The Tuttle Twins and the Golden Rule (Tuttle Twins, #6) (2024)

While this book didn’t deal with economy or government like the others have so far, it was still good. It was a good lesson on learning to work together and the difference between defending and revenge.
Recommended.

Rick roll!! This book is blatant propaganda for US politician Ron Paul. Inappropriate for my children. NOT mentioned on the website!! Evidence of racism and cultural misappropriation. Follows all white group of children at summer camp led by 2 presumably Native American camp counselors and tribal “Chief Ron” complete headdress. Conflict occurs when a prank between white kids dyes/darkens a boy’s face. “Chief Ron” saves the day with moral lessons loosely based on Native American culture- then the last page of the book presents a biography on white US politician Ron Paul.

2021-07-29 I listened to the audio version of this book, I did not read it.
I liked it, as I like all the books in this series.
See my other reviews of the other books for more info.

I got this from the library out of curiosity, opting for this volume as the message does not need to be political.

The illustrations are on par with a daily newspaper comic. The storyline is very like a Berenstain Bears book, from what I remember of them. The ones like The Berenstain Bears and Too Much TV or The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies.

I find the last part of the story problematic. The children are working together to pile sandbags so the camp doesn't flood. Mrs Miner tries to help but the camp leader won't let her because

'What they need is this experience of working together to solve a problem. Let's let them do the work, and enjoy the benefit.'

The message is not overtly political, although I did keep thinking about this bit in Addams Family Values where the counselors say that learning, playing, and having fun at camp 'is what being privileged is all about'. There is a Ron Paul ad in the very back comparing the story to a book of his speeches, but it's not in the story proper. That being said, 'Chief Ron' is a highly suspicious name (more on this later).

On cultural appropriation:
The camp is 'Indian' themed. I hesitate to say Native American since it consists of a totem pole, a headdress, and some sort of mock battle/dance between the two counselors. And making 'Native American jewelry'. I'm pretty sure headdresses and totem poles don't even overlap geographically except in kitsch. Said headdress is worn by what I assume is a version of Ron Paul as camp chief. I personally found it in poor taste and expect it's highly offensive to actual Plains tribes.
I can't even unpack the mock battle by the counselors wearing buckskin, facepaint, feathers, etc. I will simply say that I had the impression that Mrs Miner was Black and a teacher in previous books and have no notion about Mr Miner at all. I don't think them being native would make the battle okay, but I also don't see it as an available excuse to begin with. The whole thing was actually more unsettling than the headdress. It felt like staring at a traffic accident.

On race:
Mrs Miner is Black. Mr Miner has slightly darker skin than the children but could be tanned. There is one girl camper in the main story who looks faintly Asian in coloring. There are two Black campers in the background of the last scenes and one maybe Hispanic. That's it. Chief Ron is probably meant to be First Nations, but I'm not buying it. So while the feel-good-everyone-is-friends illustrations are 'multiethnic', the main story isn't really. I did see a review comparing the one boy's face getting dyed blue to blackface, but don't see the similarity. I suppose on one page the margins might be a bit weird, but in closer up pictures it looks like uneven/splotchy dye. As mentioned previously the art isn't great.

Overall rather dreadful. There is no dearth of books on this topic. I'd skip, unless propelled by morbid curiosity like myself.

This was the weakest in the series so far.

It felt incredibly long and slow as I was reading it, and the moral was all kinds of muddled. Connor Boyack should stick with economics lessons and not moral ones (his The Law is about as close to morality as he should get focused instead on government ethics as opposed to personal morality).

The Golden Rule is pretty uniquely Christian ("Do to others as you would have them do for you." Luke 6:31). It requires an active kindness to other people while expecting nothing. Every other religion has something that sounds like the golden rule, until the ideas are analyzed.

Most other golden rules basically allow you to leave people alone. I won't bother you, you don't bother me.

However, this book is discussing more of the idea of nonaggression as opposed to the Golden Rule. The idea of nonaggression is not only complicated, it is untenable. It is great to tell kids and people not to start a fight, but we also need to be able to end fights.

What if we see a kid getting bullied? Or someone getting robbed? Or great atrocities are being committed in other parts of the world? Do we ignore it to hold to the idea of nonaggression (they're not hurting you), or do we intervene to defend someone else (i.e. the Golden Rule).

What if someone is stealing our stuff, but not being violent? What's the appropriate level of response to someone attacking?

These ideas are all untenable and contradictory. They simply don't make sense.

The book was long and fell apart fairly quickly. From a micro-level to a macro-level this wasn't the Golden Rule so much as it was the law of nonaggression, and I was not impressed.

The Tuttle Twins cartoon, however, was awesome!

Well written, entertaining, and novel take on the NAP (Non-Aggression Principle) - the core tenet of Libertarianism. The "Ron Paul" character is great. This book holds up well compared to Boyack's and Stanfield's others and leaves the reader excited about further books in the series (I think they've said they are doing 10).

i really liked the book it was very interesting and teaches a good lesson

The least well done of the first six books in the series.

The twins are at camp and there are competitions between teams that turn to cheating in order to win. The teaching of the golden rule was a little unclear (and no mention of Jesus) and mixed up with an enactment of a Native American ritual. Not a Christian book and no references to God or the Bible, in case someone doesn’t know.

I read this to my son and he really loved it. I will definitely be getting more of his books.

We love the Tuttle Twins, but this wasn’t the strongest one in the series.

This one was definitely my kids’ favorite so far, kept their interest, and was immediately applicable.

Enlightening series for younger readers.

I love the Tuttle twins series. You should read it.

Leib Gershon Mitchell

5.0 out of 5 stars

A parent's review: Strongly recommended

Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2020

This is a children's version of The Golden Rule," which is said to have been used by Hillel the elder as a synopsis of the entire Torah (!).

(This book continues on with the series of children's versions of books that have been read by libertarians. I think I have read the adult version of every single book in this series.)

This is a simple little read, it occurs to me to ask: Why didn't somebody think of this before?

A lot of times when people want to inculcate someone with a political agenda, the first place that they go is to schools so that they can catch children when they are young.

Why can't sauce for the goose be sauce for the gander?

The environmentalists have been doing this for a long time. (Think of how often you watch a cartoon where bad people are shown to be polluters, who are not polluting as a side effect of some productive economic activity. But, just doing it because they are "bad.")

And don't even get me started on the Gender Identity Disorder Self-Diagnosis Movement. (Drag queen story hours all over the place. And I remember WAY fewer people with Gender Identity Disorder than when I was in Middle School and high school.)

If you have a worldview that you would like to impart to your kids, better that you catch them young and take the responsibility for their education.

The Libertarian world view has some number of parts, and this is a substantial one. (The Golden Rule.)

The illustrations are great, and my sons liked them a lot.

Verdict: Strongly recommended

Thank you for your review.

The sixth installment of The Tuttle Twins, Golden Rule, was the favorite one so far for my nine year old. Ethan and Emily head away to a sleepover camp where the kids are divided into teams and assigned to separate cabins. The only familiar face there is a teacher, Mrs. Miner.

The twins learn that their days will be filled with fun and games, as well as team challenges. Teams compete for ribbons to hang on their cabin flags. While everyone wants to do well in these competitions, there may be some people who are willing to do whatever it takes to win them all. Cheating leads to revenge and that revenge leads to a cycle of more trouble between the teams.

This cycle does not continue for long in the book, just enough for readers to get an understanding of the consequences of mistreatment and revenge. Fairly quickly, one instance of cheating leads to trouble, which also takes up only a page to solve and the campers are taught about the golden rule; Treat others as you would like to be treated.

A potentially serious problem is averted when all the campers work together, regardless of their teams, to save the camp.

This 60 page book is based loosely on the information in A Foreign Policy of Freedom by Ron Paul.

The Tuttle Twins and the Golden Rule is about a brother and sister going to camp. They are put into groups and start to have a rivalry. They start cheating and making bad decisions, which then turns into them fighting. The camp counselors help the teams realize what aggression, revenge, and blowback could do to their friendships and that working together is better than being rivals. But most importantly, for them not to forget the Golden Rule; treating others the way we want them to treat us.
I enjoyed reading this book. It brought up a lot of good points and had fun visuals. I also like that on the very last page, it shows the definition of some words and has discussion questions, so that if I did do a lesson of it, I would already have some questions to ask my students.
This book is a great way to show students the Golden Rule but in a fun way that almost everyone can relate to. Everyone has gone camping or even competed, but we have to draw the line when cheating is involved. This could show students how to handle their aggression or not continue the wrongs happening.

"The Tuttle Twins and the Golden Rule" is an awesome book about Emily and Ethan, also known as the Tuttle Twins, going to summer camp. They get into fun challenges but things get crazy when the Eagle team decides to sabotage another team, the Rattlesnakes! In the end, everyone learns about the Golden Rule and starts working together.

The main characters are Emily and Ethan, the adventurous twins, and the camp Chief. He's the wise one who teaches everyone the Golden Rule, which is "treat others how you want to be treated."

What I really loved about this book was the lesson on the Golden Rule. The twins and everyone else start to work together instead of against each other. My favorite character is the Chief because he helps everyone understand this important rule.

The best part for me was when they all worked together to prevent the camp from flooding. It showed how much better things are when you follow the Golden Rule.

I would totally recommend this book to kids who are 6 and up. It's a short but exciting story with a great lesson!

The kids gave this a 3 or 4. It was... fine. How can you argue with the principle of the Golden Rule? The storyline felt reminiscent of Disney's movie version of The Parent Trap with its shenanigans at camp and the campers pranking each other and getting revenge. It was a good additional lesson to not just talk about the Golden Rule, but also what happens with the opposite with "blowback" and retribution. I also liked how it talked about not getting so antagonistic with people in different groups. That part is especially needed in today's political climate where we are quick to cancel and hate each other instead of listen and find common ground, or even to simply be respectful if we simply can't agree on anything.

My kids did this book as a unit study. They discussed what it means to use the Golden Rule in our lives and how it can help instead of hurt others. It can be so easy to fall back on wanting to get back or get revenge on someone who has treated us wrongly, unfairly or not as we want to. But as we often hear around here, An eye for an eye will just make the whole world blind. I'm glad they learned about non-aggression and blowback through this story.

If this book is read aloud, it will give the family plenty to talk about, because so many people are behaving badly in it.

Discussion Questions: When you see someone behaving bad, do you have the responsibly to do something about it? What should have been done when each person saw someone behaving badly?

Most of the Tuttle Twins books I've read so far (in anticipation of giving them to my grandchildren) have been about economics or government. This one is about the Golden Rule and how to treat others. Summer camp is the setting. This one would be easier for younger kids to understand than some of the others.

This book engaged my children so much that they didn't roll their eyes at the message that revenge does NOT equal justice. The format is also such that a less advanced reader could tackle it successfully.

This book reminded me of a poster I once saw that gave the various translations of The Golden Rule from cultures around the world. The story about the teams competing at a youth camp seemed to be a little lacking in reality. However, I do like how it turned out and what this was all about.

Here we encounter a camp bully that wants to win at all costs at all the competitions, and Ethan is sucked into his warped game. Emily and her team do not take the low road. Ultimately, life lessons are learned.

I've heard a lot about the Tuttle Twins books, but this was my first time reading one of them. And I'm afraid I wasn't impressed. Books don't need to be flat and lifeless, shoving The Moral down readers' throats at the expense of story, character, and quality of writing to teach children something valuable. There are so, so many other, better books that illustrate the dangerous of vengeance and the benefits of kindness--books that are well-written, with the moral (if you want to call it that) being communicated as an after-effect of telling a good story about characters written by an author who understands human nature.

In short, don't read this. Find a classic instead.

workbook completed as well as discussion questions

I thought this one was about returning to the gold standard. Alas, it’s not. You still love Ron Paul anyway.

This is such an important principle that is sadly lacking in our society.

I liked it because people started cheating but then they started working together.