Since 1979, Thinking in Stories has provided reviews of children’s and young adult literature containing philosophical perplexities ripe for inter-generational dialogue. The column was created by the late American philosopher Gareth B. Matthews, who initiated the study of philosophy in children’s literature. In his role as contributing editor for Thinking: The Journal of Philosophy for Children, Matthews wrote 58 Thinking in Stories reviews between 1979 and 2006. The column was continued by Dr. Peter Shea and became a weblog in 2020. Those interested in contributing a review should read these guidelines and follow their instructions for submission.
Copyright for Thinking in Stories reviews published in the IAPC journal Thinking (1979-2014) is held by the IAPC and requests for reprint permissions should be sent to iapc@montclair.edu. Copyright for reviews published on this weblog (since 2020) is held by Dr. Peter Shea and requests for reprint permissions should be sent to shea0017@umn.edu.
Two other websites devoted to philosophy in children’s literature (created by colleagues of Matthews) are Philosophy and Children’s Literature (PLATO: Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization) and Teaching Children Philosophy (Prindle Institute for Ethics at DuPauw University).
Thinking in Stories Award Contest
The IAPC conducts award contests to generate bibliographies and reviews of children’s and young adult books (and other media) organized around themes appropriate for young people’s philosophical inquiry. Reviews are judged on the books’ relevance to the theme and the quality of the reviewers’ philosophical analysis. The Thinking in Stories Award Contest is sponsored by the IAPC, the Department of Educational Foundations, and the College of Education and Human Services at Montclair State University. See below for thematic bibliographies with introductions.
Reviews Alphabetical by Title
- Review of A Boy Named Isamu by James Yang
- Review of Albert’s Impossible Toothache by Barbara Williams
- Review of Alexander Von Humboldt: Explorer, Naturalist, and Environmental Pioneer by Danica Novgorodoff
- Review of An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children by Jamaica Kincaid
- Review of Aquarium by Cynthia Alonso
- Review of Away – Netflix television series
- Review of Bear Outside by Jane Yolen
- Review of Becoming a Good Creature by Sy Montgomery
- Review of The Bee-man of Orn by Frank R. Stockton
- Review of The Big Fur Secret by Margaret Wise Brown
- Review of Burglar Bill by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
- Review of Buzzing with Questions by Janice N. Harrington
- Review of The Cat Who Thought She Was a Dog and the Dog Who Thought He Was a Cat by Isaac Bashevis Singer
- Review of The Dead Bird by Margaret Wise Brown (1938), illustrated by Remy Charlip
- Review of The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
- Review of Emily’s Art by Peter Catalanotto
- Review of The Enemy: A Book About Peace by Davide Cali
- Review of The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers
- Review of Feathers Together by Caron Levis, illustrated by Charles Santoso
- Review of Fiona’s Bee by Beverly Keller
- Review of Franny K. Stein: Mad Scientist – The Fran That Time Forgot by Jim Benton
- Review of Fred by Posy Simmonds
- Review of Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel
- Review of Gibberish by Young Vo
- Review of The Great Blueness and Other Predicaments by Arnold Lobel
- Review of Greta Thunberg by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara & Anke Weckmann (The Child as Activist: Review of Review of Something, Someday and Greta Thunberg)
- Review of Gus et les Hindous [Gus and the Hindus] by Hubert Monteilhet
- Review of The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
- Review of Hildilid’s Night by Cheli Duran Ryan
- Review of The Hour of Letdown in The Second Tree from the Corner by E.B. White
- Review of How War Changed Rondo by Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv
- Review of How to be a Hero by Florence Parry Heide
- Review of The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
- Review of I am David by Anne Holm
- Review of I’m Trying to Love Spiders written and illustrated by Bethany Barton
- Review of The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures by Brian Selznick
- Review of Island below the Star by James Rumford
- Review of The King at the Door by Brock Cole
- Review of The King’s Toys by Margaret Mahy
- Review of I Know a Lady by Charlotte Zolotow
- Review of Kindergeschichten by Peter Bichsel
- Review of Knee-Knock Rise by Natalie Babbitt
- Review of The Leak by Kate Reed Petty
- Review of Leese Webster by Ursula K. LeGuin
- Review of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
- Review of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
- Review of Lulu and the Flying Babies by Posy Simmonds
- Review of Many Moons by James Thurber
- Review of Mis Dos Pueblos Fronterizos / My Two Border Towns by David Bowles
- Review of Monsters by Russell Hoban
- Review of Morris the Moose by B. Wiseman
- Review of The Mountains of Tibet by Mordecai Gerstein
- Review of The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
- Review of Neunundzwanzig verueckte Geschichten [Twenty-nine crazy stories] by Ursula Woelfel
- Review of Not Now, Bernard by David McKee
- Review of Now Everybody Really Hates Me by Jane Read Martin and Patricia Marx
- Review of Owl Moon by Jane Yolen, illustrated by John Schoenherr
- Review of Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum
- Review of The Pig in the Spigot by Richard Wilbur
- Review of The Puddle Pail by Elisa Klevin
- Review of Raging Robots and Unruly Uncles by Maragaret Mahy
- Review of The Real Thief by William Steig
- Review of The Ring of Gyges by Plato
- Review of Rotten Island by William Steig
- Review of The Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbitt
- Review of Shrek! by William Steig
- Review of The Shrinking of Treehorn by Florence Parry Heide
- Review of Silan’s Box by Alkistis Chalikia
- Review of The Snail with the Right Heart by Maria Popova, artwork by Ping Zhu
- Review of The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss
- Review of Something, Someday by Amanda Gorman & Christian Robinson (The Child as Activist: Review of Review of Something, Someday and Greta Thunberg)
- Review of Southwest Sunrise by Nikki Grimes and Wendell Minor
- Review of Standing Up to Mr. O. by Claudia Mills
- Review of Story Boat by Kyo Maclear
- Review of “Story of a Good Brahmin” in The Portable Voltaire
- Review of The Story of Mrs. Lovewright and Purrless Her Cat by Lore Segal
- Review of Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
- Review of Three Little Pigs by Mitsumasa Anno and Tuyosi Mori
- Review of Three Stories You Can Read to Your Cat by Sara Swan Miller
- Review of Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie
- Review of Time for the White Egret by Natalie Savage Carlson
- Review of Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
- Review of Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
- Review of The Turnaround Wind by Arnold Lobel
- Review of Two Islands by Ivan Gantschev
- Review of The Ugly Place by Laura Deal
- Review of The Upside-Down Cat by Elizabeth Parsons
- Review of The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
- Review of Vovchyk who Rode a Bomb by Yuri Nikitinsky
- Review of Wally’s Stories by Vivian Gussin Paley
- Review of We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom (author) and Michaela Goade (artist)
- Review of The Wild Boy by Mordecai Gerstein
- Review of Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox
- Review of Wise Guy: The Life and Philosophy of Socrates by M.D. Usher
- Review of The Wolves of Yellowstone: A Rewilding Story by Catherine Barr, illustrated by Jenni Desmond
- Review of Yellow and Pink by William Steig
- Review of You Are an Explorer by Shahrzad Shahrjerdi
Reviews Alphabetical by Author
- Review of Burglar Bill by Janet and Allan Ahlberg
- Review of Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie
- Review of Aquarium by Cynthia Alonso
- Review of Three Little Pigs by Mitsumasa Anno and Tuyosi Mori
- Review of Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
- Review of Knee-Knock Rise by Natalie Babbitt
- Review of The Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbitt
- Review of Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
- Review of The Wolves of Yellowstone: A Rewilding Story by Catherine Barr, illustrated by Jenni Desmond
- Review of I’m Trying to Love Spiders written and illustrated by Bethany Barton
- Review of Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum
- Review of Franny K. Stein: Mad Scientist – The Fran That Time Forgot by Jim Benton
- Review of Kindergeschichten by Peter Bichsel
- Review of Mis Dos Pueblos Fronterizos / My Two Border Towns by David Bowles
- Review of The Enemy: A Book About Peace by Davide Cali
- Review of Emily’s Art by Peter Catalanotto
- Review of Silan’s Box by Alkistis Chalikia
- Review of The King at the Door by Brock Cole
- Review of The Ugly Place by Laura Deal
- Review of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
- Review of The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers
- Review of The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
- Review of The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
- Review of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
- Review of The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
- Review of Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox
- Review of Two Islands by Ivan Gantschev
- Review of The Mountains of Tibet by Mordecai Gerstein
- Review of The Wild Boy by Mordecai Gerstein
- Review of Something, Someday by Amanda Gorman & Christian Robinson (The Child as Activist: Review of Review of Something, Someday and Greta Thunberg)
- Review of Southwest Sunrise by Nikki Grimes and Wendell Minor
- Review of Wally’s Stories by Vivian Gussin Paley
- Review of Buzzing with Questions by Janice N. Harrington
- Review of How to be a Hero by Florence Parry Heide
- Review of The Shrinking of Treehorn by Florence Parry Heide
- Review of Monsters by Russell Hoban
- Review of I am David by Anne Holm
- Review of Fiona’s Bee by Beverly Keller
- Review of An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children by Jamaica Kincaid
- Review of The Puddle Pail by Elisa Klevin
- Review of The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
- Review of Leese Webster by Ursula K. LeGuin
- Review of Feathers Together by Caron Levis, illustrated by Charles Santoso
- Review of We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom (author) and Michaela Goade (artist)
- Review of Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel
- Review of The Great Blueness and Other Predicaments by Arnold Lobel
- Review of The Turnaround Wind by Arnold Lobel
- Review of Story Boat by Kyo Maclear
- Review of Now Everybody Really Hates Me by Jane Read Martin and Patricia Marx
- Review of The King’s Toys by Margaret Mahy
- Review of Raging Robots and Unruly Uncles by Margaret Mahy
- Review of Not Now, Bernard by David McKee
- Review of Standing Up to Mr. O. by Claudia Mills
- Review of Gus et les Hindous [Gus and the Hindus] by Hubert Monteilhet
- Review of Becoming a Good Creature by Sy Montgomery
- Away – Netflix television series
- Review of Vovchyk who Rode a Bomb by Yuri Nikitinsky
- Review of Alexander Von Humboldt: Explorer, Naturalist, and Environmental Pioneer by Danica Novgorodoff
- Review of The Upside-Down Cat by Elizabeth Parsons
- Review of The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
- Review of Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
- Review of The Leak by Kate Reed Petty
- Review of The Ring of Gyges by Plato
- Review of The Snail with the Right Heart by Maria Popova, artwork by Ping Zhu
- Review of How War Changed Rondo by Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv
- Review of Island below the Star by James Rumford
- Review of Hildilid’s Night by Cheli Duran Ryan
- Review of Time for the White Egret by Natalie Savage Carlson
- Review of The Story of Mrs. Lovewright and Purrless Her Cat by Lore Segal
- Review of The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures by Brian Selznick
- Review of The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss
- Review of You Are an Explorer by Shahrzad Shahrjerdi
- Review of Fred by Posy Simmonds
- Review of Lulu and the Flying Babies by Posy Simmonds
- Review of The Cat Who Thought She Was a Dog and the Dog Who Thought He Was a Cat by Isaac Bashevis Singer
- Review of The Real Thief by William Steig
- Review of Rotten Island by William Steig
- Review of Shrek! by William Steig
- Review of Yellow and Pink by William Steig
- Review of The Bee-man of Orn by Frank R. Stockton
- Review of Three Stories You Can Read to Your Cat by Sara Swan Miller
- Review of Many Moons by James Thurber
- Review of Wise Guy: The Life and Philosophy of Socrates by M.D. Usher
- Review of Greta Thunberg by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara & Anke Weckmann (The Child as Activist: Review of Review of Something, Someday and Greta Thunberg)
- Review of Gibberish by Young Vo
- Review of “Story of a Good Brahmin” in The Portable Voltaire
- Review of The Hour of Letdown in The Second Tree from the Corner by E.B. White
- Review of The Pig in the Spigot by Richard Wilbur
- Review of Albert’s Impossible Toothache by Barbara Williams
- Review of The Big Fur Secret by Margaret Wise Brown
- Review of The Dead Bird by Margaret Wise Brown (1938), illustrated by Remy Charlip
- Review of Morris the Moose by B. Wiseman
- Review of Neunundzwanzig verueckte Geschichten [Twenty-nine crazy stories] by Ursula Woelfel
- Review of A Boy Named Isamu by James Yang
- Review of Bear Outside by Jane Yolen
- Review of Owl Moon by Jane Yolen, illustrated by John Schoenherr
- Review of I Know a Lady by Charlotte Zolotow
Reviews with Reading Level
*The leveling of these titles was made by Marlene Aviles-Solivan