Killer Underwear Invasion!

Killer Underwear Invasion: How to Spot Fake News, Disinformation & Conspiracy Theories, by Elise Gravel, offers engaging lessons on media literacy for elementary school students and beyond. Using Elise Gravel's signature illustrations and humour, the book explains fake news, the consequences of disinformation, why people believe fake news and how to distinguish real news from fake news.

Something I liked about this book was how the author uses humour to explore real issues. For example, when explaining why people spread fake news, a political candidate hurls an accusation about pinching puppies in order to gain power. Silly examples of disinformation are given, like drinking shampoo curing illnesses or scorpions being found in the sewer. Later in the book, these silly examples are weaved together to demonstrate how disinformation can be blown up to cause bigger problems and play on people's fears. This bigger picture is important, as well as the subsequent explanation about why people are taken in by fake news.

Some people might question why lessons on fake news are necessary for kids in elementary school. However, elementary school students are digital citizens and many are accessing information online. Lessons about reliable news sources and how to verify online information with credible sources can give foundational media literacy skills that are beneficial as kids become more frequent consumers of online information.