International Journal of Applied Philosophy

Volume 14, Issue 1, Spring 2000

Elizabeth Baird Saenger
Pages 35-41

Exploring Ethics through Children’s Literature

In this paper, the author describes some of her experiences over the past almost twenty years discussing ethics with children. She gives many examples of children’s literature as sources for inspiring moral reflection and imaginative thinking on the part of children. She notes that stories allow children to take risks in thinking about ethical decisions. They provide young people with ways to empathize with others who are living very different lives from the ones they live.