There has been a long tradition of creating children’s songs after horrific events, “London Bridge is Falling Down” was about a Viking Invasion and “Three Blind Mice” is the story of Queen Mary executing Protestant bishops. So why not make a children’s book about an ideology that killed over 100 million people in the 20th century?
German author Bini Adamczak must have had that line of thinking when writing her new book Communism for Kids, published by MIT Press.
“Once upon a time, people yearned to be free of the misery of capitalism. How could their dreams come true?” Adamczak wrote in the book’s preview. “This little book proposes a different kind of communism, one that is true to its ideals and free from authoritarianism. Offering relief for many who have been numbed by Marxist exegesis and given headaches by the earnest pompousness of socialist politics, it presents political theory in the simple terms of a children’s story, accompanied by illustrations of lovable little revolutionaries experiencing their political awakening.”
Imagine, communism without the starvation, death, torture chambers, forced abortions, and death camps. Good idea, right? Amazon reviewers didn’t share the author’s excitement and gave the book awful reviews.
Unless the book includes a pop-up tank rolling into a crowd of peaceful demonstrators, it’s hard to see the appeal.
