A book-heavy youth liberation gift guide
Books & no-money ideas for people of all ages (and a holiday subscription sale!)
Hey hey!
‘Tis the season and I’m offering you gifts that centre children and youth this season - either because they educate us on young people’s rights and liberation, support all of our parenting journeys, or because they support a young person/child in some way.
So without further ado, let’s go.
(ps. none of the links are ever affiliate links!)
Oh but wait. I have a holiday sale (30% off until Jan 1), AND I’ve lowered my yearly subscription rates. You can sign up here!
I want to keep writing and posting and making podcasts and I need to make it sustainable for me and my family. If you get anything out of my writing, please consider supporting me (also you will get extra monthly content: audio, video and some extra deep dives on here.)
Ok, here’s the gift guide my friends!
BUY BOOKS
Akilah S. Richards’ book Raising Free People. If you’re going to read one book, I would make it this one. It speaks directly to the way we dominate children and the author is so honest about the ways she’s had to become aware of this and make change.
And while we’re here, if you’re looking for a short course on deschooling, Akilah has you covered.
It’s Not Fair: Why it’s time for a grown-up conversation about how adults treat children by Eloise Rickman. THIS BOOK IS SO ESSENTIAL. For anyone who wants to go deeper into understanding children’s rights and youth liberation, and how the oppression of children can be dismantled.
We Grow the World Together: Parenting Towards Abolition by Maya Schenwar and Kim Wilson. Full transparency: this book is sitting on my coffee table waiting to be read, but it looks great. This is for anyone who is interested in abolitionist work or who perhaps might see themselves as an abolitionist.
I was introduced to abolitionist ideas through Mariam Kaba’s writing - and I would say her work is the best way to get acquainted with this movement if you’re new to it!
I have a short amazon list of books on abolition right here, if you wish to dig deeper.
Aiyana Goodfellow is a young writer and her book Innocence and Corruption is amazing. You can follow her and buy a copy of one of her books here, or see her linktree here.
Trust Kids! by carla bergman. I love this book and I go back and read it often. Highly recommend, especially if you’re interested in the varied perspectives of both adults and young people around the topics of trust and autonomy.
I adored this book: No! Against Adult Supremacy. You can buy it at the link, but you can also go get it for free here. You’ll need to look up each volume separately, I believe.
SUPPORT YOUNG PEOPLE
The Children’s Voting Colloqium campaigns to give children the vote. I honestly was on the fence about this idea, but since talking to John Wall on my pod, and reading his book, I’m sold. One of the Colloqium’s ideas is to gift our vote to our children - I wish I’d thought of this ahead of the US general election! But perhaps you have an election coming up and would like to have your child or a child you know vote in your place.
Go follow and support Learning & Liberation - nothing to buy here, but you could support Geneviève and Ben with their projects: reading their Substack
, watch their ongoing documentary on living without school, or buy them a coffee.ASDE (Alliance of Self-directed Education) has several things on offer at the moment. They have regular workshops for facilitators and parents of self-directed youth, writing on unschooling and youth rights at Tipping Points and on their Substack Saving the Seeds of SDE and I hear there is merch and more coming soon :)
I recently discovered NYRA (National Youth Rights Association) and not only do they have merch (!!) but they fight for the liberation of young people from adultism and systemic oppression. Go check them out - you can become a member and they have opportunities for volunteering and organising!
BUY STUFF FOR A CHILD
I’m trying to make this gift guide as anti-capitalist as a gift guide can be, and so in that spirit i’m not really going for products, but sticking with books and experience and no-money gifts!
Not Back to School Camp looks fab and I’m hoping my teen might want to go in summer 2025. This could be such a sweet gift for a young person in your life.
This book (Stay Solid! A Handbook for Youth) looks pretty fabulous, although I haven’t read it yet! And there is always the classic The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn - I have the old edition which is a little dated, but solid in a lot of respects, but if you have the 2021 edition let me know your thoughts!
A couple of books about consent, if that’s your thing: Consent for kids book and Consent book for teens
ROAM are organising trips for teens and parents. This organisation is run by two unschooling mothers (one of which is my friend Meghan!) and I’m dying to go on one of their adventures! I know for a fact that they are worth it.
NO-MONEY GIFTS (for adults & kids)
We have too much stuff, and not to be a downer, but we need to consume less in every way.
So in the spirit of that, I thought I’d offer up some ideas on how to gift things without consuming. Some of these have literally nothing to do with youth lib, except in the sense of dismantling capitalism makes us all free. So I suppose it all counts!
Take care of someone else’s child for an afternoon/day. This is ALWAYS going to be top of my list!
Bake your child’s favourite dessert or make them their favourite meal
Make Play Vouchers. P and I came up with this one as a gift from a sibling to another - initially we thought it had “free hug voucher” vibes, but actually I think it could be a sweet gift.
Give something handmade. I’m currently crocheting a little blanket that will perhaps be a gift.
Have a Yes Day. This’ll look different for everyone, but for me this would be a day that I dedicate to the child in question - they get to pick their favourite activities, food, outings, games, and I go along with it.
Barter! I’m a huge fan of this. I wish I had more stuff to barter, if I’m honest, but maybe one day I’ll have eggs or homegrown veg or something, or I’ll be organised enough to produce something regularly! One can dream.
Have a no-spending day out - my go-to would be a hike and a picnic, but it could be anything!
Cook or bake something. Even better if they can freeze it or it keeps for a while!
Gift a book that you own - I know, I know, it’s hard to part with books but maybe your overcrammed shelves will thank you.
Give seeds from your garden.
Make cards or Christmas decoration. We once made Valentine’s cards for all our neighbours and went out in the snow to hand-deliver them.
Gift your talent/skillset. Proof-read a friend’s writing, help weed their garden, creatively patch their kids’ clothes, brainstorm ideas for your friend’s project, help them with their website.. we all have skills we could give or barter.
Gift a young person your skills! I wish more adults with talents, interests and skills would take the time to share them with willing children. (Willing being the key word here!).
Give your time to help someone out. It could be helping them to paint a bedroom, or babysitting while they get work done, or helping them build a piece of furniture.
Pop your fave no-money gifts below, we can crowd-source!! I’d love to get more ideas out there.
Lots of love to you all. As always, thank you for being here and supporting my work even when life gets in the way of it!
Once as a kid I hosted a barter/trading party where we all brought a couple items we wanted to swap and it was so much fun. Your list sparked my memory and I might have to try that with my own children and their friends.
The ROAM trip looks interesting! I reached out to Meghan and Sara for more info. I love that it's for the teen and a parent together. Have you heard of any other programs like that?