Washington - Two school boys are trying to sell lemonade when they get their first lesson in politics in the children's book "Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed."

The picture book features young Tommy and Lou, who have made their own lemonade and are selling it at a makeshift stand to earn a dime or two - as many American youths do during the hot summers. Then along comes the fat mayor, a Democrat, and takes half the boys' income as tax. The book demonstrates to the little ones what spoil sports liberals can be.

In another scene, they are visited by Senator Clunkton, who resembles former first lady, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, fussing about the lack of nutrition in the lemonade. And the picture of Jesus on display has to be exchanged for a picture of an enormous toe. The messages are simple and clear: Democrats are spoiling our way of life and robbing us of our faith.

Published in 2005 by World Ahead Publishing, the book was written by Katherine DeBrecht as a light, amusing learning aid. The publisher says it is ideal for conservatives who want to share traditional values with their children. Fans have raved about the educational usefulness of the book and two other "Help! Mom!" books that have followed.

During the past years, book stores in the United States have carried more and more political books for children and youths. Conservative handbooks for teenagers teach celibacy and faith in the Bible. Others glorify president-elect Barack Obama as a pious superman or paint horrifying climate-change scenarios. Feminist authors explain why there actually aren't any genders, claiming they are just a societal construct.

It doesn't matter what political leaning parents have, they can find a book for their children that suits their ideological tastes. Authors Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins have sold 11 million copies of their "Left Behind" series of religious-political children's novels.

"Since the very polarized presidential campaign in 2004, the number of overly partisan children's books has increased," said Professor Michelle Abate of Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia who is working on a study of Christian-conservative children's literature.

"Christian conservatives have the impression to be constantly under attack," she said.

They want books to protect their children from what they see as the ills of modern life such as divorce and homosexuality. The stories seal the growing culture wars in the US, said Abate, whose academic focus is literary studies.

Political children's books are not a new phenomenon in the US. In the 19th century, opponents of slavery criticized the practice as inhumane in children's stories. Later, stories by socialists and communists in simple language praised the materialistic paradise on earth. Outrageous books like ABC for Martin by M. Boland, published in
1935, promoted Stalinism and the utopia of a "new human."

After World War II, black children were depicted in children's books as heroes for the first time. Until then, black characters in children's stories were usually servants.

How great an influence these stories actually have on children has not been thoroughly researched, said Professor Julia Mickenberg of the University of Texas in Austin, author of an anthology of radical left children's books. Children are often far more sceptical and critical than adults believe, said Mickenberg, a sociologist. Children's books with political messages should not be categorically rejected, as long as they don't preach hate and violence.

"There are stories that make children think for themselves and inspire them to imagine the world as a better place," Mickenberg said, adding that she recently read her children the book, And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson about homosexual parents. The story is based on the true story of a pair of male penguins in Central Park Zoo in New York. When they were given a chance to adopt an egg, they hatched it and raised a healthy chick named Tango.

"I think it's important, that my children understand which family structures there are," said Mickenberg.

Abate thinks the election of Obama will bring a new boom in Christian-conservative children's books. That could be because in this election, conservative youths fell under the spell of the charismatic president-elect. In future presidential elections, no Democrat should be able to achieve that, at least that's what the conservatives in the country hope. (dpa)