[hue Posts: 128 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Hi, I am trying to find some recent PB (in the last ~10 years) that has its theme about the dark and cold side of other human beings and how children should deal with them. Such as how children should deal with selfish or cold-hearted people, etc. Not about death and loss thought.

One book somewhat related is This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen. Although the lesson is not straightforward.

I also wonder if it is proper to reveal the very dark side of life to children, to have them prepared. Because when they grow up, they'll eventually have to face it somehow. Please share your thoughts. Thank you!

[Vijaya Posts: 7,129 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

Hmmm, one of my favorite PBs is Enemy Pie because kids can have enemies too.   
Mina by Matthew Forsythe was very interesting because it shows that parents don't always know what's best.
The Wodney Wat books deal with a bully.

As to exposing kids to the darker side of human nature, I think it depends on the specifics. Execution is everything, No pun intended

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 6,945 Status: Offline Language is so cool! WWW]

Because when they grow up, they'll eventually have to face it somehow.

Kids face it all the time. They face kids who bully, adults who bully, people who don't show respect for others, selfishness, and many other dark traits. We can't protect kids from this when they are young. And they need to know how to deal with those smaller issues so they can figure out how to deal with bigger issues when they are older.

Of course, there are many books in which kids aren't nice to each other. I'm not coming up with any that are dark though.

[Vijaya Posts: 7,129 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

hue, just this morning I read a wonderful interview on PBB: https://picturebookbuilders.com/2022/10/the-tower-of-life-interview-with-chana-stiefel-and-susan-gal/  There are some lovely PBs about the Jewish holocaust and I wonder whether they're actually read to little kids or older ones. When I look back at my own childhood, I didn't know about it until I read the Diary of Anne Frank at age 10. It slayed me. Call it a loss of innocence.

In the same vein as the Hat books, there's a PB about what happens to a mouse when a cat finds it: On a Dark, Dark Night? My kids loved it even as they lamented the probable fate of the cute little mouse. But then, we lived on a horse acre near the woods at the time so they saw the predator/prey relationships in action. Not the same as people being mean to each other.

[hue Posts: 128 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Thank you, Vijaya for the books you recommended! Even reading the interview about THE TOWER OF LIFE leaves my heart aching. I'm going to check out those books.

[hue Posts: 128 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

Kids face it all the time. They face kids who bully, adults who bully, people who don't show respect for others, selfishness, and many other dark traits. We can't protect kids from this when they are young. And they need to know how to deal with those smaller issues so they can figure out how to deal with bigger issues when they are older.

Of course, there are many books in which kids aren't nice to each other. I'm not coming up with any that are dark though.

Kids face it all the time. They face kids who bully, adults who bully, people who don't show respect for others, selfishness, and many other dark traits. We can't protect kids from this when they are young. And they need to know how to deal with those smaller issues so they can figure out how to deal with bigger issues when they are older.

Of course, there are many books in which kids aren't nice to each other. I'm not coming up with any that are dark though.

Thank you, Debbie! I think you are right, we can't really protect kids from the dark side of life. Showing them how to protect themselves, and starting small is a great idea. Much appreciated!