Human Rights in Children's Literature: Imagination and the Narrative of Law by Jonathan Todres and Sarah Higinbotham (review)

"A person's a person, no matter how small." This quotation from the famous Dr. Seuss book Horton Hears a Who! marks the beginning of the volume Human Rights in Children's Literature—a multidisciplinary investigation by Jonathan Todres, a professor of law at Georgia State University, and Sarah Higinbotham, a visiting assistant professor of English at Emory University. The novel study "aims to reveal children's literature as a rich source of rights discourse" (16) from the perspectives of law, human rights education, and literary theory. In eight chapters, the volume focuses primarily on in-depth explorations of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child from 1989. These are enriched by critical readings of children's literature predominantly from the English-speaking world. The books considered range from classics, such as The Wind in the Willows or Peter Pan, to modern picturebooks, such as Doreen Cronin's Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type. The choice of over 150 books covered in this project was based largely on their popularity among young readers, for these arguably achieve "greater…impact on children's imaginations and perspectives" (20), according to Todres and Higinbotham. Helpfully, the volume also includes a separate bibliography, listing the children's books discussed.

The text shifts between detailed analyses of basic human rights concepts in relation to children as articulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, examples of these in chosen children's books, and tips on implementing the findings in human rights education. In contrast to the thorough examination of the various human rights, including participation, identity, and civil and economic rights of the child, the readings of children's literature are rather inconsistent in their depth. On the one hand, we are offered a thoughtful drawing out of the tensions in "the narrator bringing himself 'down to [the] level' of the grown-up" (187) in The Little Prince. On the other hand, as in the case of the child-adult binary in the discussion of The Day the Crayons Quit, Todres and Higinbotham maintain that "the child-figures in this book are sentient, individualized crayons" (204). In this instance, the reading seems forced, aiming to illustrate rather than thoroughly engage with the implications of the text.

However, Todres and Higinbotham do not remain in the realm of theorizing the child readers of books and their reactions, as they also include comments from discussions with children ages four to seventeen. These prove to be some of the most thought-provoking elements in the study. The authors read various picturebooks and novels in kindergartens and classrooms and prodded the children to talk about the stories freely, without purposeful questioning pertaining to human rights. When considering the illustrations in Ferdinand, one of the children notices that Ferdinand is described as "small and quiet," but "his shadow looks stronger, like a wolf" (110). The girl then takes this observation further in saying that children, just like Ferdinand, "are in fact very strong" (p. 110). The discussions with children offer strong support for Todres and Higinbotham's initial premise that "[s]tories give expression to human rights in a way that is more accessible to children" (3).

Due to the immensity of the subject at hand, the authors encourage further study of the connections of human rights and children's literature, including their use in human rights education. Especially welcome would be volumes examining children's books outside of the Anglo-American tradition, reflecting on the varying views on children and the finer points of the human rights law from around the world. The study concludes "that children need to be partners in this exploration" (211), an assertion supported throughout the study in ways of children's participation.

Human Rights in Children's Literature succeeds in establishing children's books as valid and versatile accounts of human rights concepts, which can...