Karen Katz
DUMPLING SOUP by Jama Kim Rattigan
GRANDFATHER COUNTS by Andrea Cheng
HOPE by Isabell Monk
JOURNEY HOME by Lawrence McKay,
HOW MY PARENTS LEARNED TO EAT by Ina R. Friedman
DUMPLING SOUP by Jama Kim Rattigan
JINGLE DANCER by Cynthia Leitich Smith
LESS THAN HALF, MORE THAN WHOLE by Kathleen Lacapa
LILIANA'S GRANDMOTHERS by Leyla Torre
MOLLY BANNAKY by Alice McGill
TWO MRS. GIBSONS by Toyomi Igus,
Efe - Siy
Penen - Siy
Eeyou - Siy
Waorani - Siy
Black Indians - Katz
A Journey to New York - Norberg-Hodge
The People Shall Continue - Ortiz
Coyote Columbus - King
When Clay Sings - Baylor
Erandi’s Braids - dePaola
Whale Rider - Ihimaera
Clambake - Peters
*The Sneeches - Dr.Suess
*Freedom School, Yes! - Floyd Cooper
*The Other Side - E.B. Lewis
All the colors of Earth - Hamanaka
Black, white just right - Margaret Davol
Let's Talk about Race - Barbour
All the colors we are/Todos los colores de nuestra piel - Kissenger
Ain't Nobody a Stranger to me - Pinkney

Latino
JALAPENO BAGELS by Natasha Wing
I LOVE SATURDAYS Y DOMINGOS by Alma Flor Ada

Jewish
The Cats in Krasinski Square - Karren Hesse
The secret Seder - Doreen Rappaport

Immigrants
HOPE by Isabell Monk, illustrated by Janice Lee Porter (Lerner, 1998)
GRANDFATHER COUNTS by Andrea Cheng

Animal Rights
A MAN CALLED RAVEN by Richard Van Camp

Differently Abled
*Mama Zooms- Jane Cowen Fletcher (story about a boy playing with his mother who happens to be in a wheelchair)

Feminist
There Was A Bold Lady Who Wanted A Star - Harper

Primitivist
Whitefeather’s Outdoor Survival Handbook for Kids - Whitefeather
Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Nature Survival for Children - Brown
North American Indians Survival Skills - Liptak
More than Moccasins - Carlson
Houses of Bark - Shemie
Houses of Hides and Earth - Shemie
Houses of Snow, Skin, and Bones - Shemie
Houses of Wood - Shemie
Houses of Earth and Shell - Shemie
Houses of Adobe - Shemie
Long Ago Lake - Wilkins
Crinkleroot Guides - Arnosky

Awareness Activities
*Peaceful Piggy Mediation- Kerry McLean
*Meditation for Kids-Laurie Huck
Keepers of the Night - Caduto and Bruchac
Earthways - Petrash
Native American Crafts Workshop - Bernstein
Traditional Native American Crafts and Activities - Braman
Sharing Nature with Children 1 & 2 - Cornell
Sharing the Joy of Nature - Cornell
Talking to Fireflies, Shrinking the Moon - Duensing
Kamana for Kids - Repoley
The Young Naturalist - Repoley
Keeping a Nature Journal - Leslie
Ecoart! - Carlson
Good Earth Art - Kohl
Earth Child 2000 - Sheehan
Keepers of the Earth - Caduto

Feral/Rewilding
Wild Children - Landau
The Boy Who Ran with Gazelles- Mayer
The Wild Boy - Gerstein
The Wolf Girls - Yolen
The Mystery of Human Wolves - Wilson
Children of the Wild - Burger
The Forest Child - Edwards
Wild Child - Plourde
The Girl who Loved Wild Horses - Goble
Salamander Room - Mazer
Jaguar in the Rainforest - Ryder
Adopted by Eagles - Goble
Lost Colony of Roanoke - Fritz
Dream Wolf - Goble
Dark Horse - Sedgwick
Wild Girl - Wormwell
Man Eating Bugs - Menzel

Permaculture
Our Allotment - Burnett
Permaculture: A Beginner’s Guide - Burnett
ABC’s of Permaculture - Zine
Native American Gardening - Caduto
Compost, By Gosh! - Portman
Pee Wee and the Magical Compost Heap - Roulston
In the Three Sisters Garden - Dennee
The Secret Garden - Burnett