This article discusses children’s literature and teachers’ task of preparing young pupils for citizenship in a multicultural society. How can teachers help them become good citizens and simultaneously develop their individual personalities? Listening to the pupils properly and propounding democracy and humanist principles (such as gender equality) as expressed in the curriculum, are considered vital. The value of disseminating high-quality, varied literature is also emphasised.
Various kinds of ideology and zeitgeist may be discerned in children’s books. The article discusses the question of how to respond if schoolchildren and their families do not unequivocally affirm norms in the books or the curriculum. Advocates of critical literacy are censured for tending to reduce the complexity of literature and life issues. It is argued that a good literary education takes both literature and young people’s varied experiences seriously. Open classroom discussions about norms in books and real life can bring about better understanding of others and their opinions.