“Financial behemoths have been nationalized. There are even rumors of universal health care. Socialism is on the march! As we leave capitalism behind, the traditionalists among you may be wondering: Will they come for our children? Too late. As Mickenberg and Nel document in Tales for Little Rebels, Marxist principles have been dripping steadily into the minds of American youth for more than a century. . . . As America backs cautiously away from its laissez-faire disasters and reluctantly into an unfamiliar, communal style of politics, some of us may find ourselves wishing we had been scared with such rhymes in kindergarten instead of having had to live through them as adults.”
- The New York Times Book Review

“Tales for Little Rebels anthologizes 75 years of radical children’s literature. It’s a rousing, relevant chronicle of teaching kids about social and environmental justice, civil rights, and their power to challenge the status quo.”
- Julie Hanus, The Utne Reader

“A remarkable book. . . . The prose excerpts are fascinating; the illustrations are perfectly fabulous and, very often, really funny. . . . There is so much here, and something unique for everyone except sourpuss defenders of the status quo.”
- Paul Buhle, Monthly Review

“By introducing kids (and their parents) to a wide range of forgotten and overlooked texts addressing progressive themes, and by provoking a closer look at what the books we already own imply, Mickenberg and Nel have done parents and kids alike a truly important service.”
- The Texas Observer

“Readers looking for the animals, sprites, and other characters common to children’s literature will find them, with a twist.”
- The Chronicle Review

“Consistently fascinating. . . . Boast[s] authors as skilled as Carl Sandburg, Munro (Ferdinand the Bull) Leaf, Dr. Seuss, Eve Merriam and Langston Hughes.”
- Toronto Globe and Mail

“Mickenberg and Nel have done a real service in reclaiming these selections of children’s literature, some by such well known children’s book authors as Julius Lester and Dr. Seuss but many from writers whose reputations were made and works published on the barricades of the Left.”
- The Horn Book Inc.

“Tales for Little Rebels is indeed a timely collection and one that serves as an excellent touchstone for future research into a ‘usable past’ for contemporary academics.”
- Children’s Literature Association Quarterly

&“Mickenberg and Nel fill a gap in scholarship on children’s literature.”
- Choice