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A review by erica_s
Most People by Michael Leannah
1.0
Tilbury House offers another socially-conscious, didactic picture book - this one aimed to soothe preschool children’s fear of strangers and anxiety about a perceived prevalence of “people who do bad things.” Leannah’s purposeful text repeats that “most people are good people,” and Morris’ illustrations show many examples of goodness, with just one page spread briefly describing that some people “...yell bad words. They lie and steal. They bully and hurt and destroy.” While the author cleverly avoids the phrase “bad people,” all individual actions are judged as good or bad. This dichotomous simplicity fails to acknowledge common social conditions such as hunger or nuanced reality such as frustration at inequity - concepts that could help children understand or possibly connect with instead of fearing other human beings.
The crisp watercolor illustrations depict a clean, simplified town that includes diverse characters personifying good behavior - and one brunette, light-skinned boy committing the only bad behavior illustrated in the book - the theft of an apple. While successfully making the point that practically everyone “wants to be good,” while very few “want to be bad,” it may simultaneously exacerbate hostility toward and encourage harsh judgments about any person who actually does something “bad” - whether that is a child stealing nutritious food or a criminal convicted of harming someone.
Aiming to soothe the narrow audience of anxious children, it ultimately ignores the higher goal of restorative justice by failing to mention the universal needs of all people. If you believe that children are capable of feeling empathy with others once they understand the context of their behavior and their common needs, this book is not for you. If you are helping a child deal with the anxiety caused by observing actual bad behavior by people in positions of authority or by mobs carrying torches on the street, this will do nothing to assuage their valid concerns. Buy only where children are taught to exclude bad apples and fix the world with personal kindness, and where forgiveness and mutual interdependence are concepts too complex to discuss.
The crisp watercolor illustrations depict a clean, simplified town that includes diverse characters personifying good behavior - and one brunette, light-skinned boy committing the only bad behavior illustrated in the book - the theft of an apple. While successfully making the point that practically everyone “wants to be good,” while very few “want to be bad,” it may simultaneously exacerbate hostility toward and encourage harsh judgments about any person who actually does something “bad” - whether that is a child stealing nutritious food or a criminal convicted of harming someone.
Aiming to soothe the narrow audience of anxious children, it ultimately ignores the higher goal of restorative justice by failing to mention the universal needs of all people. If you believe that children are capable of feeling empathy with others once they understand the context of their behavior and their common needs, this book is not for you. If you are helping a child deal with the anxiety caused by observing actual bad behavior by people in positions of authority or by mobs carrying torches on the street, this will do nothing to assuage their valid concerns. Buy only where children are taught to exclude bad apples and fix the world with personal kindness, and where forgiveness and mutual interdependence are concepts too complex to discuss.