"The Good Little Calf that got Eaten" (for ages 3 to 5)
This work might begin:
Tommy was a cute little calf who lived on a big farm. He was only 1 year old. Tommy and his mother loved each other very much. They would walk around the farm, stopping to eat grass.
Tommy could not read a book, or drive a car, but he loved being outside. He liked the smells and the trees and the wind. He loved to cuddle with his mother. He'd say moooooooo a lot, and his mother would say mooooooooo back to him.
One morning, Tommy saw that Farmer Bill was acting strange. Farmer Bill tried not to look Tommy in the eye .........
(I got the idea for this book by being told by a mother that her son asked her "Do we only eat the bad chickens?")
"The Boy Who Knew Better" (for ages 3 to 6)
This is the story of Max, who realized at an early age that in many ways, he really DID know better than his parents. This book chronicles his struggles to be free.
With this book, I'd like to introduce a whole new genre to children's literature. I'm sure that many parents have struggled to find books with this theme.
"They Don't Understand my Starship!" (for ages 6 to 8)
This work tells the near tragic story of an inspired and forward looking boy whose greatest source of inspiration, a science fiction TV show that aired only on Sunday mornings, was forced to attend church, thereby missing his show. Luckily, this story has a happy ending.
"Dorothy's New Van" (for ages 11 to 16)
This story, for teenage girls, tells of the marvelous, life-enhancing, and mind-altering adventures of Dorothy after her parents bought her an old Volkswagon Mini-Bus.
"The Parents Who Thought for Themselves!" (for ages 6 to 12)
One day at school, Jason discovered that certain internet sites had been blocked by his school. He asked about this, and was told that the sites in question contained pornography. Jason went home that afternoon and asked his mother about this.
Jason's mother suggested that the two of them explore the issue of pornography with open minds, in order to determine if the school's ban had any merit. Early chapters chronicle their investigation into internet pornography, the conclusions they drew, and the still unanswered questions which they hoped to explore in the future.
Both Jason and his mother determine that while most pornography was of low quality, the low quality was probably due to America's puritanical eschewing of sexuality. They discussed how pornography might differ in a more advanced society. Jason's father showed him how to circumvent the school's blocking of some sites.
In later chapters, Jason and his mother explore issues of religion, drugs, violence, politics, and death. They always examine these issues with open minds, and with mutual respect for the conclusions each of them has reached.
Author's note: While rarely discussed, many people have noticed that some sort of brain damage seems to sometimes coincide with parenthood. These people, who may have seemed normal prior to reproduction, seem to loose what little common sense they possessed, once children were born. This loss of common sense can manifest in many ways. Perhaps they become unable to see the child as the individual he is, or they ignore his most heartfelt aspirations and drives, and instead treat him like some storybook image of a child. Or, they refuse to open-mindedly explore issues with the child, and instead enforce shallow views of reality gotten from other brain-damaged parents or TV. This book shows that a higher level of interaction between parent and child IS possible.
"Why God Burned Up Little Sarah" (for ages 6 to 10)
This work explains, in easy to understand language, how religions arose. It attempts to demonstrate how mankind became identified with thought, and how some sages realized this mistake. It goes on to show how some people wanted to be like these sages, and that this was good, but that other people just pretended to be like these sages, and that these pretending people created religions. Finally, it points out why, since these founders of religions did not themselves experience reality clearly, they imagined a God outside of themselves.
The fourth chapter of the book shows how it's kind of funny that even though these people imagined a God outside of themselves, they imagined that this Mr. God was almost as stupid as they were. Illustrations help (for the very young) to depict this imagined God. Some of the illustrations depict: