“No; it is never worth while to do wrong. Little boys who read this story, consider which you would have rather been- the honest boy, or the thief?” So read the very last lines of The Orange-Man; or The Honest Boy and the Thief. This tale clearly espouses a moral message, as the story states the question, outright, for the reader to ponder. Mary V. Jackson made the claim that ‘[w]hether subtly or blatantly, children's books [are] largely propagandistic in nature. They [are] tools for social, moral, religious, and political conditioning.”
[...] Children's stories: Basic propaganda it is never worth while to do wrong. Little boys who read this story, consider which you would have rather been- the honest boy, or the thief?” So read the very last lines of The Orange-Man; or The Honest Boy and the Thief. This tale clearly espouses a moral message, as the story states the question, outright, for the reader to ponder. Mary V. Jackson made the claim that ‘[w]hether subtly or blatantly, children's books [are] largely propagandistic in nature. [...]
[...] God, angel, man, child, and animals compose the natural order. Betty Brown can also be read as an historical lesson, as well as one of goodness and perseverance. The reader learns about mistreatment of the poor and how it is wrong for those with wealth to believe that they possess power over those without. In this story it is the storyteller who makes the message clear. There is an omnipresent voice watching over Betty and telling of her hardships. Her lot is described as unfortunate, she “came into the world before many good gentlemen and ladies began to concern themselves so kindly that the poor might have a little learning,” the storyteller describes. [...]
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