Christmas is one of my favorite times of year, which might seem a bit strange since I’m an atheist who’s adamantly opposed to the consumer culture that’s destroying the planet. Nevertheless, I really enjoy spending time with my family (we actually like each other) and Christmas is one of the few times throughout the year when we can all hang out without work, school, errands, appointments and so on getting in the way.

I also love picking out special, meaningful gifts for my nieces and nephews (I have four of them, ages 8, 6, 3 and 2). For us progressives, it can be a challenge to navigate through the endless supply of crap toys laced with toxic chemicals, not to mention the gendered nature of just about every product designed for kids (superheroes and cars for boys, pink princesses and baby dolls for girls).

While there are a growing number of eco-friendly and (sometimes) gender-nuetral toy brands out there, I find myself increasingly turning to books for birthday and holiday gifts. Not just any books, but informative, empowering, progressive books geared towards children. And so far my nephews and nieces have loved them!

“Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type” is a wonderful book for little ones. It’s about cows that get there hands on a typewriter, which they use to write notes to Farmer Brown asking of electric blankets because the barn is cold at night. Farmer Brown refuses, so the Cows go on strike. “No more milk,” they say, until they get their blankets. Then the chickens, who are also cold at night, join in, refusing to lay eggs until their demands are met. Eventually, with the ducks acting as intermediaries between the two parties, Farmer Brown acquiesces. Then the ducks, realizing the power of collective bargaining, demand a diving board for their pond. My 3-year-old niece and 2-year-old nephew love this book.

With the endless attacks on labor taking place in state legislatures around the country (happening in Michigan as we speak with the enactment of so-called “right-to-work” by Republican Governor Rick Snyder), it’s more important than ever that we teach the kids in our lives about the power of collective action in the workplace.

“The Streets Are Free” is a beautiful picture book based on a true story about children living in the poor and crowded barrio of San Jose de la Urbina in Caracas, Venezuela. The kids literally have no where to play so they put their heads together and, with the guidance of a local librarian, they go to city hall and ask the mayor for a playground. At first they’re ignored, but after protests and media attention, the mayor gives in. Of course, like most politicians, the mayor never fulfills his promise, so the kids and their families organize the community to build the playground themselves. My 6-year-old niece really enjoyed this book because she could relate to the children in it. She was also super excited to learn that organizing for change isn’t just for adults.

Both my nieces love “Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match.” Marisol is a American girl who is half Irish and half Peruvian, which is why she has “flaming red hair and nut-brown skin”, or in other words “doesn’t match.” Marisol embraces being different in everything she does, like wearing polka dots with stripes and eating peanut butter and jelly burritos. But then a friend at school tells her she couldn’t match even if she tried. Marisol takes up the challenge and tries to “match” or conform to what’s considered normal. It’s then that she recognizes how boring and unsatifsying “matching” makes her feel. She quickly goes back to her mismatched ways, happier than ever.

Boys are more often than not the main characters in kid’s books. Even when the main character is a girl, she’s usually white and presented as a passive, polite princess, ballerina type. I love that the main character here is an opinionated, bi-racial and funny little girl who does her own thing.

My 8-year-old nephew loves math and science and he thinks Albert Einstein is way cool (which he is). But I noticed he wasn’t being exposed to any women scientists, mathematicians, inventors and so on. Then I realized that neither was I as a kid. So I got him and my niece “Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women.” I haven’t actually looked through the book yet, but it has excellent reviews which is a plus, and the kids seem to like it. My only concern is that there might not be any women of color in the book. Again, I haven’t had a chance to look through it yet, so I’ll have to get back to you about that, but my sense is that it’s mostly American white women. Even if that’s the case, it’s a great start that can be built upon.

Speaking of people of color, there are many picture books (both fiction and non-fiction) listed on the Howard Zinn Education Project website on race-related topics, everything from Slavery and Jim Crow to jazz and hip hop music. There are so many I’ve come across, but I haven’t been able to choose which one’s to buy, especially since most are for older readers.

I’m probably going to start with “Ruth and the Green Book” for my 6-year-old-neice and 8-year-old nephew. From the description:

“A historical fiction picture book for 7- to 11-year-olds about the challenges of traveling for African American families during the Jim Crow era. As Ruth travels with her family from Chicago to Alabama to visit her grandmother, she learns that the Green Book provides a vital record of the network of services and support for African Americans on the road.”

The illustrations are supposed to be incredible and the reviews are great, so I’m really looking forward to this one.

This next book is my absolute favorite. I am a vegan for many reasons (health, the environment, animal welfare, factory farms) and my 6-year-old niece is always asking me questions about it, which I welcome, but sometimes I’m not sure how to answer without traumatizing her (re factory farms, slaughterhouses, 1 billion people in the world starving bc of land being used to farm cattle and food for cattle instead of food for people, etc). So I was thrilled to find, “That’s Why We Don’t Eat Animals: A Book About Vegans, Vegetarians, and All Living Things.” It’s one of her Christmas gifts, but I have no doubt that she’s going to love it.

It tells kids the truth about where meat comes from, but in a very sweet and soft way that humanizes cows, pigs, turkeys, chickens and ducks by describing how they interact with each other and their families in a lot of the same ways that we do. Animals love and play and feel happy and scared just like us and that’s why it’s not fair for them to live in cramped cages where they don’t ever get to spread their wings or play hide and seek with their brothers and sisters or hug and kiss their mommies and daddies. And the illustrations are just adorable.

This book and its successor, “Vegan Is Love: Having Heart and Taking Action” (which I also highly recommend), stirred up tons of controversy. “Vegan Is Love” simply presents “veganism as a lifestyle of compassion and action.” This might sound harmless to some, but a lot of non-vegans, including progressives, get super defensive around vegans (I know from experience). In the mainstream media, some people even presented the book as trying to scare children into becoming vegans. Of course, that’s not the case at all. It’s not scary or unsuitable for anyone let alone kids.

Both books seek to explain what being a vegan means and why choose this lifestyle in a language that kids as young as 6 can understand. In fact, most adults could benefit from actually reading the books before criticizing them because they’d learn a thing or two about how our diets impact the earth and our animal friends, a message that far too many are reluctant to face, likely out of guilt.

For those struggling to find presents for their little one’s this holiday season, I hope this post helps. Also, if there are any great progressively themed kid’s books you know of, please share it in the comments.