Stories we grow up with teach us what kind of lives are possible. Most of us heard these at bedtime, in schools, and passed from one generation to the next. They taught us about courage, kindness, honesty, survival and a host of other lessons without us even realizing it.
But stories do more than pass along values.
Stories quietly shape an understanding of what life might look like. Who gets to be the hero. Who needs rescuing. What love looks like. What a family looks like. Who belongs at the center of the story and who remains at the edges.
Perhaps there is more than one way to tell a story.
This Pride Month, Courageous Commons has been thinking about the power of widening our imagination and our circle. About what happens when more people get to see themselves reflected back. When stories remind us there is more than one way to love, more than one way to build a family, and more than one path to happily ever after, the world becomes better somehow.
Today we’re sharing a few excerpts from young children’s books that offer that wider view of the world. What I love about these stories is not that they make an argument. It’s that they make room. Room for more kinds of families, more kinds of love, and more ways of being human.
Here’s to stories that help all of us see ourselves and one another more clearly.
In the comments, please name and maybe tell us a little about the stories that shaped you.
“Oh, didn’t I tell you? My dad is a she! My Dad’s name is Haley. She used to be a he but now she is a she! Last year she did this thing called transition. She grew her hair long, painted her nails in bright colors and started wearing different clothes. Dad changed his name to Haley and asked me to use the pronouns she/ her instead of he/him.”
“The knight took off his helmet to reveal his handsome face and as they gazed into each other’s eyes their hearts began to race. As the villagers returned it became clear to those around that the prince’s one true love had at last been surely found. The king and queen had come back too and were overwhelmed with joy. ‘We finally found someone who is perfect for our boy!’”
“We were talking about families at school. The teacher asked us what made our family special.”
And so, the children take turns…
One girl shared, “Because I live with my grandmother, people think she’s, my mother. She’s not. She’s my everything.”
Another boy who has two moms says, “Both my moms are terrible singers.”
A girl says, “One of my dad’s is tall and one is short. They both give good hugs.”
Another reveals, “I remember the time when someone saw us at the park, they asked my foster mother to point out her real children. Mom said, “I don’t have any imaginary children. All my children are real.”
by Sarah Savage, She's My Dad, Daniel Haack, Prince & Knight Sara O'Leary, A Family Is a Family Is a Family.
Invitation: “My family is not everyone else’s family, my family…”
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June Courageous Citizen
Enjoy Dennis Kucinich’s wisdom below.
“Mr. Speaker, we make war with such certainty, yet we are befuddled how to create peace. This paradox requires reflection if we are to survive. Making and endorsing war requires a secret love of death, and a fearful desire to embrace annihilation. Creating peace requires compassion, putting ourselves in the other person’s place, and all of their suffering and all of their hopes and to act from our heart’s capacity to love, not fear.”
For our June Americans Who Tell the Truth feature, we chose Dennis Kucinich because he has spent a lifetime holding onto ideas that many people considered politically inconvenient: peace, public good over private profit, environmental responsibility, and the belief that government should serve ordinary people, not power. Whether people agreed with him o…
Thank you Circles of Courageous Commons for introducing these 3 children's books and authors to us.
The most formative book for me as a child was the classic "The Story of Ferdinand" by Munro Leaf. Published in 1936. Set in Spain, Ferdinand was a gentle bull who did not want to fight, he'd rather sit down and smell the flowers. This story is a direct contrast to the macho images of masculinity and it celebrates gentleness and peacefulness.
Thank you Circles of Courageous Commons for introducing these 3 children's books and authors to us.
The most formative book for me as a child was the classic "The Story of Ferdinand" by Munro Leaf. Published in 1936. Set in Spain, Ferdinand was a gentle bull who did not want to fight, he'd rather sit down and smell the flowers. This story is a direct contrast to the macho images of masculinity and it celebrates gentleness and peacefulness.
Fabulous. I love each of these stories and how they make room for more love, for all of us and everyone to belong.🩷