Taking Picture Books Seriously: What can we learn about
philosophy through children’s books?
This warm and charming volume casts a spell on adult readers as
it unveils the surprisingly profound philosophical wisdom contained
in children’s picture books, from Dr Seuss’s Sneetches to
William Steig’s Shrek!. With a light touch and good humor,
Wartenberg discusses the philosophical ideas in these classic
stories, and provides parents with a practical starting point for
discussing philosophical issues with their children. Accessible and
multi-layered, it answers questions like, Is it okay for adults to
deceive kids? What’s the difference between saying the Mona Lisa is
a great painting and vanilla is your favorite flavor? Each chapter
includes illustrations commissioned especially for this book.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Acknowledgments ix
“Why? Why? Why?“: Children, Philosophy, and Picture Books 1
1 Harold and the Purple Crayon: Can You Get Wet Swimming in an Imaginary Ocean? 7
2 The Important Book: Is a Leopard without Its Spots Still a Leopard? 16
3 Shrek!: Could a Dead Skunk Smell Good? 24
4 Let’s Do Nothing!: Can You Just Do Nothing at All? 33
5 Knuffle Bunny: How Do You Know I’m Angry If I Don’t Say So? 42
6 Many Moons: Do Experts Really Know More? 48
7 Yellow and Pink: Could Human Life Have Arisen Purely by Chance? 55
8 Morris the Moose: How Do You Know When You’ve Made a Mistake? 63
9 Emily’s Art: What’s the Difference between Saying the Mona Lisa Is a Great Painting and Vanilla Is Your Favorite Flavor? 71
10 Miss Nelson Is Missing!: Is It Okay for Adults to Deceive Kids? 81
11 The Giving Tree: How Can It Be Wrong to Give Someone What They Want? 90
12 “Cookies“: What Good Is Having Will-Power If You Don’t Have Any More Cookies? 100
13 Frederick: Can You Enjoy Doing Something Even If It’s Work? 109
14 The Sneetches: Isn’t It All Right to Discriminate in Choosing Your Friends? 116
15 The Paper Bag Princess: What’s Wrong with “Living Happily Ever After“? 125
16 The Big Orange Splot: Is There Anything Wrong with Conformity? 132
Taking Picture Books Seriously 142
Who’s Who: Thumbnail Biographies of the Philosophers 145
What’s What: Key Philosophical Terms 156
Next Steps: Additional Philosophical Picture Books 160
More Next Steps: Digging Deeper into Philosophy 163
Über den Autor
Thomas E. Wartenberg is Professor of Philosophy at Mount
Holyoke College, USA. He founded the Teaching Children Philosophy
program, which won the 2011 APA/PDC Prize for Excellence and
Innovation in Philosophy Programs. Its website,
www.teachingchildrenphilosophy.org, receives tens of thousands of
visits monthly. Professor Wartenberg’s 13 books as author or
editor include Big Ideas for Little Kids: Teaching Philosophy
through Children’s Literature (2009), Existentialism:
A Beginner’s Guide (2008), and The Philosophy of Film:
Introductory Text and Readings (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005), which
he co-edited with Angela Curran. He has been awarded Senior
Fulbright Fellowships to Germany and New Zealand, as well as a
National Endowment for the Humanities Research Fellowship. He has
also directed two National Endowment for the Humanities Summer
Seminars for School Teachers.
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