How Children’s Books Indoctrinate Children in Darwinism

Researching this topic is difficult because there are over 275,000 children’s books in print from 20,000 publishers (Bowker 2023). Consequently, only a random selection is feasible to make evaluations on the topic of teaching evolution. To document my observations, I selected several of the most popular children’s books published by leading publishers and then reviewed how they cover the topic of evolution. In all the cases that I examined, they teach evolution as an unequivocal fact and never once discussed the many well-documented controversies in the academic evolutionary field. This is especially problematic because most young people are rarely exposed to the many major problems with the claims presented in the children’s books reviewed below.

Most non-creationist parents are not prepared to respond to the evolutionary claims made in the books evaluated in this review. Furthermore, most of the other material in these books was well-documented factual information not debated by experts in the fields discussed. Once exposed to these claims about evolution alongside well-known facts, a mindset is produced which will likely be reinforced as the child reads further in the area of science and the origins issue.

The National Geographic Kids Books

The first set of books reviewed is a lavishly illustrated set of five books, three of which I reviewed, written for children from 7 to 12 years old. National Geographic Society, the highly respected publisher, has sold many thousands of copies. As evidence of their popularity, these books have over 38,000 ratings on Amazon. Positive features of the books include color illustrations on every page and that they are very well written on engaging topics often of interest to young people. The downside is that some volumes in the set contain evolution from cover to cover, much of it having been refuted decades ago. An example from the first volume under the subheading “What Is Evolution?” defines evolution as the following:

The theory of evolution explains how all plants and animals—including humans—slowly change over time to improve their chances of survival. All life-forms are subject to the forces of “natural selection” in which nature favors changes (tougher beaks, sharper teeth, keener eyesight, etc.) that help a species survive and reproduce. . . . Eventually, all of these adaptations add up until one species evolves into a new one. If you go back far enough in Earth’s history, all life-forms—from great white sharks to cherry trees—evolved from a common ancestor. (Boyer 2015, 60)

On page 60 is pictured the now omnipresent, fictional progression from ape to the neanderthal man ending with modern man. In an attempt to persuade the reader of the truth of evolution, the author noted that those who disagree with evolution ask, “If humans evolved from apes, then why do chimpanzees and other apes still exist?” (Boyer 2015, 61). The reason given is that apes and humans both evolved from a common ancestor which, they fail to mention, was a nonexistent, hypothetical ape.

In the section on the origin of languages, the book admits that “researchers can only guess when humans first began forming sounds into words to communicate thoughts” (Boyer 2015, 118). The text adds that “ancestors of the human species possessed the mouth and throat parts necessary to pronounce words nearly two million years ago, but they likely didn’t have much to talk about until they started creating complex tools and building fires more than a million years later” (Boyer 2015, 118). The author assumed that Australopithecus afarensis evolved into Homo erectus over two million years ago, and little evidence exists that Australopithecus afarensis could use language. Yet the author stated without evidence that the beginning of human beings was “200 thousand years ago” (Boyer 2015, 59).

Evolution is repeatedly personalized. In answer to the question “why do humans have ten fingers,” Boyer answered: “The process of evolution determined that the most beneficial number of fingers and toes for our survival [was five] . . . evolution determined that five fingers per hand are just right for humans” (Boyer 2015, 28).

Vestigial Arguments

In answer to the question “why are some body parts pointless,” the book answered: “Called ‘vestigial’ organs, these useless body parts are leftovers from our evolutionary ancestors, who actually needed them” (Boyer 2015, 14). Among those “vestigial” organs listed was the coccyx, which the author claimed “is a leftover from animals that needed tails for balance or grasping tree branches” (Boyer 2015, 14). However, in actuality, the coccyx functions as an attachment point for various muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Posteriorly, the lateral edges function as insertion sites for the coccygeal muscles, the sacrospinous ligament, the sacrotuberous ligament, and the fibers of the gluteus maximus muscle. Although these muscles have other attachment points, this redundancy provides additional needed support and serves as a critical function of the coccyx. A coccygectomy (removal of the coccyx) creates the risk of loss of bowel control and nerve damage. The surgery is often done to relieve pain, but its removal does not always stop the pain.

Also listed were wisdom teeth which, as is true of all other teeth, are pulled only if they cause a problem, usually if they become impacted. There are no proven health benefits of pulling problem-free wisdom teeth. Removing them is usually unpleasant, and their removal may cause unwanted health side effects.

Human evolution in the Boyer book is taught as an unassailable fact: “Humans have evolved to become less hairy in the past six million years or so, but we still have these clumps of fur above our eyes” (Boyer 2015, 14). Then, after claiming that goose bumps serve no purpose, the author listed several important purposes that they do serve (Boyer 2015, 15). In answer to the question “why do we think baby animals are cute,” the book’s answer is that “we have evolved to think that any creature with a big head, large eyes, and a button nose—features that most human babies share—is cute. . . . Evolution has wired our brains to think babies are cute” (Boyer 2015, 187). Besides personifying evolution, this answer does not answer why we perceive baby animals as cute any more than explaining that we have eyes because we need to be able to see. To claim that we evolved eyes to see the world around us is not an answer. The answer to the question “why am I here” was given two full pages to show how some chemical soup 3.8 billion years ago created life which, after millions of years, evolved into humans (Boyer 2015, 59). Boyer added that our species began evolving 200,000 years ago after natural selection wiped out our less fit ape relatives.

There was not a word about the many controversies related to human evolution—not to mention the fact that almost half of all Americans have concluded that we did not evolve but were created by God (Moyers 2013; Newport 2004). The books openly teach a secular worldview, namely a belief that attempts to answer the questions of where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going—none of which can be answered by science. Evolution teaches that we evolved from simpler forms of life, that we are here to survive and reproduce, and that when we die, we are gone forever. This is a secular religion. On the other hand, Christianity teaches that God created all life, that our purpose is to serve our Creator God and our fellow humans, perhaps to raise a family, and that our afterlife depends on whether we have asked Christ to save us from our sin. These religious questions should be taught by the parents, not by some secular book for children.

It is the responsibility of authors to do their homework, which in this case was not done, at least in the area of evolution. One review of the book noted, “If you do not believe in evolution, then do not get this book. It would have been great if it had just been a book answering interesting facts without bias, but sadly it is not. I even would have tolerated one section about evolution, however this book makes mention of evolution all throughout the book” (Amazon 2018). Another reviewer wrote that he “purchased this book to give as a gift but reviewed a little of it first and I am glad I did. I returned the book to Amazon due to the fact that a question was asked about how humans got on earth and the book discussed evolution and not the biblical view. I believe in GOD and I believe GOD created men and women, not Evolution” (Amazon 2017).

In the book Why? Animals: 99+ Awesome Answers for Curious Kids, the author covers a favorite topic for kids, dinosaurs (Beer 2022). After stating, “Prepare to get your mind blown,” Beer announces that “birds are dinosaurs,” adding that birds are descendants of dinosaurs, specifically theropods, and evolved from one of the fiercest dinosaurs that ever lived, T. rex (Beer 2022, 152). She explains that although dinosaurs died off, some survived to evolve into birds. She cites as evidence that some dinosaurs had evidence of feathers, giving the impression that the belief that dinosaurs evolved into birds was a hard fact. A fact not mentioned is that some leading evolutionary bird experts even dispute this claim. Thus, Beer writes that as dinosaurs evolved into birds, they are “anything but extinct. They live on every continent on the planet, and come in hundreds of shapes and sizes” (Beer 2022, 152).

The author does not avoid teaching human evolution, writing that our closest relatives are chimps and bonobos, which “share 98.7 percent of humans’ genes. And that 98.7 percent makes us alike in a lot of ways” (Beer 2022, 122–123), a number which is very inflated and deceptive. She then explains how they (i.e., apes and humans) are alike, including that they both use tools, are both smart, and can effectively communicate. She ignores the fact that chimp tool use is limited to a crude use of sticks and rocks, and their communication involves mostly grunts and squeals. In contrast, the average human can articulate over 1,000 words.

Instead of using the word design, Beer often uses the word evolution when design would work just as well. For example, in answer to the question “why can’t penguins fly,” she answered, “These barrel shaped birds have evolved wings that work more like flippers, helping them swim and steer in the ocean. In fact, their wing bones are straight and unable to fold like most birds’ wings. And their body resembles a sea animal more than a bird’s” (Beer 2022, 167). More accurate would be the following: “Their barrel-shaped bird’s wings were designed by God to function like flippers to enable them to swim and steer in the ocean. To maximize their sea-travel abilities, their wing bones cannot fold like most birds’ wings. Furthermore, their body is designed for the sea environment, and not flight, as are other birds’ bodies.”

Big Bang Belief

The big bang is described as the “leading theory behind the birth of everything: atoms, light, gravity, gasses, stars, planets, galaxies and even time itself. . . . Scientists have found plenty of evidence to back up the big bang theory” (Boyer 2015, 82). Furthermore, Boyer adds that before the big bang there was “nothingness . . . nada, zip” and, somehow, somewhere was “a supremely hot spot crammed with all of the raw ingredients of the universe scrunched into a point thousands of times smaller than the period at the end of this sentence” (Boyer 2015, 82). Fully 13.8 billion years later here we are, the universe and all life, thanks to the big bang. However, this date has just been revised to from 13.8 to 27 billion years ago (Lagatta 2023). The book then lists the “evidence” for this conclusion. In short, everything somehow popped into existence from nothing.

How Come? Every Kid’s Science Questions Explained

Another popular book How Come? Every Kid’s Science Questions Explained claims that it answers kids’ common science questions. Asked “if human beings evolved from apes, why don’t apes in jungles or zoos turn into humans,” the answer the book provides is that “we and apes descended from a common ancestor” which the author ignored explaining was an ape (Wollard 1993, 250–251). The “evidence” given for our evolution from apes was the long-ago disproved claim that “chimpanzees are our closest relatives: We share 98.4 percent of our genes with them” (Wollard 1993, 250). In fact, the similarity is closer to 85 percent, or a difference of close to 500,000,000 genes (Tomkins 2021, 40–45).

All the other examples of evolution listed in this book have been refuted. They include the claim that the giraffe has a long neck because some shorter-necked giraffes that “by chance were born with somewhat longer necks could forage from the ground all the way up the treetops, and find more food—a definite survival advantage, especially when food is scarce. So over generations, the longer necked giraffes crowded out the short-necked ones” (Wollard 1993, 220–221). This story sounds reasonable, except that the evidence is overwhelmingly against it. No evidence exists in the fossil record of short-necked giraffes gradually evolving into long-necked giraffes even though the neck bones preserve very well compared to the soft tissue. But there are a few short-necked giraffes in the fossil record, like Sivatherium and Shansitherium (the latter of which is featured in the Ark Encounter as the representative giraffid). In fact, NCBI even noted that “the fossil record is poor for the current giraffe species and there are no progressive examples of a fossil giraffe with necks of ever-increasing length.” Other difficulties for giraffe evolution include the circulatory system and heart that must pump blood all the way up against gravity to supply blood to the brain and other structures. This feat requires a major redesign to evolve a short-necked animal into the giraffe’s 6-foot (1.8-meter) long neck that weighs about 600 pounds (272 kilograms) (Bergman 2002). Extensive breeding experience has well-documented the fact that growth limits are reached fairly rapidly and that crossing those limits is not possible. Although breeding can move us close to those limits, it often produces major health problems.

Another example used to “prove” evolution is the peppered moth, which is actually not evolution but merely a change in certain population traits due to environmental changes (Wollard 1993, 222). As Wollard explained, in the early 1800s, most peppered moths were light gray. Occasionally, a black moth was born, but as their color contrasted with the trees they rested upon, they were more apt to be noticed and then eaten by the birds. As factories were constructed, the black pollution they produced darkened the tree trunks. As a result, the light gray moths were more visible, and the number of black moths increased enormously in the areas where black soot blackened the tree bark. Later, when pollution was regulated and the trees’ bark color went back to their original gray color, the gray moths again became dominant, and the black ones again became rare. This is not a case of evolving. Only the color ratio changed then changed again back to the original color ratio. Though no evolution occurred, readers are left with the impression that, in fact, this change is evidence of evolution.

Three pages were dedicated to evolutionists’ claims of evidence for human evolution (Wollard 1993, 250–251). Gradually, Darwinian evolution was taught as fact: “If you could see a speeded-up movie of [human] evolution, you would see one line that looked more and more like chimpanzees as time went on and another line that looked more and more human as time passed” (Wollard 1993, 252). This lineal human evolution had been rejected by evolutionists long ago for several reasons, including the fact that no fossil evidence exists for it (Bergman et al. 2021).

Summary

These books on science for young people irresponsibly indoctrinate young people to accept the secular worldview of atheistic evolution.

These books on science for young people irresponsibly indoctrinate young people to accept the secular worldview of atheistic evolution. And all the evolutionary examples used in the books reviewed above are very problematic: the claims made have long ago been rejected by research, even by many evolutionists. The problem is that very few young people will learn about the problems with evolution or that much of the information is deceptive or outdated. The sections on evolution reviewed above are not education but indoctrination of the worst kind.

References

Baker, Lev. 2023. “The Best Children’s Books About Human Evolution for Your Curious Little Ones.” AZ Animals. Last modified April 7, 2023. https://a-z-animals.com/reviews/best-childrens-books-about-human-evolution-for-your-curious-little-ones/.

Beer, Julie. 2022. Why? Animals: 99+ Awesome Answers for Curious Kids. Washington D.C: National Geographic Kids.

Bergman, Jerry. 2002. “The Giraffe’s Neck: Another Icon of Evolution Falls.” Journal of Creation 16, no. 1 (April): 120–127. https://creation.com/journal-of-creation-tj-161.

Bergman, Jerry, Peter Line, Jeff Tomkins, and Daniel Biddle. 2021. Apes as Ancestors: Examining the Claims About Human Evolution. Tulsa, OK: Bartlett Publishing.

Boyer, Crispin. 2015. Why?: Over 1,111 Answers to Everything. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Kids.

Boyer, Crispin. 2018. Why Not?: Over 1,111 Answers to Everything. Washington D.C.: National Geographic Kids.

Bowker, R. 2023. Children’s Books in Print. Amenia, NY: Grey House Publishing.

Lagatta, Eric. 2023. “How Old Is Our Universe? New Study Says Big Bang Might Have Happened 27 Billion Years Ago.” USA Today. July 14, 2023. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/07/14/universe-may-older-than-thought-study-shows/70411343007/.

Amazon. 2017. “Reviewed a Little of It First and I Am Glad I Did.” Review of Why?: Over 1,111 Answers to Everything, by Crispin Boyer. Amazon, November 10, 2017. https://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Kids-Why-Everything/product-reviews/1426320965/.

Amazon. 2018. “All About Evolution.” Review of Why?: Over 1,111 Answers to Everything, by Crispin Boyer. Amazon, November 25. 2018. https://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Kids-Why-Everything/product-reviews/1426320965/.

Moyers, Bill. 2013. “Richard Dawkins on the Truth of Evolution.” Moyers. March 1, 2013. https://billmoyers.com/2013/03/01/moyers-moment-2004-richard-dawkins-on-the-truth-of-evolution/.

Newport, Frank. 2004. “Third of Americans Say Evidence Has Supported Darwin’s Evolution Theory.” Gallup. November 19, 2004. https://news.gallup.com/poll/14107/third-americans-say-evidence-has-supported-darwins-evolution-theory.aspx.

Tomkins, Jeffrey. 2021. Chimps and Humans: A Geneticist Discovers DNA Evidence That Challenges Evolution. Dallas: Institute for Creation Research.

Wollard, Kathy. 1993. How Come? Every Kid’s Science Questions Explained. New York: Workman Publishing.