What Mr. Rogers Taught Us About Raising Good Neighbors

Posted on by Bob Richley
Illustrated autumn neighborhood with neighbors, homes, trees, and a dog

August 31, 2001, was a significant day in children’s television and a sad one in many ways. It was the final time a new episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood aired.

For more than thirty years, Fred Rogers invited children into his neighborhood. He changed his shoes, put on his cardigan, fed his fish, talked with children about things that mattered, and then took us to the Neighborhood of Make-Believe.

  • He talked about feelings.
  • He talked about friendship.
  • He talked about being different.
  • He talked about disappointment, fear, kindness, responsibility, and forgiveness.

He did something that seems almost strange today: He slowed down. Far different from much entertainment aimed at kids, there was no constant stream of stimulation, no need to make everything louder, faster, or more exciting. Instead, he talked quietly to children. And he treated them as though what they thought and felt mattered.

I’ve been thinking about Fred Rogers because so much of what he believed about children connects with what I’ve been writing about in these Family Values articles—especially the importance of reading and using stories to teach children how to live.

I don’t think Fred Rogers and I would have agreed on everything.

But I think we would have agreed on something important:

Children are worth our time and attention.

Mr. Rogers Took Children Seriously

Fred Rogers wasn’t originally a television celebrity.

After graduating from college in 1951, he went into television (not the military, as some falsely claimed). But he eventually returned to Pittsburgh, where he became involved with WQED and children’s programming. While working in children’s television, he also studied child development and worked closely with psychologist Margaret McFarland.

That relationship was important.

Fred didn’t simply decide what children needed based on what he thought would make entertaining television. He wanted his programs to reflect what was actually happening in the lives and development of children.

That tells me something about the way he viewed children. He didn’t see them as little adults. But he also didn’t see them as foolish or naive. He trusted them with heavy topics.

Bigotry

The Wading Pool Scene (1969): During an era when many public swimming pools were still segregated or hostile to Black Americans, Fred Rogers invited François Clemmons—who played Officer Clemmons—to cool his feet in a small plastic pool with him. Rogers then shared his towel to dry Clemmons’ feet, much like Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, delivering a powerful, silent visual message against racial discrimination and exclusion.

Death, Assassination, and Tragedy

  • Assassination Specials: Following national tragedies like the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, Rogers created special segments to help children process political violence, loss, and fear.
  • Death and Pet Loss: He addressed the concept of death directly—such as when a goldfish died in the neighborhood—teaching children that it is natural to feel sad and confused by finality.

War and Conflict

And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Divorce and Family Changes

  • Divorce: Rogers tackled the emotional impact of parents separating. He assured young viewers that even when adults go through difficult changes and painful emotions, a child is never the cause of a divorce and remains deeply loved.
  • Episodes 1476–1480 — “Divorce” (February 16–20, 1981)
  • This is another five-episode series: Prince Tuesday worries that his parents are going to divorce and even believes the conflict is his fault. The episodes repeatedly reinforce that adult problems are not the child’s fault and give children opportunities to express their fears and feelings.

Disability Rights

Inclusion and Accessibility: Rogers featured guests with disabilities, such as Jeff Erlanger, a young boy using an electric wheelchair. Rogers spoke to him with complete equality and dignity, normalizing disabilities and answering children’s curious questions without pity or stigma.

Difficult Subjects Need to Be Discussed

One of the things I admire most about Fred Rogers is that he didn’t believe children needed to be protected from every difficult subject. He believed they needed caring adults who could help them understand those subjects. He was one of those adults and encouraged others to be.

Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood addressed difficult subjects such as racism, death, divorce, disability, fear, conflict, and other subjects that adults sometimes hesitate to discuss with children. Rogers didn’t simply tell children what to think. He gave them a safe place to encounter difficult ideas, ask questions, express their feelings, and begin making sense of the world around them. He demonstrated these traits through his actions and through stories in The Neighborhood of Make-Believe.

My Own Writing

That is something I have tried to do in my own writing.

My middle-grade novel, Redeeming Rhubarb, also deals with a difficult subject: prejudice and racism. The story was inspired by the real 2013 Boulder, Colorado floods, but the adventure becomes a way for young readers to explore what happens when fear and assumptions cause us to judge people we don’t really know.

The goal isn’t to give children a lecture about prejudice. It’s to give them a story they can experience.

A child can watch characters make choices, see the consequences of those choices, and then talk about what happened. Why did that character act that way? Was it right? What caused the fear? How did the other person feel? What could have been done differently? And, as Christian families, what does Scripture teach us about how we should treat other people?

That approach is very important to me.

Conversations

Like Fred Rogers, I believe difficult subjects can become opportunities for meaningful conversations when children have a trusted adult beside them.

That’s one reason I believe books matter.

A good story doesn’t have to answer every question for a child. Sometimes it simply needs to open the door to a conversation that might not have happened otherwise.

That’s what I hope Redeeming Rhubarb does.

And that’s one of the lessons I take from Mr. Rogers: we don’t help children by pretending difficult things don’t exist. We help them by walking with them as they learn how to face those things—with truth, compassion, courage, and love.

Understanding Children

Fred Rodgers understood that children have real fears, real questions, real disappointments, and real emotions.

Sometimes adults are tempted to dismiss those things.

  • “You’re okay.”
  • “Don’t worry about it.”
  • “It’s not a big deal.”

But to a child, it may be a very big deal. Mr. Rogers was willing to talk about those things. And perhaps that is one reason children trusted him. He didn’t preach. He spoke gently and, more often than not, demonstrated his lesson through a “make-believe” story.

Stories Give Children a Safe Place to Learn

His philosophy has a strong connection to reading. I’ve written before about why I believe books are such an important tool for teaching children values. It’s important to read aloud to kids. We can choose books that teach life lessons. We can teach biblical values through literature.

A child may resist a lecture about honesty, but put a character in a story who lies, and suddenly the child can watch what happens.

  • A character makes a selfish decision.
  • Another character forgives.
  • Someone faces a difficult choice.
  • Someone else shows courage.

The child gets to see the consequences without having to experience every consequence personally.That’s one of the great gifts of literature.

Stories give children a safe place to wrestle with difficult ideas.

Fred Rogers understood something similar.

His television program used stories, puppets, music, and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe to help children think about the issues they were facing in real life. His conversations with child-development expert Margaret McFarland helped him make those stories relevant to children’s actual concerns.

The medium was different.

He used television.

I’m talking about books.

But the principle is remarkably similar.

A story can open a door that a lecture can’t.

Fred Rogers Loved Books

There’s another connection that I find especially interesting.

Fred Rogers himself developed a love of reading as a child because of his childhood librarian, whom he called “Aunt” Sara McComb. According to the Fred Rogers Institute, Fred frequently mentioned her when talking about books and reading. She shared her love of books with children at the library, and Fred learned from that experience. There’s something beautiful about that.

One person who loved books helped a child develop a love for reading. That child eventually became the man millions of children trusted. And decades later, we’re still talking about him. It reminds me that we don’t always know what our influence will become.

  • Maybe you’re the parent reading a bedtime story tonight.
  • Maybe you’re the grandparent taking a child to the library.
  • Maybe you’re the teacher recommending a book.
  • Maybe you’re the librarian who remembers a child’s name.

It may seem like a small thing.

But it may not be small to the child.

An anonymous usher stopped a teenage Billy Graham from walking away from a packed 1934 tent revival in Charlotte, North Carolina. He found seats for Billy and his friend. The revival led Billy Graham to make Jesus his savior. Billy Graham impacted millions of lives and led many of those into a relationship with Jesus. The usher did a small thing, but it had a big impact, a huge ripple effect. Aunt Sara did one small thing that impacted millions of children through Fred Rogers.

Reading Is About More Than Reading

I’ve said this before, but it is worth repeating.

The goal isn’t simply to get through more books. The goal is to let good books get into our children.

When our children were younger, we would snuggle together and read. One of my favorite family memories is reading Charlotte’s Web together, a chapter at a time.

We weren’t simply completing a book. We were sharing an experience. That’s an important distinction.

Reading aloud develops literacy, vocabulary, comprehension, and imagination. But something else happens when a parent sits beside a child and reads.

We build a relationship.

We’re saying:

  • You matter to me.
  • What you’re interested in matters to me.
  • I want to spend time with you.

Fred Rogers understood the importance of that kind of relationship.

His television program wasn’t designed merely to give children information. He wanted children to feel that they were being welcomed by someone who cared about them.

The famous question in his theme song wasn’t simply an invitation to watch television.

It was an invitation into relationship.

Won’t you be my neighbor?

What Happens When We Read Together?

One of my favorite things about reading with children is the conversation that follows. Sometimes the conversation isn’t even about the book.

  • A character makes a choice.
    • “What do you think about that?”
  • A character hurts someone.
    • “Why do you think she did that?”
  • Someone gets treated unfairly.
    • “Was that right?”
  • Someone shows courage.
    • “Would you have been brave enough to do that?”
  • And sometimes we can go even deeper.
    • “What does the Bible say about that?”

Now the book has become a bridge.We’re no longer simply talking about a fictional character. We’re talking about life.

I’ve written about this before because I don’t want my children simply to memorize a list of rules.

  • I want them to learn how to think.
  • I want them to recognize good and evil.
  • I want them to understand consequences.
  • I want them to develop empathy.
  • I want them to ask questions.
  • And ultimately, I want them to compare what they encounter in the world with God’s Word.

A good book can help us do that.

The Final Neighborhood

There’s something almost fitting about what happened in the final episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

The final week was called “Celebrate the Arts.”

In the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, Lady Elaine had appointed herself the judge of everyone’s artwork. But by the end, instead of judging the other characters, she created a collage celebrating them.

The final episode aired on August 31, 2001.

Think about that.

A program that spent decades teaching children about feelings, relationships, and how we treat one another ended with a story about moving from judgment toward appreciation. That seems remarkably appropriate.

Fred Rogers understood that how we feel about ourselves can affect how we treat other people. And isn’t that something our children still need to learn?

  • A child who feels loved can learn to love.
  • A child who experiences forgiveness can learn to forgive.
  • A child who is listened to can learn to listen.
  • A child who is treated with patience can learn patience.

A child who spends years hearing good stories about courage, kindness, sacrifice, friendship, and forgiveness has a vocabulary for understanding those things when they encounter them in real life.

We Can’t Always Be There

There comes a point when our children leave the house.

  • We can’t follow them everywhere.
  • We can’t hear every conversation.
  • We can’t see every decision.
  • We can’t answer every question.

That’s one reason I believe so strongly in giving children good books. A good story can stay with them. Years after we’ve finished reading a book, a character may come back to them.

  • They may remember what happened to Wilbur.
  • They may remember Charlotte’s sacrifice.
  • They may remember Heidi’s love for her grandfather.
  • They may remember a character who showed courage when courage was difficult.

And perhaps, at some point, they’ll face their own difficult decision and remember that story. That’s when the book has become something more than a book. It has become part of them.

What Kind of Neighbors Are We Raising?

Fred Rogers wanted children to understand that they were valuable and that other people mattered.

I want the same thing for my children, but I want to go one step further.

  • I want them to understand why people matter.
  • I want them to understand that every person is created by God.
  • I want them to understand that Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors.
  • I want them to understand that loving someone doesn’t mean approving of everything that person does.
  • I want them to understand forgiveness without confusing forgiveness with pretending that wrong doesn’t matter.
  • I want them to understand that courage sometimes means standing up for what is right.
  • I want them to understand that compassion means looking beyond the surface and trying to understand another person’s story.

Those lessons don’t have to come only through lectures. They can come through conversations. They can come through Scripture. And they can come through stories.

Start With One Book

You don’t need a huge library or a complicated curriculum. You don’t need to spend hours preparing a lesson. Start with one book. Sit beside your child.

  • Read.
  • Listen.
  • Talk.
  • Ask questions.
  • And when the story presents an opportunity, take it.
    • “What would you have done?”
    • “Why do you think he did that?”
    • “Was that a good choice?”
    • “How did that make the other person feel?”
    • “What does the Bible say about this?”
    • Then listen to the answer.
  • Don’t immediately correct.
  • Don’t turn every conversation into a sermon.

Sometimes our children need us to listen more than they need us to talk.

Fred Rogers understood the power of listening, slowing down, and taking children seriously.

I think we could use a little more of that today.

One Child. One Book. One Conversation.

The last original episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood aired twenty-five years ago.

Fred Rogers died in 2003, but the neighborhood he created hasn’t really disappeared. His impact hasn’t left us.

  • Every time we teach a child to be kind, we extend it.
  • Every time we listen to a child’s question, we extend it.
  • Every time we help a child understand someone else’s feelings, we extend it.
  • And every time we sit down with a child and open a good book, we have another opportunity to build that kind of neighborhood in our own home.

We don’t have to change the world all at once.

We can start much smaller.

  • One child.
  • One book.
  • One conversation.

Maybe that’s how we raise better neighbors.

And maybe, years from now, our children will remember those quiet moments—not because we gave them another lesson, but because we gave them something better.

  • We gave them our time.
  • We gave them our attention.
  • We gave them stories.

And through those stories, we helped them discover what it means to love God, love their neighbor, and live a life of character.

That’s a legacy worth leaving behind.

References

The following sources were consulted for the information about Fred Rogers and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood discussed in this article.

  • Fred Rogers Institute — About Fred Rogers
    A comprehensive biography covering Fred Rogers’ childhood, education, family, early television career, study of child development, work with psychologist Margaret McFarland, and his philosophy of serving children and families.
    About Fred Rogers — Fred Rogers Institute
  • Fred Rogers Productions — Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
    Information about the purpose of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, its approach to children, and its learning goals, including empathy, imagination, respect, self-esteem, emotional regulation, and social skills.
    Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood — Fred Rogers Productions
  • Fred Rogers Institute — Fred Rogers Archive
    An Extensive archive preserves more than 22,000 items from Fred Rogers’ life and work, including writings, photographs, scripts, and other materials that document his ideas about childhood, families, education, and reading.
    Fred Rogers Institute Archive
  • Fred Rogers Institute — The Simple Spiral of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
    Documents the first episode, which aired February 19, 1968, and the final original episode, #1765, Mister Rogers Celebrates the Arts, which aired August 31, 2001. It also discusses the closing moments of both episodes and the continuity of Rogers’ message throughout the series.
    The Simple Spiral of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
  • The Neighborhood Archive — Episode 1765
    Detailed information about the final original episode, Mister Rogers Celebrates the Arts, including its August 31, 2001 air date and the stories and activities featured in the episode.
    Episode 1765 — The Neighborhood Archive
  • The Washington Post — “For Mister Rogers, a Final Day in the Neighborhood”
    Contemporary reporting published September 1, 2001, describing the final new episode and Fred Rogers’ decision to end the series without a traditional television farewell.
    For Mister Rogers, a Final Day in the Neighborhood — The Washington Post

Learn more about Redeeming Rhubarb: Redeeming Rhubarb — Reading With Your Kids

Explore Bob Richley’s books and resources: Bob Richley — Christ-Centered Books for Families.

Dolly Parton’s Legacy: Inspiring Childhood Literacy

Posted on by Bob Richley
Rocking chair, books, and coffee on a porch overlooking sunset mountains

Dolly Parton, Books, and the Gift of Imagination

We’ve all heard the news of the recent passing of Dolly Parton, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. She died on August 25, 2026, at the age of 80.

I find it strange that I feel sad about the death of a celebrity I never knew personally. Perhaps because we “see” celebrities so much in the media, they become familiar to us. We hear their voices, watch their interviews, listen to their songs, and learn pieces of their stories. It can almost feel as though we know them.

When a celebrity dies, I often find myself researching their life. My curiosity is stirred, and I’m amazed by what I discover.

That’s what happened with Dolly Parton.

Most people know Dolly as a singer and songwriter. Many know about her business success and Dollywood. But as I learned more about her life, I was especially interested in something that has little to do with her music.

Dolly Parton has given hundreds of millions of books to children.

Why?

The answer begins with her childhood.

A Child of Faith and Poverty

Dolly grew up poor in Locust Ridge in the mountains of East Tennessee. She was one of twelve children raised in a small one-room home in the Great Smoky Mountains. Her family had little money and few material possessions. There was no electricity or running water.

But poverty didn’t mean that Dolly’s family lacked something important.

  • They had faith.
  • They had family.
  • And they had music.

Dolly’s father worked hard to provide for his family. He would get up early to work on the farm and then go to another job to earn money. He did whatever he could to put food on the table.

Dolly’s childhood wasn’t easy, but it helped shape the woman she would become.

Her family was deeply connected to the church. Her grandfather was a preacher in a local mountain church, and Dolly began singing hymns and playing guitar when she was a child.

Faith became part of the foundation of her life.

Dolly has spoken openly about her belief in God throughout her life. Her music includes numerous gospel songs, and her faith has continued to influence her work.

She believed that with God all things were possible. The belief shapped her legacy.

But there was another lesson from her childhood that would eventually inspire one of her greatest contributions to children.

The Father Who Couldn’t Read

Dolly has described her father as one of the smartest men she ever knew.

He had a brilliant mind for numbers and a natural talent for business. He knew how to bargain and negotiate and could make a good deal. But there was something he couldn’t do. He couldn’t read or write. Her father had to leave school at a young age to work and help support his family. Growing up in rural Appalachia, educational opportunities were limited. His inability to read didn’t mean he lacked intelligence. Quite the opposite.

He was a smart, hardworking man who simply hadn’t been given the opportunity to learn something many of us take for granted. Dolly saw how that limitation affected him.

Years later, that memory would become the seed of an extraordinary idea.

Motivated by Faith—and by Her Father

Dolly’s faith and upbringing shaped the way she viewed children and opportunity.

She had experienced poverty. She knew what it meant to grow up without many resources. And she knew what it was like to watch someone she loved have his opportunities limited because he couldn’t read.

She could have simply remembered her childhood. Instead, she did something with it.

In 1995, Dolly Parton founded Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in her home county of Sevier County, Tennessee. She wanted to give children an opportunity her father had never had: the chance to grow up with books and develop a love of reading.

That small beginning became something enormous.

The Book Lady

The Imagination Library mails a new, age-appropriate book every month to registered children from birth through age five. There is no charge to participating families. Funding is shared between Dolly Parton’s organization and local community partners.

The program now operates in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland.

And the numbers are staggering.

By the end of 2025, the Imagination Library had gifted 304,539,509 books since its founding. More than 40 million books were gifted during 2025 alone.

Think about that.

More than 300 million books.

One little girl growing up in the mountains of Tennessee remembered that her father couldn’t read, and decades later, motivated by faith, millions of children around the world are receiving books because of it.

That’s quite a legacy.

Why Give Children Books?

Why books?

Because books do more than teach children how to read.

Books introduce children to courage, sacrifice, kindness, forgiveness, perseverance, friendship, consequences, and countless other values.

  • A child meets a character who faces a difficult decision and gets to watch what happens.
  • A character makes a selfish choice and suffers the consequences.
  • Another character sacrifices for someone else.
  • Another forgives.
  • Another refuses to give up.

Through stories, children can encounter difficult questions in a safe environment.

They can learn from someone else’s mistakes without having to make those mistakes themselves.

That’s one reason I believe so strongly in reading with children.

Dolly’s Gift Goes Beyond Literacy

A free book says something to a child.

  • You matter.
  • Your imagination matters.
  • Your future matters.

The Imagination Library certainly encourages literacy, but its purpose goes beyond simply helping children learn to read. Its stated mission is to inspire a love of reading by putting quality books into children’s hands.

And there’s an important difference between giving a child a book and reading a book with a child.

When we read aloud together, we are not simply helping children develop vocabulary and reading skills. We are sharing an experience.

We can ask questions.

  • “What do you think she should do?”
  • “Why did he make that choice?”
  • “What would you have done?”
  • “Was that fair?”
  • “What does the Bible say about that?”

The book becomes a doorway into conversation.

I’ve written before about the importance of reading aloud with our kids. Reading together builds connection as well as literacy.

It’s similar to why I play with my kids.

When I get down on the floor and play a game with my daughters, I’m entering their world. I’m telling them without saying a word, What matters to you matters to me.

Games give us opportunities to learn, too. There are rules to follow, turns to take, victories to celebrate, and disappointments to handle. We learn how to win graciously and lose graciously.

In other words, ordinary family activities can become opportunities to teach character.

What Can Parents Learn From Dolly?

Most of us will never have millions of dollars to give away.

We don’t have to.

Dolly Parton’s example reminds us that we can start with what we have. Try these:

  • Read to your children.
  • Give them good books.
  • Visit the library.
  • Talk about the stories you read.
  • Ask questions.
  • Listen to their answers.
  • Build a family culture around books and stories.

We don’t have to wait until we have a foundation, a corporation, or a million dollars to invest in children.

We can start with one child and one book.

What Stories Are We Putting Into Our Children’s Hearts?

Dolly’s legacy also raises another question.

What books are we putting into our children’s hands?

If books teach lessons—and I believe they do—we need to pay attention to those lessons.

Not every book teaches the values we want our children to absorb. Some stories may contain ideas that contradict our family’s values or what Scripture teaches.

That doesn’t mean every book has to be perfect.

It does mean we should be intentional.

Ask quesitons like:

  • What is this story teaching?
  • What choices do the characters make?
  • What happens because of those choices?
  • What does the story celebrate?
  • Do those values agree with our family’s values?
  • Do they agree with Scripture?

I’ve written more about this in Choosing Books That Teach Life Lessons.

As an Author…

I know something about the power of putting a story into a child’s hands.

That’s one reason I wrote Redeeming Rhubarb.

I wanted children to enjoy a story about a mouse and a rat while wrestling with bigger questions about prejudice, forgiveness, friendship, courage, and doing what is right.

I don’t expect a book to replace a parent.

I want the book to help parents have conversations with their children.

That’s what I find so inspiring about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

Dolly understood something that I believe every parent should understand:

Books can open doors.

  • They open doors to imagination.
  • They open doors to knowledge.
  • They open doors to empathy.
  • They open doors to difficult questions.
  • And sometimes, they open doors to faith and character.

Dolly gave children books because she remembered what her father had been denied.

She took something painful from her childhood and turned it into something beautiful for millions of children.

That’s a legacy worth remembering.

A Legacy We Can Continue

Dolly Parton gave away more than 300 million books.

Most of us won’t come close to that number.

But perhaps we don’t need to.

  • We can give one book to one child.
  • We can sit beside that child and read it.
  • We can ask a question.
  • We can listen.
  • We can talk about the choices the characters made.
  • We can connect those choices to the values we want our children to develop.
  • And then we can pick up another book.

Perhaps that’s how a legacy begins. Not with millions of dollars. Not with fame. But with one child, one book, and one conversation.

Dolly Parton gave children the gift of imagination. We can help them use that imagination to learn, grow, and become the people God created them to be.

Behind Redeeming Rhubarb: Prejudice, Empathy, and the Story Behind the Story

Posted on by Bob Richley
Woman leading a donkey across a forest bridge with a dog and cat

When we see someone acting with anger, cruelty, or prejudice, it’s easy to judge what we see. It’s harder to ask why. What happened in that person’s life? What fears, hurts, or beliefs shaped the way they see others? Understanding the answer doesn’t excuse bad behavior, but it can change the way we respond to it.

That idea is at the heart of Redeeming Rhubarb. Rhubarb’s prejudice didn’t come from nowhere. Strawberry has to decide whether to accept what her father taught her or look for herself. Bart has to decide how to respond to two boys who are cruel to animals. And throughout the story, characters repeatedly face the choice between judging an enemy and trying to understand one.

Those same questions matter outside the pages of a novel—especially for parents raising children in a divided world.

Recently, I was asked some thoughtful questions about Redeeming Rhubarb: Why did I choose mice and rats? Why did I give Rhubarb a painful reason for his prejudice? What can children see that adults sometimes miss? How much grief and hardship can middle-grade readers handle? What actually changes a cruel child? And what should parents do when their child repeats something hurtful they’ve learned from someone else?

Below are my answers. I hope they spark more meaningful discussions and provide more insight into the novel’s purpose.

You could have written this book about people. Why mice and rats — and why make the bigot the white mouse and the rescuer the black rat?

I wanted to remove the human element to make it more acceptable to my audience. If I chose specific races, others not included may not relate. By using mice and rats, I could keep the story universal while avoiding that problem.

I intentionally chose rats and mice to challenge readers’ existing biases about specific animals and help them recognize how quickly we form a judgment.

Rats are often seen as dirty, disgusting disease spreaders. We think of the bubonic plague spread by rats. In fiction, they are often portrayed as causing havoc, as in Templeton in Charlotte’s Web. While mice are often the good guys in cartoons and books. Think of Repacheep or Mickey Mouse. We often think of cute white mice as a pet.

In the book, I open with those preconceived ideas. Rats break into a home to steal food. Cute mice are having fun playing games and celebrating a birthday. Then I start to break down those notions by showing the rats are hungry and apologetic, while the mouse is loud and vindictive.

In my story, the rat is the hero who rescues, is wise, and sacrifices. The mouse is the one causing harm, trying to destroy, and hating. That reversal is meant to challenge readers’ expectations.

You spent three years as an evangelical Christian living in a lesbian community, having the conversations most people avoid. What did that teach you about how prejudice comes apart?

While I lived in that community, we got to know one another as people and became friends. We camped together, ate together, and played together. I went to parties to have fun and celebrate. All that helped prejudice come apart.

I watched documentaries and movies to understand better their point of view, which also helped me see them as people.

That’s how prejudice comes apart: when we see people as people, not a label.

That experience helped shape one of the ideas behind Redeeming Rhubarb: understanding someone doesn’t require agreeing with them. It requires being willing to see the person behind the label. I later expressed that idea in a poem I called “The Other Side.”

For convictions, we fight
so confident we are right.
Anger and aggression
without pausing to question
the pretexts of our certitude.
Rigid in our attitude.
It’s time we look inside
rather than trying to hide.
The fault and failure lie within
over our own self-centered sin.
Cease blaming others and God!
Let go of the deceptive facade!
Examine and evaluate,
consider convictions to abdicate.
Seek first to comprehend
what enemies apprehend.
Replace anger and apprehension
with charity and comprehension.

Rhubarb isn’t a cartoon villain — he lost a brother to rats. How important was it that his prejudice start from a real wound?

Stephen Covey tells a story of a man whose unruly children are disrupting a quiet subway car. When Covey asks the father to control them, the man replies blankly that they just left the hospital where their mother died. Covey’s perspective instantly shifts from annoyance to deep empathy. We all have a back story, and when you know it, you can understand why a person does or says what they do.

I tell my girls that people who bully or are mean are often hurting inside. We don’t know what goes on in their home. When I was in the 3rd grade, my teacher had a bully step out of the room, and we talked about what he did and why. The teacher explained that he may be hurting and ashamed. That stuck with me.

Knowing why Rhubarb hates rats helps us relate to him and understand his actions. It doesn’t make what he does right, but it does help us comprehend and sympathize.

You lived through the 2013 Boulder flood. What did you see then that ended up in the book?

I remember a road with a raised crack shaped like an upside-down “V”. That memory is in the book. I saw signs of people volunteering to help neighbors whose homes were damaged and people helping to repair trails. I, myself, volunteered to help clean our church’s flooded basement. I lost my wedding ring in the process. I put that volunteer spirit in the book. I remember some homes were damaged and others missed. I put Bart’s apartment near where I lived because our home was not damaged.

Strawberry is the moral engine of the book, and she’s a kid. What do children see about their parents’
prejudices that the parents don’t?

Do you ever watch young kids play? Young children may notice differences, but those differences don’t necessarily determine whom they’ll play with. They see another kid—a potential playmate. I don’t think that prejudice is instinctive. I think it is learned.

Kids can also show a remarkable openness and empathy. They’ve not built up walls to protect their feelings as adults have, so that they can feel and understand each other better.

Rhubarb drinks. Strawberry loses a leg. A character dies. How did you decide how much a middle-grade
reader can carry?

Reading With Your Kids put it this way in their review:

One of the greatest strengths of Redeeming Rhubarb is that it trusts young readers with complex ideas.

The book tackles racism, stereotypes, addiction, grief, courage, family loyalty, forgiveness, sacrifice, and faith without becoming preachy. Instead, these themes naturally emerge through the lives of memorable animal characters.

Kids go through much and are more resilient than we realize. I’ve seen children’s resilience firsthand. My late aunt grew up with an abusive, alcoholic father—my grandfather—and I’ve worked with children from broken homes who were carrying burdens adults sometimes underestimate.

That doesn’t mean children should be overwhelmed with darkness. It means we shouldn’t assume they are incapable of wrestling with difficult realities.

My daughters have watched movies and read books where the main character dies. They feel for the character. The tragedy impacts them.

I decided to make the characters go through tragedy so readers will feel and be impacted. I didn’t make Rhubarb a mean drunk because I didn’t want to scare the kids, so I did set limits. I also wanted the characters to be relatable. Life is not rainbows and sunshine. Characters are not all good and all bad. So I put the characters in difficult situations and show both the good and bad sides of each.

Bart’s nephews arrive, shooting kittens with foam darts, and leave, feeding one with a dropper. What
actually changes a cruel kid?

I have Bart speak sternly to his nephews but not yell. To children, we are towering giants. If we yell and scream, a child will be terrified. Even if we speak gently but look down upon them, they can be intimidated and fearful. Imagine being three feet tall and having someone twice your size standing over you, angry, pointing a finger, and raising his voice. That’s what we can look like to a young child. So Bart doesn’t yell because yelling won’t change them. I wrote in depth about this in another blog.

I have Bart make them work hard. Work does something to us. It gives us purpose and satisfaction. I also have Bart let the boys feel what it is like to feed the kittens and play with the dogs. They experience the warmth and joy of doing good. That teaches more than words can.

As I point out often in the book, we need to understand why someone behaves as they do. Bart inherently understood his nephews, and I bring that out by showing his thoughts.

Bart also doesn’t lecture. He asks questions and lets his nephews answer. This prompts them to consider which is better: being cruel or being kind.

I believe that’s how you change a cruel kid.

A parent hears their child repeat something ugly they picked up at school. Based on this book, what
should happen next in that house?

This should be a conversation starter, not a time for a lecture. We need to understand what happened and why. We need to ask our child why they think another child behaved as they did, to consider what may be happening in the life of the one who did or said something ugly. I give some insights into having those difficult discussions in this blog.

Conclusion

Redeeming Rhubarb was never meant to be a book that children simply finish and put back on the shelf. I wrote it to start conversations—about prejudice, forgiveness, choices, consequences, and what can happen when we’re willing to look beyond a label and understand the person on the other side. As Reading With Your Kids put it:

Some books entertain.

Some books teach.

And every once in a while, a book quietly challenges readers—children and adults alike—to examine the assumptions they carry in their own hearts.

Redeeming Rhubarb is one of those rare books.

To help families continue those conversations, I’ve created a free companion guide to Redeeming Rhubarb with chapter-by-chapter questions and activities.

Let’s keep the discussion going.

Bigotry

Posted on by Bob Richley
Person in dark jacket standing with a stick by a campfire outside a cave at night 

Afraid are we to look inside.
With no one and nobody do we abide.
Isolated in our own darkness, we hide.
Only to the shadows do we confide.
Our hatred breeds from ancient fears,
From painful wounds dredged up over the years.
From truths, we've hidden from our peers,
The pain that no one ever hears.
To the world, we lash out in rage
To anyone who rattles our cage.
In lonely despair, we age.
From all who would be close, we disengage.
We play and laugh with no aim.
We dare not share our shame.
Instead, we find others to blame.
Better they burn in the fiery flame.
But it is we who are not right.
We are deceived and think we're alright.
Terrified to come into the light.
We say hidden in the darkness of night.
Each of us pointing fingers, we raise
Reflecting the mirror of our days.
Lost within our hostile blinded haze,
Forgetting love's redeeming rays.
Yet dawn must break upon this night,
And truth needs to pierce our failing sight.
If we would only choose to face what's right,
Our shadows may yet transform to light.
For change begins with just one soul
Who dares to make their spirit whole,
Who breaks free from hatred's toll,
And helps another toward this goal.

Tips from the Tooth Fairy

Posted on by Bob Richley

How well do your kids brush their teeth? If they are like mine, they probably rush through the job to move quickly onto a more fun activity. I want to encourage good habits in my children, including taking good care of their teeth. Thankfully, I now have some help from none other than the tooth fairy herself.

In the picture book, “10 Tips from the Tooth Fairy,” author Edie M. Higby aka the Tooth Fairy, gives children some sound advice for dental hygiene. Her tips include proper brushing, flossing, trips to the dentist, and smiling. The recommendations are presented in a fun, sing-songy way, making it enjoyable for young children.

I read the book to my daughters, ages 7 and 8. They both gave it two thumbs up. The book is a little too simple for their age as we are now reading chapter books together, but still, they enjoyed it.

I would recommend it for young children who are just learning to brush. They will enjoy the book and be encouraged to have good dental habits.

Edie M. Higby, is a Children’s Book Author, Entrepreneur, and longtime Early Childhood Professional. She has been in the field of Education and Family Service for over 20 years. She received her B.A. degree from Whitworth University and specializes in Early Childhood Education & Curriculum Development. Edie is very passionate about teaching children about their Smile, Joy & Kindness. She started The Tooth Fairy Company in 2013 with hopes and BIG dreams of flying a Tooth Fairy Balloon down the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade one day. February is National Children’s Dental Health Month and National Tooth Fairy Day. On 2.22.2022 Edie and her family “Welcomed” a special new addition to the Tooth Fairy Team, a little Shih-tzu -Yorkie puppy. She even named her, Macy Day Parade.

Tooth decay is the most chronic childhood disease that we have in America today. It is the number one absenteeism from school and one of the top three reasons we enter a child into an emergency room under the age of five years old. In 2010 the American Dental Association declared tooth decay as a national epidemic. Even death can occur from an untreated oral infection and it’s totally preventable.

Web Site:
http://www.believeinthetoothfairy.com

Social Media Links:
https://www.facebook.com/thetoothfairycompany.BELIEVE/

Book link :
https://www.amazon.com/author/believeinthe2oothfairy

Review of “My Very Punny Dad”

Posted on by Bob Richley

Does your dad tell “dad jokes?” Do you laugh or groan when he does? Do you enjoy puns? Do you laugh or groan? Imagine you’re a young boy, and all day your day tells puns. You can’t escape. You’re trapped. You groan (most of the time) and sometimes even laugh. That’s the experience of the young book in a picture book, “My Very Punny Dad” by Ryan Milligan illustrated by Justin Castaneda . The boy regales the reader with his torturous day, where his dad tells puns all day. He even finds notes with puns at school.

If you like a good pun and this experience sounds like an experience your kids would enjoy and relate to, then this is a book you should get and read. I read it to my daughters who are are 7 and 8. They gave it a thumbs up. I had to explain some of the puns. They understood some of the puns. They enjoyed the story and even laughed a little. I admit, I enjoyed reading it to my daughters even though I’m not a fan of puns.

I’d recommend this to any dad who loves telling a good joke. I hope dads enjoy reading this to their children as much as I did to mine. I give it a thumbs up, just like my daughters did.

Ryan Milligan resides in the Chicago suburbs with his wife and three daughters. The author of MY VERY PUNNY DAD, Ryan doesn’t hide his affinity for “dad jokes.” His love of puns and word play began at a young age when he read Amelia Bedelia and quickly became fascinated with how language can be used in creative and silly ways. When he’s not reading books and having fun with his family, Ryan is an information technology professional. He’s also a connoisseur of hot sauce and wildly inconsistent with his mid-irons on the golf course, though he always wears two pairs of pants in case he ever gets a hole-in-one.

For more information visit

Web Site:
https://www.myverypunnydad.com

Social Media Links (Facebook, Twitter etc.):
@myverypunnydad on instagram and twitter

Book link :
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KN2P8VJ

Review of Pixie And The Green Book Mystery by Caroline Grace illustrated by Encarna Dorado

Posted on by Bob Richley

Do you remember classics like Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella and Snow White? What would you do if the stories were all mixed up and the characters were alive asking for your help? Well, that’s the challenge, Pixie finds herself facing in the children’s chapter book, Pixie And The Green Book Mystery by Caroline Grace illustrated by Encarna Dorado. Pixie is having a bad day until she goes to her favorite place, the library. Today would not be an ordinary trip to the library to read books. Instead, she encounters Alice, Cindi, and others in need of her help.

Pixie and The Green Book Mystery is a humorous, fun chapter book that middle schoolers will enjoy. As an adult, I found myself wondering how Pixie will solve her mysteries and dilemmas.

As an author and a parent, I look for books that will teach my children moral lessons and good character traits. Pixie demonstrates courage, fortitude, and persistence. She doesn’t quit despite setbacks. I think there are good lessons for my girls to learn someday. The author’s purpose is to encourage reading and I think this is accomplished by Pixie’s love for books.

I would recommend this book to parent’s wanting to encourage good character traits and encourage a love for reading. I think younger readers will enjoy this and be excited to learn what happens next in this unfolding mystery/adventure.

Author Bio

Coraline Grace is a reader, writer, library romper, mom of four. This native Texan lives off the coast and draws inspiration from her wonderland forest

She holds a B.A. in child psychology and a Masters in Edu. with an emphasis on reading, both supporting her passion for learning and facilitating children into becoming lifelong readers.

Coraline’s first book, Park It! – A Guide To Austin Parks & Playgrounds was published in Austin Texas. And after trading the salt lick for the salt life she changed focus, publishing a cookbook and two Christian motivational books for success.

But her heart has always been set on children. So she followed her passion and began writing chapter books for young readers. Pixie And The Green Mystery is the first in the series and Pixie And The Purple Mystery is coming up soon!.

For more information visit

http://www.libraryromp.com/p/home.html

http://www.libraryromp.com/p/home.html

Buy the book on Amazon

 

 

 

What Does it Take to be a Man

Posted on by Bob Richley

The group Boston asked in 1986 “What does it take to be a man?” Often society answers that question by portraying a man as tough, strong, independent, courageous, and non-emotional. The ideal men are the John Wayne’s and Chuck Norris’s of the world.

Tom Scholz of Boston answered the question differently with words like “a gentle hand,” tenderness,” “weak or strong” and “what you can feel.”

In the children’s picture book, “Boys Can Be Strong & Emotional” author Esther Pia Cordova answers the question in a similar way as Scholz. Jimmy, a bear, is to become a man. He must go through a test given to him by his Dad. The tests are challenging and frightening. Jimmy decides he needs help, so he seeks both advice and help from his friends. For the final challenge, Jimmy wisely decides that it is too dangerous.

Jimmy learns that to be a man, it is good to seek help because “real men are not always good at everything”. He learned that real men “make smart decisions.” It’s a smart decision not to do something too dangerous. Jimmy learns that real men can cry as he witnesses a tear on his dad’s face. He learns that real men “can still have fun.”

These lessons are contrary to the messages our boys often receive from society. It is important that children understand the lessons being taught them when they watch movies, play games and interact with peers. When those messages contradict what we want children to learn, it is our responsibility as parents, educators, and caregivers to make children aware and to present the lessons we do want them to learn. Cordova gives us a tool in her story to use to do just that. As we read this story we can engage our children and ask, “What should Jimmy do?” ”Is it good to ask help? “ “Should he do something that is dangerous?”
I’d recommend this book to anyone who wants children to learn that men need to ask for help, need to make wise decisions and can be emotional.

Author Bio:

When Esther was 7 years old she had a phase during which she refused to do her homework alone. She thought she couldn’t do it. This is far too often what we tell ourselves, even as adults. Recently, Ester attended a coding bootcamp. The experience was the most challenging thing she had ever done, but that is where she learned about the growth mindset and the powerful word YET. It’s such a simple but important concept. Esther wanted to share this discovery with kids everywhere and help parents to embrace the growth mindset as well. She believes that this simple concept will help children overcome their fears and strive to learn as much as they can in life. She wants people to stop saying “I can’t do that,” and start saying “I can’t do that, YET!”

For more information go to

http://powerofyet.com

https://www.facebook.com/powerofyet/

Fulfill the Dream and teach kids to look inside not outside (A review of I Am Tan by Michele Rose

Posted on by Bob Richley

How do you want your children to judge themselves and others? To quote Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Do you want them to judge “by the color of their skin” or “by the content of their character?” I want my kids to judge by what’s inside not what’s outside.
I need to model this for my children as I interact with people of all races and who are different than I am. It will also help to read them stories that present the issue so that we can discuss it. I Am Tan by Michele Rose is a book the discusses race, specifically being of a mixed race. I am white. I married a Filipina woman. We have 2 little girls. My girls are a mixed race. This book will give me a wonderful opportunity to discuss race with them. One of my concerns as a parent is how others will judge my girls since they are mixed. This book will help me to prepare them for what they may encounter and will give the opportunity to discuss how we should view others.
In I Am Tan Christian is a six-year-old boy of mixed race. His dad is black and his mother is white. He tries to figure out his own racial identity. He wonders if he is black, white or mixed. He wonders what label to use to identify himself to others when asked. As he explores, he learns about stereotypes and that there are other mixed children. I especially liked that he encountered a girl who was half Filipino. He learns that he should view others by who they are on the inside not what they appear to be on the outside.
This book offers many points of discussion on race, prejudice, judging others, and stereotypes. I would recommend this book to any parent who wants to teach their child to judge not “by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
There may not be a hotter topic in today’s society than race. With all the riots, shootings and other violence that is happening because of racial tension, we need books like I Am Tan. We need to teach the next generation the lessons present is this book. We are a divided nation not only by race but also by beliefs, by politics, by social economic status, and other differences. We need to teach our children to celebrate differences. We need to teach them to look at other people’s heart. We have the challenge to raise the next generation to fulfill Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that ALL men are created equal… I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Brief Author Bio:

This is my first children’s book. I saw a need for a book discussing race and stereotypes on a child’s level, so I fulfilled the need. I am a photographer and used pictures of my son, to create the drawings in the book. I am currently in school for creative writing and art.

Review of The Adventures of Karlie and Kyle: An Adventure at Old Man Joe’s

Posted on by Bob Richley

Do your kids ever lie? Do they ever tell you they are going to do something but instead do something they are not supposed to do? Do they know you tell them not to do things for their own protection?

I have two children. I want them to understand that I tell them to do things and not to do things for their own protection. I want them to be honest with me and to discuss when they want to do something.

I think reading books with children is a good way to start a discussion with children. Books that teach moral lessons are a great way to discuss the lesson with the child.

The Adventures of Karlie and Kyle: An Adventure at Old Man Joe’s by Cathy Fraschilla is a good book to start a discussion on lying and listening to parents. Karlie and Kyle lie to their mom about what they are going to do because they want to do something that they know their mother wouldn’t like. Their mom warns them about a potential storm. When the storm hits, Karlie and Kyle realize the danger they put themselves in by lying and not listening to their mom. Telling the truth and listening to parent are valuable lessons. I want to teach these lessons to my children.

This is a simple story and is simply written. Its value is in the lessons that could be discussed with children. I would recommend it for discussing the lessons of telling the truth and obedience.

Good questions to ask might be “Why do the kids lie?” “What did their mom say?” “What was dangerous about the lie?” “What do you think could have happened?” There are many potential questions to ask as you read this story to kids.

I would recommend this book as a tool to help to your children valuable lessons and to help them think about the consequences of their actions.

About the Author:

Cathy Fraschilla is a stay-at-home mother living with her husband and three children in Pennsylvania. Fraschilla, who has always enjoyed reading since she was 3, spends most of her time volunteering at her children’s school when needed. She has been involved in various fields of employment, including editorial, healthcare and education. As an author, she aims to teach children in a captivating and impressionable way through her books, ideally inspiring them to be all that they can be.