You Are What You Read

I have this incredibly smart Aunt Helen, living way out in New Mexico, who I call my “book expert.” Every family needs one, right? Of course, it helps to have at least one nurse, doctor, lawyer, and helpful handy man as a part one’s nearest and dearest genetic pool, no doubt. I can, fortunately, check off each expert listed above. Yet, life is all the richer because of my Aunt Helen, the family “book expert”.

She has a PhD in Medieval English from UC Berkley. What in the world does someone with a degree like that do in the 21^stcentury, you ask?  Besides knowing how to read Beowulf in its original Anglo Saxon, she runs a successful consulting business that teaches scientists and researchers how to write well, especially for grants. On the side, at no charge to her dear niece, she helps me discern which books are the best in quality for my children.

Dorothy Sayers, one worth reading, often spoke on the various forms of educating children well. Teaching our children to be thinkers and lovers of learning first begins with the time we spend reading to them good books. In addition to the ultimate Good Book (The Bible), I introduced early on books by C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Beatrix Potter, J.R.R. Tolkien, Howard Pyle, and more.

Yes, we can have some fun reading the easy, popular books of today. No reading expert will eschew the need for frequent reading. However, to improve language development, overall intelligence, conversational skills, and moral concepts, I encourage you to embrace the “high level” books as soon as possible.

For example, one of CJ’s favorite books is called The Princess and the Goblin, by George MacDonald. It was written in the late 1800’s, has a very high language structure, and only 4 pictures in the entire book. Yet, while in Kindergarten, he couldn’t wait to hear me read it to him every night! We stopped every few paragraphs to discuss the meaning of the story and I was amazed at how much he already understood. Kids are endlessly fascinating because their capacity often reaches past our own expectations.

In my quest to see my children rise above the average, become noble in thought and speech, and grow into people that bring glory to God and love to this world, I choose to become choosy about the books they read and hear.

I have listed below some of my favorite books, though it is not exhaustive. Please let me know how you enjoy them, especially how well they are received by your children. Of course, I am always happy to receive any suggestions from you; help me keep my list growing!

The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis