Kids Books About Moderation

It’s the morning after Halloween and as I type this, my stomach is churning from eating way too much candy last night. I rarely indulge in that much sugar….but the Skittles and Sour Patch Kids were plentiful and my daughter was in a sharing mood. It was divine. But yes, now I am feeling a bit acidic. So I feel like it’s time to post about moderation.

One of my favourite sayings is “everything in moderation”. It means to have a balanced life. Not too much of anything, and a little (or a moderate amount) of all (except alcohol for me!). It means eating a balanced diet – which includes a little bit of junk food, but mostly foods that are good for you. It means not spending all day on your phone or watching TV – but doing a variety of activities to have a healthy balanced life. It takes self-discipline to have moderation. We want to have as much of we want of things, but sometimes too much is not good for us.

Moderation is also a political value I hold dear to my heart and with the American election in 5 days, I am keenly aware of how divided this country is and how extreme we have become. In the past I was more extreme in my political views, but as I’ve gotten to know different people and really listened to their perspectives, I’ve come to believe that a moderate approach that takes in the best ideas from both sides and finds a middle ground is what is just for society. I believe that when we are extreme, we aren’t listening. And when we don’t listen, we don’t have a full understanding of the problem and all of the people involved. Refusing to learn about what people who think or feel differently from you is ignorant and dangerous. Sadly, there are many people today who feel that even engaging in a conversation with someone who thinks differently from them will somehow harm them. I don’t get that.

I really hope to teach my kids to be slow to jump to conclusions, to be moderate in their opinions, and always believe there is more to know. I hope to teach my kids willpower, to do hard things even when they don’t want to, to be critical thinkers and not just blindly trust what they read or hear, to seek out different perspectives, to see harmony in diversity. This is a lifelong endeavor – I’m still learning how to be moderate – but it can start in small conversations (mostly about food and play) in childhood.

So without further ado, here are some children’s books featuring moderate or over-indulgent characters!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

This is how I feel the morning after Halloween – like I just need to eat some nice green leaves after my night of chocolate, nuts, pizza and candy. There’s too much happening in my stomach right now, just like the very hungry caterpillar.

Cookies in Frog and Toad the Complete Collection by Arnold Lobel

I think that this is my favourite Frog and Toad story. It is all about having the willpower not to eat too many cookies, a struggle I can definitely identify with.

In Which Pooh Goes Visiting and Gets into a Tight Place in The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne

When Pooh bear eats too much and gets stuck in the door to Rabbit’s house, I feel seen. I mean, I don’t get stuck in doors (yet) but my clothes are feeling snug.

Ish by Peter A. Reynolds

In Ish, a young painter feels that everything he does is terrible. He is extreme in his judgment of his work and unable to see where it might have some good parts too. His teacher helps him see the “ish” (the moderate spot near perfection) in his work.

Still on the hunt!

I’ve been searching for a book that tells a story about moderating technology use – not in a top-down: Tech is bad, you must have limited screen-time, or one where the parent dictates the moderation – but one that loosely talks about moderation in a technology context. Do you have one to recommend?

I hope these books have given you some ideas for how to begin talking about moderation with your kids.

Warmly,

-Heather

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