Yesterday marked 80 years since Animal Farm was first published.
Man, I wish I could say it feels outdated.
Unfortunately, Orwell’s warnings have only grown more relevant.
If you haven’t read it in a while, here’s the quick recap: a group of animals rise up against their human farmer to create an equal society, but before long, the pigs take control, rewrite the rules, and become the tyrants they once overthrew. The other animals, confused and increasingly powerless, can’t quite figure out how it all happened.
By the end of the story, there’s no real difference between the pigs and the humans.
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which." - George Orwell, Animal Farm
It’s a devastating parable of how power corrupts, how propaganda distorts truth, and how easy it is for people to trade liberty for comfort when they’re promised safety and equality.
Of course these themes aren’t just part of history—they’re an active part of the world our kids are growing up in.
We based The Tuttle Twins and the Search for Atlas on Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, but it echoes Orwell’s warnings about collectivism and the abuse of power. We revisit these themes again in The Tuttle Twins and the Leviathan Crisis, which looks at how governments grow in times of fear or uncertainty.
If you’ve read The Tuttle Twins and the Fate of the Future, you’ll remember how we help kids understand voluntary cooperation as a better alternative to coercive systems like the ones Orwell critiqued.
Of course Orwell’s skill as some sort of modern-day prophet didn’t stop with Animal Farm. In 1984, he predicted a world of total surveillance, doublethink, censorship, and even the rewriting of history.
Gosh. Wouldn't that be a crazy way to live?!
Ha.
Our kids are coming of age at a time where government agencies are flagging “misinformation,” algorithms are shaping what we see and don’t see, and kids are being taught more about compliance than critical thinking.
Orwell’s work is no longer cautionary fiction—it’s practically a blueprint for the world that’s actively being built all around us.
That’s why the Tuttle Twins books are so important.
They don’t teach kids what to think—they teach them how to think. They teach them to question, to analyze, and to hold fast to truth even when it’s unpopular or scary.
Something that schools, media, and the mainstream in general teach the exact opposite of.
If you’ve been waiting for the right time to jump in, our Back to School Sale is it—14 books, audiobooks, parent guides, and workbooks, all bundled at the best price of the year. We’ve even got great deals for your older kids on our new Tuttle Twins Academy!
You don’t wait too long, because these deals end in just a few days. Now is the time to stock up for yourself or gift our resources to a friend or loved one.
It’s time for people like us to spread the ideas that have always led to human flourishing, prosperity, and peace.
It’s up to us to help the next generation grow up a little less sheepish, and a little more brave.
Because if we don’t teach our kids the value and meaning of freedom, someone else will teach them to love their chains.
— Connor
