The Power Book

A comprehensive examination of all types of power-good and bad. Explains who has power, why, and how.

The Power Book is an excellent introduction for young readers to the concept of power and how it can be used to help or hurt people. The contributors make the point that power is neutral, everything depends on who is using it and how it is being used. Various types of power relations are discussed such as “Everyday Power” and “World-Changing Power” that have different impacts upon individuals or society as a whole. The contributors also explain some of the factors that can be involved in gaining power and what can cause a person to have less power than someone else.

The contributors address multiple types of power, starting with the power that adults have to make decisions that affect children. This is a great way to start the book since it relates directly to the reader who can then make connections to other types of power that might be less familiar. The description of why adults have more power than children is quite good and many parents might want to use the explanation in the text in discussions with their children. The contributors also explain when this power dynamic between adults and children becomes a problem. There is a website at the end of the book that the contributors suggest children use if they feel unsafe.

The only criticism that I have of this book is that it doesn’t address intersectionality. While racism, homophobia, and other tools for taking away power, are mentioned in the text the contributors don’t talk about how these can combine to impact individual power. For example, a white, cisgender, gay man has more power in many situations than a black, transgender woman.

There is a lot to be learned from this text and the contributors do a nice job of making the information accessible to children. The inclusion of historical figures, many of whom are probably familiar to children, provides additional context for what is a rather abstract concept. This is definitely a book that classroom teachers and families could spend a great deal of time discussing with children.

I enjoyed this book very much.
In my Line of work as a librarian, I do a lot of Collaboration with Schools and kindergardens.

This book helps a great deal to inform the childreb( and yourself) about the concept of Power and all the diffrent views you can have

And as a mother of two girls it is a good way to start speeking about gender equality.

So for me this book is a must have this Fall.

To be honest, I'm not sure what ages this kids book is supposed to be aimed at, but I thought it was way too wordy for a children's book.

I think it covered a lot of important topics and the categories it was separated into was laid out well, but I still feel like you opened to a page and it was overwhelming? There were little pictures everywhere with floating boxes of a lot of text everywhere.

I think the content was great, but the execution could have been a bit better.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I got a review copy of the book via NetGalley and loved the book. I read the book to my son and had some very interesting conversations with him around the questions that the authors ask us to reflect on.

The design of the book is exceptional. The content is simple and minimalist. Conveying what needs to be conveyed in as less words as possible,

In all, really enjoyed the read and would recommend this book to all parents and ask them to read it to their children (one chapter at a time) and discuss the questions raised, You will find out more about your child than you would otherwise.