A new conservative report warns that public libraries and major publishers are quietly stripping faith from childrens history reading lists while elevating progressive narratives as the nation approaches its 250th birthday.
According to Fox News, the study, released by conservative childrens publisher Brave Books and titled "The America 250 Faith Gap," examined more than 300 titles drawn from 25 recommended reading lists assembled by childrens publishers, public libraries and other institutional curators. Researchers found not a single book that directly addressed faith, religious liberty or Christianitys role in the founding of the United States, despite the centrality of religious freedom in the First Amendment.
The report states that books on the Great Awakening, the spiritual lives of the Founders and the Black churchs influence on American history were entirely missing from these lists. In their place, the curators highlighted works such as Ibram X. Kendis "Stamped for Kids" and Nikole Hannah-Jones "Born on the Water," a picture book linked to the controversial 1619 Project that reframes the nations origins around slavery and systemic racism.
Several recommended titles, the study notes, placed heavy emphasis on transgender activism in the context of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, including at least one picture book aimed at very young children. The lists also strongly promoted Kate Messners History Smashers series, which advertises that it exposes "myths, lies, and secrets" in American history, along with admiring biographies of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, while offering no comparable biographies of Republican leaders.
Brave Books reports that the most common themes across these curated lists were the American Revolution, minority perspectives, Black history, civil rights and womens history. By contrast, books centered on American symbols, classic texts, the Founders and basic civics represented only a small fraction of the recommended reading.
The lists frequently employed terms such as "complicated," "hidden" and "untold" to describe the American story, language Brave Books argues is being used to reframe the nations past as something to be deconstructed rather than honored. The publisher contends that this rhetorical shift signals a broader ideological project: to replace a narrative of faith, sacrifice and achievement with one dominated by grievance and perpetual struggle.
Brave Books acknowledged that many of the highlighted titles possess literary quality and offer valuable historical perspectives, particularly on marginalized communities. However, the publisher insists that the near-total exclusion of faith and religious liberty from these lists leaves young readers with a distorted understanding of how the United States came to be and what has sustained it.
The reports findings drew strong reactions from former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson and former NCAA swimmer and womens sports advocate Riley Gaines, both of whom are Brave Books authors. "Faith is not a footnote in the American story," Carson told Fox News Digital. "It is the foundation of it."
Carson pointed to the Founding era as evidence that religious belief was not incidental but integral to the nations birth. "The Declaration of Independence says our rights come from our Creator," he continued. "Benjamin Franklin called the Constitutional Convention to prayer before they produced a document that has stood for 250 years. George Washington survived battle after battle in ways that defied all human explanation. These men knew where their strength came from."
From Carsons perspective, shielding children from this spiritual dimension of American history undermines their ability to understand and defend their liberties. "A generation that does not know where their freedoms come from will not know why those freedoms are worth fighting for," he continued. "Ronald Reagan said freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. He was not exaggerating. He was being precise. When you raise children on a version of history that calls America complicated and unfinished and never once tell them that this country was founded by men of extraordinary faith and courage who believed they were accountable to God for what they built, you are not educating them. You are making them vulnerable."
Gaines, who has become a prominent voice against the lefts gender ideology in sports and education, argued that patriotism and honesty about Americas flaws are not mutually exclusive. "The problem is that many institutions have become so focused on emphasizing what's broken, unfinished, or flawed that they've stopped teaching kids what makes America the greatest, freest, most prosperous nation in the world," Gaines said.
She stressed that the global demand to come to the United States speaks louder than academic theories that portray the country as irredeemably oppressive. "That's why so many people from all across the world try to live, work, and start a family here through whatever means necessary," she added. "As we celebrate America's 250th birthday, kids deserve more than a story about what's wrong with America. They deserve to know why generations of people around the world have looked to America as a beacon of hope, opportunity, and freedom. That's not indoctrination. That's telling the whole story."
Brave Books CEO Trent Talbot said the data reveal not a random oversight but a deliberate pattern within the educational and cultural establishment. "When reading lists for America's 250th anniversary don't include a single book acknowledging Christianity's role, that's not an oversight. That's a choice," Talbot told Fox News Digital.
He argued that the problem transcends partisan geography and reflects a deeper institutional alignment among cultural gatekeepers. "What this report confirms is something parents have suspected but couldn't quantify: the bias isn't geographic, it's institutional. Red state, blue state it doesn't matter when the gatekeepers are all aligned ideologically and share the same assumptions."
In response, Brave Books has launched its own America 250 campaign aimed at restoring what it sees as a more balanced and affirming account of the nations past. The initiative emphasizes faith, patriotism and personal responsibility, themes that have long resonated with conservative families but are increasingly marginalized in mainstream educational materials.
Carsons new book, "Built on Faith," joins Riley Gaines picture book, "One Two Three We Are Free," and Kirk Camerons "Built by the Brave" as flagship titles in the publishers alternative series. The company says these books are designed for families seeking stories that celebrate Americas history of "faith, bravery and achievement" rather than dwelling almost exclusively on its sins.
Talbot framed the project as a necessary counterweight to what he views as ideological uniformity in public institutions. "We started Brave Books because we saw this coming," he said. "The library system, among other institutions, doesn't have a diversity problem. It has a uniformity problem. Every major institution has quietly agreed on what children should think about America, and faith, patriotism, and earned pride didn't make the cut."
For conservatives alarmed by the direction of public education and cultural messaging, the Brave Books report will likely reinforce long-standing concerns that the lefts dominance in schools, libraries and publishing is reshaping how the next generation understands its country. As America approaches its semiquincentennial, the debate is no longer just about which books children read, but whether they will be taught to see their nation as a flawed but exceptional experiment in liberty under God, or as a "complicated" project whose spiritual roots and achievements are best left in the shadows.
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