What Shall We Read?

If you're anything like me, with several insatiable young readers in the household, finding appropriate books can be a mammoth task.

I guess I'm pretty conservative when it comes to kid's reading material.  As a Christian, I believe what the Bible says - that you become what you think.  And what better way to think about something than to read about it?  Of course, even the Bible itself has stories of immorality and even downright depravity, but they are set in the context of morality.  The Bible describes the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, and then the penalty for that sin - their complete destruction.

I find helping my girls choose good books to be a minefield.  There is a lot of rubbish out there.  Amongst it, there are a few gems (very few written recently, in my opinion).  Meanwhile their  "appetite" for reading is huge, and there just don't seem to be enough good books to fill that chasm.  And I can't keep up in "censoring" the books before they read them. So sometimes I compromise.  And sometimes they have to read the same book 10 times.  And sometimes I tell them to go find something else to do.  After all, reading isn't some kind of virtue.  It's useful, it's enjoyable (for our family anyway), and in some cases (such as reading the Bible) it's really, really important.  But really, there are other things to learn and do as well, and sometimes reading can be a lazy and self-indulgent pleasure, rather than a helpful, uplifting and inspiring past-time.

Anyway, after all that, I thought I would share some of our family favourites.

What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge
I just love this book.  It probably doesn't rate as great "literature", but it is such a beautiful story of a girl learning many valuable lessons through a painful trial.  The characters are wonderfully human, but are trying to be "good".

Heidi by Johanna Spyri
Heidi is a lovely, warm-hearted little orphan who brings joy into her Grandfather's life, but also has to suffer some difficult trials and being terrible misunderstood.  (I don't know if other Johanna Spyri books are in print, but I've also enjoyed reading Erik and Sally and Cornelli, which I downloaded from the Gutenberg project website.)

Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter
I love Pollyanna's attitude to life - she is positive and friendly, but not flippant.  She too has to go through a very challenging time that tests her own philosophy on life.

Pigeon Pie by Charlotte Yonge
This is a story about the English Civil War which was both educational and an enjoyable family read.  A little girl's quick temper and tongue get her family into serious trouble.

Children of the New Forrest by Captain Marryat
Another story about the English Civil War.  Four children of a nobleman pretend to be the grandchildren of a Forrester and have to learn to survive in the New Forrest where they are living.  I picked up our version at an op shop and it's abridged, but I'm not sure what is missing.  It doesn't seem to have been overly simplified like some abridged editions.

Hayslope Grange: A Tale of the Civil War by Emma Leslie
And another story of the Civil war.  A young nobleman is cast off by his family because he joins the "rebel" cause. (A little on the melodramatic side at times :))

A Little Maid of Old Maine by Alice Turner Curtis
Based on a true story of a young girl whose heroic actions helped save her settlement at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.  This author has also written a bunch of other books.  We accessed all of these on the Gutenberg project website.

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
A boy runs away from his crowded home to live in the wilderness, fending for himself.

The Story of the Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit
(We also loved the movie of her book, The Railway Children - I have the book on the shelf, but haven't read it yet).  A beautiful and touching story of a family of well-intentioned but mischievous children on a quest to earn money for their family.  (Oh, and we also enjoyed the movie of Five Children and It.  The five children find a "sand fairy" who grants their wishes with disastrous results.  I'm not "into" magic books, but since this doesn't really promote magic, but has some good lessons, I was happy with it.)

Deepwater by Judith O'Neill
A story of a small Victorian (Australian) farming community during the first world war and the prejudice against Germans at the time.

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
No, I don't normally allow my girls to read about witches, but I appreciated the Christian allegory in this book, and it's a lot of fun to read.  Four children enter the land of Naria through a wardrobe and learn a lot about themselves in the process.

There are many more books that we have enjoyed together and hope to enjoy in the future... I hope to add to this list with time.