HelpMom Series

Book Review

by Linda Wakefield Kelley

The entire point of HelpMom There are Liberals Under my Bed! can be summed up by its subtitle: A Small Lesson in Conservatism. Author Katherine DeBrecht has done what every teacher hopes to do. She has told a story in an entertaining way and in the process imparted wisdom.

If your children are asking, “Mommy, why are we Republicans?” reading Help!Mom! There are Liberals Under my Bed! is a fabulous way to answer the question.

Each page of text is accompanied by a Jim Hummel (of political cartoon fame) illustration making this a picture book of sorts. While the plot can be understood on a number of levels more advanced readers, especially those with an interest in politics and/or business, will enjoy the book most.

My politically astute seventeen-year-old son, who reads every issue of National Review cover-to-cover, saw Help!Mom! There are Liberals Under my Bed! sitting on my desk and snatched it to read.

I didn’t even have to make it a curriculum requirement. He appreciated the humor and tried to identify the cast of characters. Some clearly depicted current liberal congress-persons.

I disagree with others who have said Help!Mom! There are Liberals Under my Bed! is too mean-spirited.

First of all, every author knows you write a book for your “target audience.” Liberals (or probably even moderates) are not going to buy this book. It wasn’t written for them.

Secondly, Debrecht uses humor to explain conservative principles. There are great lessons here if one is able to lighten up long enough to get them. In fact, why not use this book as part of a Political Science unit and see how many conservative ideas your students can identify (hint: see the ones my son found at the bottom of the page).

Thirdly, the roadblocks to small business success the book details are not fictitious but very real. They accurately depict the differences between conservative and liberal philosopy.

I highly recommend HelpMom There are Liberals Under my Bed. It entertains while it educates. If you are proud of your conservative beliefs and want to pass those lessons on to your children, get this book and make it assigned reading today.

HelpMom Hollywood’s in My Hamper! by author Katherine DeBrecht is the second book in the Help! Mom! series. Once again Debrecht uses humor to make a point. This book illustrates how Hollywood influences our children.

As a mother of a pre-teen girl who has at least one Mary Kate and Ashley outfit hanging in her closet I have felt Hollywood’s effects personally. Maybe that’s why my soon-to-be twelve-year-old daughter enjoyed this book so much. It is true that young people sometimes enjoy dressing and acting like their favorite movie and TV stars.

Debrecht’s creative story illustrates a number of ways in which Hollywood elites impact the culture:

Hollywood stars often belittle parents and traditional values. They push the envelope in their movies and behavior.

Stars endorse a lot of diverse products and try to convince our children to buy anything and everything.

Hollywood elites search for significance many places and often find it in unusual religions. HelpMom Hollywood’s in My Hamper actress “Rayonna” is into Toe-nail-ology. Hmmm--Maybe Tom Cruise turned her onto it.

While Hollywood stars pontificate loudly and proudly, loving the sound of their own voices, they rarely make good role models. Their judgement usually isn’t so good as HelpMom Hollywood’s in My Hamper so cleverly illustrates.

Republicans believe earning a living is much better than having money handed to you (Democrats endorse the Welfare System).

Democrats believe in more taxes and less control over how the money is spent.

Liberals want to remove any mention of God (especially Jesus) from any public place (schools, business, etc.)

Liberals think they (government and the village) know how to raise children better than parents do.

Liberals don’t believe in capitalism (they don’t believe the free-market system works)!

Go Beyond HelpMom and Read My Other Book Reviews!





Note: The proper punctuation for the title of these books was not always used. This was done purposely to aid the search engines in finding this review.