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averageus.com, Blog, books, Books to Share a Child's Life, children's books, Holly Michael, http://averageus.com, Lon Hetrick, reading, reading to children, www.writingstraight.com, YA books
Yoohoo! Moms & Dads with children of all ages, Grandmas & Grandpas, Aunts & Uncles, expecting parents & children who can read! Hey EVERYBODY! Lon Hetrick is here! And he’s talking about:
“Books that Shape a Child’s Life”
Don’t know Lon Hetrick? Oh my, then today is your lucky day! C’mon. Pull up a chair. Lon, and his wife, Dawn, blog over at Average Us.
Their blog’s about: an average Christian couple whose thoughts on spiritual life and emotional health reflect our belief that God is great, even when life isn’t.
They claim to be an average Christian couple, but their blog is anything but average. You’ll see what I mean. So…with great honor, zeal, and mucho gusto, I present Lon:
“When you read a book as a child it becomes part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your life does.” — Kathleen Kelly, played by Meg Ryan in the 1998 film, You’ve Got Mail
Anyone who read a book as a child, or was read to as a child, knows this is true. Childhood books shape our imagination and inspire our dreams of who we want to be: adventurous, noble, wise, kind, brave, strong, or funny.
It’s because of this that my wife and I made it a point to read to each of our three children during their early years. As Christian parents, we wanted to shape their lives with a love for God, people, life, family and learning.
We chose classic books, average books, and books we just plain liked from our own childhood. It didn’t matter much if a book was really on their level or not; they simply enjoyed the read-n-cuddle time with Dad or Mom, and learned a lot as we explained concepts, vocabulary, and story lines. (I think our oldest was only four when I read Peter Pan to him.)
Books We Read to Our Kids
Here’s a selection of the books that shaped my kids (not in any particular order, nor in proper bibliographic form), and I recommend them to any parent.
- Anything by Dr. Seuss — no one does silly-talk funner or betterer 😉
- The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis — My kids loved these allegorical tales and they provide lots of opportunities for God-centered conversation.
- Out of the Silent Plant, Lewis
- Perelandra, Lewis – Believe it or not, this sci-fi take on the nature of evil provided a fascinating opportunity to discuss human sinfulness with my kids.
- The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Beverly Cleary — my childhood favorite
- The Trumpet of the Swan, E.B. White
- The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
- The Call of the Wild, Jack London
- The Westminster Shorter Catechism in Modern English — I scheduled regular time to read and teach this wonderful summary of the Christian faith. No regrets.
- The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien — another childhood favorite
- A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula Le Guin
- Dinotopia series — James Gurney. These are beautifully illustrated.
- The King Without A Shadow — Christian allegory by R.C. Sproul
- The Priest With Dirty Clothes — same as above, a wonderful explanation of the biblical teaching on the atonement Christ accomplished.
- Plus these well-known titles: The Swiss Family Robinson, Robinson Crusoe, Stewart Little, Charlotte’s Web, Robin Hood, Pilgrim’s Progress (child’s version), Peter Pan
Books Our Kids Read to Us
In later years, our kids took to reading to the family during road trips. A good book makes the drive between Minneapolis and Atlanta go a lot faster! Here are a few that we enjoyed as a family.
- The Gideon Trilogy, Linda Buckley Archer — British kids time travel to the past and meet up with bad guys (cool!)
- The Percy Jackson series, Rick Riordan
- The Hunger Games series, Suzanne Collins — yes, we read them before we knew there would be a movie 😉
- The Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling
Books We Want Our Kids to Read
I also give each of our kids a few books as High School graduation gifts (two down, one to go!). These books are gifts from my heart and represent my fatherly hopes for how they might understand the world and their place in it, how they might live life well, and find God ever-present and faithful in it.
- Behind a Frowning Providence, John Murray — a short pamphlet dealing with suffering and God’s providential guidance of His world. Everyone suffers sooner or later, and I wanted my kids to know how to trust God’s fatherly care when the time comes.
- Science and Evolution, Chuck Colson — an enlightening investigation of the Creation/Evolution debate.
- The Life of a God-made Man, Dan Doriani — for my son, on a Biblical view of manhood.
- Desiring God, John Piper — the most influential modern book of my life. It’s a treatise for a biblical worldview on this theme: “God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him.”
- Knowing God, J. I. Packer — also 10 out of 10.
- The Mark of a Man, Elisabeth Elliot. For my son and daughters.
- Let Me Be a Woman, Elliot. For my daughters.
Books to Shape A Child’s Life
What should reading to a child be, after all, other than an investment of love and wisdom in a young heart and mind? Of the many ways to shape a child’s life, and build a relationship with them, the selection and reading of good books is surely among the best.
I hope some of these books will enrich the children in your life as they have ours.
What are one or two books you can recommend for shaping a child’s life?
Now, you just gotta check out Lon’s BLOG: http://averageus.com (Average Us), TWITTER: @averageus, FB: http://www.facebook.com/AverageUs
Pingback: Check Out Holly Michael’s Blog « Average Us
Stephany said:
I love the selections of books offered here. We’ve either read together as a family, or the kids have read alone, most of the books mentioned in th first two groups. For shear imagination building, I offer Peter and the Star Catchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson and The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet by Eleanor Cameron. Thanks for sharing!
Holly Michael said:
Stephany, thanks for stopping by and adding to the list! I hadn’t read these two, but surely will!
Lon said:
Hmmm… “Flight of the Mushroom Planet” reminds me that we also read “The Little Prince” which includes some interplanetary travel via a flock of birds 🙂
Jolina Petersheim said:
I have just started to read to my four-month-old daughter, so list post was perfect timing. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for these titles. Thank you, Holly, Lon, and Dawn!
Holly Michael said:
Thanks for stopping by Jolina. Your daughter will be blessed by your reading to her!
tmgaouette said:
Thanks for this list. I loved reading as a child…probably why I love writing as an adult. I’d walk to school with a book in hand and my sister guiding my way. Many of my favorites are included, such as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien (I love their style) I’ll add The Lord of the Rings. And classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird are great for teens to read with their parents. They bring up very important discussion topics. Thanks again. TMG
Holly Michael said:
We have a lot in common! 🙂 Have you read Madeline L’Engle?
T.M. Gaouette said:
Yes we do:) Actually, I haven’t had the pleasure of reading her work, but am intrigued. Any title suggestions?
Holly Michael said:
Oh….you will LOVE her. A wrinkle in Time is the first of an amazing trilogy. My favorite books in the world! Written in the 60s, I think. Classics.
Amanda said:
Great list. We just finished reading The Magician’s Nephew–in fact we’re discussing it today at our book club–and we’re currently reading The Gideon Trilogy.
Holly Michael said:
Great books. Thanks for stopping by, Amanda
Glenda said:
Love this post, Holly. Thanks for doing all you do to promote and encourage other writers..especially Christian marriage and family.
Holly Michael said:
Thanks Glenda!
Tina said:
Hey Holly,
Thanks for stopping by my place!
It’s a pleasure to be introduced to your friends. We share a lot of books in common that I’ve read to my children and that we sometimes read separately and then discuss. My Jake read the Harry Potters before me, so I always had to wait until he was done until I got the copy…which about killed me in book seven…
He memorized Fox in Sox for a school poetry recital and got an A. I can still recite large sections of it…
Great post, Lon. From one Christian to another, thanks for your recommendations. I’m bookmarking the page.
Tina @ Life is Good
Post A-Z Road trip!
Holly Michael said:
Hi Tina, I have a Jake too! And thanks for stopping by.
Sheryl said:
Great post! I just asked my daughter (who is a young adult) which picture books shaped her life. She said books about children in other countries (Madeline; Russia Girl) because they expanded her horizons.
Holly Michael said:
She sounds like a real smart young adult! Thanks for stopping by Sheryl.
4amWriter said:
Great post. I still read to my kids. Right now we’re in the middle of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh. My 9 year old reads at the level of 12-13 year old and she wants to read The Hunger Games. I told her in no uncertain terms that isn’t happening, but alas, there are a lot of 10 year olds I see with those books in hand. Maybe I’m too old fashioned??? Anyway she did latch on to the Warrior books by Erin Hunter and she is loving those. There are quite a few in the series, so that should keep her occupied for a while…then I’m sure we’ll be revisiting Hunger Games issue.
Holly Michael said:
What a great little reader she is. Has she read Madeline L’Engle’s books? I think she’d love them.
TM Gaouette said:
I agree with you that The Hunger Games is not appropriate for her age. You may want to read a post I wrote about this at Project Inspired. The comments are primarily from teen girls and the discussion very diverse. I think you may find them helpful in determining what age would be more appropriate. Good luck and God bless! TMG http://www.projectinspired.com/the-hunger-games-will-you-be-watching/
Holly Michael said:
Thank for mentioning that TM.
4amWriter said:
Thanks TM, I will be sure to check it out. I’m glad I’m not alone in the whole Wait-till-you’re-older-to-read-Hunger-Games mentality. 🙂
Yes, Holly, she enjoyed A Wrinkle in Time, once she got into it. She said it was a bit slow at first. I think that tells us the difference between reading styles today and reading styles 20+ years ago. Nowadays, people just want the action to shoot right out of the gates, unfortunately.
Sandra Ardoin said:
Wonderful post, Holly. There are so many good children’s Bibles out there. My daughter had one that was like a thick picture book.
Holly Michael said:
HI Sandra, there are a lot of options for Bibles for kids, and teens too. Thanks for stoping by.
Katy Upperman (@katyupperman) said:
So many fantastic titles on these lists! We’re a big fan of reading the kidlit “classics” to our almost-five-year-old: Beverly Cleary, EB White, Judy Blume, Gertrude Chandler Warner, Roald Dahl, and Laura Ingles Wilder come to mind. And while they’re a little lighter and a lot sillier, we’ve also really enjoyed the Junie B. Jones books. 🙂
Holly Michael said:
Loved Junie B. Jones!
Virginia said:
Hi Holly, I just tagged you in a blog tag! If you want to participate, check it out 🙂 http://poetaofficium.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/blog-tag-and-im-it/
Holly Michael said:
Thanks Virginia, I’d love to!
Red Writing Hood Ink said:
Thanks for stopping by my site, Holly. And, most of all, thank you for putting together a wonderful site, especially this post. Of all the books I read as a child, my all time favorite –and the one that remains a part of me even today- is Charlotte’s Web. When I think about the story today, my heart and stomach fills with the same emotions that I felt humpteen years ago!
Holly Michael said:
Thans for stopping by! Glad you like my site!