Books


Teaching American Values to the Next Generation


Actor Kirk Cameron overcame “woke” libraries to bring his pro- faith book to children.


A BY MARISA HERMAN


s a father of six, actor/ writer/producer Kirk Cam- eron wanted to impart wholesome, faith-based


values to the next generation of Ameri- cans, so he added another descriptor — author — and wrote a children’s book. As You Grow is part of the Freedom


Island series from children’s publisher Brave Books. The line is designed to promote faith and pro-America values. “I resonate with the millions and


millions of parents who see our country headed in the wrong direction morally, spiritually, politically, and I wanted to do my part to protect the hearts and minds of children by teaching them the values that made this country so free and so prosperous,” Cameron told Newsmax magazine. Best known for starring as teen idol


Mike Seaver in the 1980s sitcom Grow- ing Pains, Cameron says the process of creating his children’s book was any- thing but painful. He partnered with Brave Books’


team of writers and illustrators to cre- ate a story that he says emerged as a fun and engaging work, and one that “pulls the entire family together.” While the book promotes the char-


acter traits that many parents hope their own children embody, when Cameron approached public libraries with the idea of holding a story hour, he wasn’t exactly given a warm welcome. At the end of last year, more than 50


KIRK CAMERON, 52 Born: Los Angeles. Career: Began acting at


age 9. Breakout hit: Teen idol


Mike Seaver on the family sitcom Growing Pains. As an adult, he focuses


56 NEWSMAX | MAY 2023


his attention on religious activism. Wife: Chelsea Noble, his on-


screen sweetheart on Growing Pains. (Married in 1991.) Six children, four of whom


were adopted. Born-again Christian.


public libraries refused his requests to hold a story hour for his book. Yet Cameron said the same public


libraries that turned him away were permitting reading events for LGBTQ- friendly books — with some even host- ing drag queen story hours for toddlers. “I went there with a book on bibli-


cal wisdom and faithfulness and kind- ness and self-control, and they told me, ‘No,’” he said. “They wouldn’t let us into the library at all.” Because these are public and not


private libraries that are funded by tax- payers and ought to be “welcoming


STORY HOUR/KYLE MAZZA/ANADOLU AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES GROWING PAINS/ABC PHOTO ARCHIVES/DISNEY GENERAL ENTERTAINMENT CONTENT VIA GETTY IMAGES


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