Building Your Family Library Part 3

Recently I had the opportunity to speak at a Teach Them Diligently event, and I had a young mom come up to me and ask me about book recommendations for her young child.  I found myself encouraging her to read stories to her little one that are full of virtue, character and truth.  I also encouraged her to start out reading stories that are rooted in reality.  Over the years I have had a growing concern about starting young children on a heavy diet of mythical, fanciful, fairy tale stories before they have gained a firm grasp on reality.  I am concerned that many children are growing up absorbed in fantasy, and also the false reality of the online world, to the extent that they are having trouble grasping reality.  It has been my observation that a growing number of young people today seem to have confusion between reality and fantasy.  Because of this I am an advocate of starting out reading virtuous, character building, stories set in reality to our young children.

 

  As I look back, I wish I had known this when my oldest was younger.  At the time I chose some homeschool curriculums that were strongly literature based and also full of stories that were not set in reality.  Over time I became concerned with this approach, and I am doing things differently with my younger children.  I have had talks with my oldest daughter about this, and I have shared with her that I wish I had started out differently with her in this area.  My encouragement to parents now is to start with stories rooted in reality before allowing your children to read even the Christian fantasy.  I think our children need a firm grasp on reality so they can discern truth from imagination.  They also need to be immersed in the light of Christ so that they will recognize the darkness.  So this is some of what
I found coming out of my mouth as I encouraged this younger mama to read life-giving stories that will shape her young child's life and root him in Biblical truth and the love of God.

  Over the years we have been on a mission of filling our family library shelves with books of virtue and truth.  We want our children to be reading books that portray the hope we have in Jesus and fill their minds with the truths of God's Word and His ways.  If you were to peruse our bookshelves you would see lots of picture books teaching family values and character qualities.  You would also see books for young children that talk about various Bible verses.     We have collected some ABC style books where each letter of the alphabet is expounded upon with a Scripture verse or character quality.  We have many books that share the good news of the gospel over and over through different story lines and beautiful illustrations.  It is our desire to continue to take our children back to the gospel over and over throughout our days.  When I go to conventions and conferences I am always looking for these kinds of books that encourage the heart of a child to faith, obedience, truth, beauty, and wisdom.

  Some of the books we have on our shelves are no longer in print, but I have picked some of them up through used books sales.  When you are seeking to build a family library of virtuous, substantial books it really can be a hunt to find these gems.
  Books can be friends to our hearts and do a lot to shape the worldview of even our young children.  This is why I think we need to be intentional in this area of what we are reading to our children and what they read as they begin reading for themselves.

  Of course it is easier to just let them read whatever, but I believe intentionality in this area is very important.  There are many book series for children that are full of bad attitudes, wrong world views, foolishness and things that go against the wisdom of God.  

  I have been raising children now for over seventeen years, and one of the things that has really been sweet is reading and re-reading certain stories that have gone through all of my children.  I think of certain books that I read to my older children and then to my middle aged group and am now reading again to my preschoolers.  Oh the memories we have had with some of these books!  I hope that in the years to come I will be reading many of the books on our shelves to my future grandchildren as well.

  As we seek to collect character building books we can be investing in generations to come who will hopefully be reading the books we are putting on our shelves today.  Hopefully our treasured family libraries will be passed down through the generations.

  In each of these posts I have tried to leave you with a few suggestions on particular books you might check out.  Today I am going to encourage you to look at the drawing series called "Draw-Write-Now."  These books are not stories, but they give children step-by-step instructions on how to draw certain pictures.  The books also encourage neat handwriting practice that goes along with the pictures.  My girls have really enjoyed these books and have gone back to them throughout the years. That is my book suggestion for today's post.  :)

I would love to hear about some of the treasured books sitting on your shelves!  Have a blessed week!