What about the Tuttle Twins?

Are the much-hyped Tuttle Twins books (and curriculum) profitable for Christian families?

An education in economic freedom

They’re talked up by talk-show hosts and Facebook posts, and have grown up to YA fiction. Even toddlers can explore Tuttle world through a series of board books, while their older siblings work through a corresponding curriculum. A crowd-sourced animated series debuted this month. Who are the Tuttle Twins, and what explains their popularity?

Ethan and Emily Tuttle are the literary creation of Connor Boyack, founder and president of Libertas Institute and the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). Given his location (Lehi, Utah), alma mater (BYU), and book titles like Latter-Day Responsibility, I assume he is affiliated with the LDS church. The Tuttle Twins books are an extension of his focus on individual liberty and free enterprise. To date there are 12 books in the original chapter-book series aimed at ages 5-11, with catchy titles like The Road to Surfdom, Food-Truck Fiasco, and Escape From Jekyll Island. Each book explores a principle of well-ordered liberty.

In The Tuttle Twins Learn about The Law, first volume in the series, Ethan and Emily receive a school assignment to interview someone they regard as wise. That’s obviously their neighbor Fred, who emigrated long ago from France. In simple, practical terms, Fred shares his wisdom about the limits of government, taking French economist Frederic Bastiat as his guide. “If the law lets the government do something I’m not allowed to do [specifically, redistribute wealth], then it’s not a true law.”

That’s Bastiat, not scripture. Other iconic voices in the history of economics weigh in during the series. In The Road to Surfdom (#5), the twins discover that their favorite beach vacation town has been literally bypassed by a new road approved by the voters. Observe the law of unintended consequences, courtesy of Frederick Hayek. The Miraculous Pencil reworks Leonard Read’s famous “I, Pencil” essay to instruct the twins about the free market. Ludwig von Mises serves as the inspiration for entrepreneurship in The Messed-Up Market. And so on.

Boyack writes from a libertarian rather than a conservative or religious worldview, though I assume he has a religion. Aiming to reach as wide an audience as possible, he doesn’t insert any theology. Even Tuttle Twins #9, The Golden Rule, makes no reference to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount but creates a summer-camp contention with counsel from a wise Native American about treating others as you would like to be treated.

The more recent “Choose Your Consequence” series puts the twins in YA territory. In The Hyperinflation Devastation, Ethan and Emily take off to South America by themselves, at the tender age of 15. Their parents are naturally trepidatious, but the kids have to start learning self-sufficiency sometime, don’t they? Plans for hiking, water skiing and exploring the ancient ruins of the Andes are sidelined by a devastating earthquake that causes all kinds of social, political, and economic havoc. Exactly what that entails is up to the reader, who has literally dozens of possible outcomes to choose from in this 400+ page book. Some of these “consequences” will fall out even before the twins board their plane. It’s too much for me, but teens who like the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure format may wander happily through the possibilities for hours.

Free-market and libertarian principles are often compatible with the Bible, but they’re not the Bible.

From a literary standpoint, the prose is straightforward and serviceable, but readers are not going to pick up any insights about literary style.

Are the Tuttle Twins books profitable for Christians? We’ve been asked about that. Free-market and libertarian principles are often compatible with the Bible, but they’re not the Bible. Take Bastiat’s statement about laws that privilege government over private individuals, quoted above. This needs to be balanced with Romans 13 and the power given to the state to punish evildoers. Presumably Bastiat would agree with that, but The Law doesn’t go into the purpose of government, only its abuses.

There’s always a temptation for conservative Christians to identify Christianity with Americanism. We can debate whether the USA was ever a Christian nation, but our children need to learn that they can still be Christians—sometimes even better Christians—in a socialist, utilitarian, or even communist society.

I believe the economic principles taught in the Tuttle Twins series offer the best chance at prosperity, freedom, and security for the greatest number of people. The more children who learn them, the better odds for free societies into the future. But if, in God’s providence, we’re headed in the opposite direction, all is not lost. Christians hold dual citizenship in two kingdoms (see Augustine). Political and economic freedom are good things, but not primary things; if kids understand that distinction, they can read the Tuttle Twins books with profit. (Low-cost activity books for each volume of the original series are also available.)

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