Electromagnetism For Kids?

I was recently volunteering at my uncle’s school for an event, and as I was browsing his classroom I saw a physics book sitting on his table. The cover had a cartoony style, featuring electricity, and magnetism as the main topics of this physics book for kids. I saw it, and I thought to myself that it was interesting that kids books that delve into physics tend to explain electricity and magnetism, two of the hardest concepts in the lower division physics courses.

Electricity and magnetism is titled PHYS-1C at my college, and from all my older friends they say it's the hardest physics course. There’s four courses in this series: mechanics, fluids heat and sound, electricity and magnetism, and finally, Optics and Modern Physics. Even though Optics and Modern Physics is the final in the series, Electricity and Magnetism is still considered the most difficult and there’s no debate over this topic. I feel that once you get to optics and modern physics, you already went through some very difficult courses so it seems a little simpler, maybe it’s the students on their high horse after getting through other courses.

So why is electricity and magnetism the standard for introducing kids to physics? I believe it’s because kids have a natural interest in these topics from when they can begin conceiving the world around them. Children don’t think about mechanics, fluids heat and sound, or optics the way they think about electricity and magnetism. Magnetism almost seems like magic to a kid, and electricity is what powers 90% of their lives in the 21st century. A child’s imagination and curiosity is what fuels their interests, and so by expanding on the topics they wonder about it builds a strong educational background for the future. I do think electricity and magnetism is the most interesting, so maybe the publisher’s strategy of expanding on electricity and magnetism really did work on an aspiring STEM student.