Baby Loves Political Science: Justice!

by Ruth Spiro, Greg Paprocki (Illustrator)

Is your future voter election-day ready?

This cute and clever addition to the best-selling Baby Loves series offers an introduction to political science and the justice system perfect for babies.

When Baby sees that it's Mom who arbitrates the rules at home, he gets a glimpse at how his judge-mother interprets the laws when he goes with her to court. A funny and gentle introduction to the judicial branch of government and how justice is served.

Genres: Childrens

20 pages, Board Book

Published September 15, 2020

About the author

Ruth Spiro is the author of the Baby Loves Science series, published by Charlesbridge. These adorably illustrated board books contain expert-reviewed science, yet are simple enough for the very youngest readers. Another new picture book series, Made by Maxine, will be published by Dial in October, 2018.

Ruth is a frequent speaker at schools and conferences, and recent presentations include the Early Childhood STEM Conference at CalTech and the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a board book, so the intended audience is pretty young. All the same, it starts out with a concrete child-sized idea, expands it to the community and the country, and then brings it back to the child. I liked the format a great deal. It is a simplistic understanding of government and justice, and it is fairly optimistic in its treatment of the way the justice system works. Some readers might find it controversial, though, since it is pretty evenly representative of skin colors, and specifically calls out the freedom of speech, marriage equality, and wider access to voting. Finally, although it's not obvious at the beginning of the book, the boy on the cover has two married moms, which is subtle but present on the last page.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

When baby doesn't follow the rules, he has consequences. At school, baby learns that rules keep everyone safe. Grownup's rules are called laws. The constitution lists many laws and rights. A lawyer can help explain the laws and courts are there to ensure fair treatment for all. This is called Justice.

As a board book for babies, I love the illustrations, I love that there are people of all different cultures. The simple explanation of laws and justice is probably better for a bit older child, but this series is fun. You can't get them started too soon learning about how the government works.

Cross posted to http://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com

[Grace Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sad to say I’m very disappointed in this book. I love the author’s science books so I was excited to learn that there was a series of political science books too. The other 3 are pretty good at staying nonpartisan but this book is the exception. The kid in the book has 2 moms, there are protestors pictured outside the Supreme Court with signs advocating for gay rights, and when describing what “rights” are, the author includes the “right to marry whoever you love”. It would have been so easy to stay nonpartisan and list rights laid out in the Bill of Rights. The woke content in a book for babies was completely unnecessary.

[Benjamin Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a parent with a masters in political science, I was excited to share the basics of my field with my son. Especially since he loves the science books in this series. This is supposed to be a book on how the justice system works in the United States. It’s actually a book about gay rights. If you want to write a book about gay rights, then do that. But don’t advertise it as a book on the justice system. Very disappointing.

[Anna]

Too advanced for niece at the moment

[Andrés · Rating 2 out of 5]

Board book format, but for an older child.