Bryce Vickmark for The New York Times
There was a wonderful piece in the New York Times on Prof. Thomas E. Wartenberg teaching of philosophy to children through children’s books. You can read the full article, “Examined Life, Age 8” here.
“The world is a puzzling place and when you’re young it doesn’t make sense,” Professor Wartenberg says. “What you’re giving them is the sort of skills to learn how to think about these things.”
We thank Prof. Thomas E. Wartenberg for using Hey, Little Ant in his fine curriculum alongside such great books as The Giving Tree, Morris the Moose, and Frog and Toad Together.
I had the opportunity to meet Professor Wartenberg in Orono last spring. I love the idea of introducing philosophy to children using picture books! Hey, Little Ant is a great choice for this program. I recently read aloud during storytime and then asked the kids what they would do (most said they would spare the ant’s life 🙂 ).