When my third child was a toddler, I let her have a short amount of “crib time” each day while I homeschooled my oldest daughter. I turned on a calming CD, tossed some soft toys and board books in, and slipped off while she was playing. It was a great way for me to get […]
Non-Absentee Parents in KidLit: A Defense
Fictional parents. Fictional kids. Never the two shall meet. At least, as a compulsive reader of kids’ books, it often seems this way. I’d love to see stats, compiled by someone else, of course, breaking down this pattern with decades of book data. What percentage of child protagonists are orphans? What percentage are latchkey kids? […]
Knowing What Page You’re On: Waiting, Hoping, and Dr. Seuss
There seems to be a lack of bookmarks in my house – it’s not uncommon to find books left on tables, benches and counters being kept open by odd placeholders – coasters, markers, pencils, toys, and even other books! At the end of the day, if I gather up these paperbacks and hardcovers and remove the […]
In Praise of Family Stock Stories
You or some part of your family live out some cliché. Mine is the Appalachia-holler one. My grandfather was one of twelve kids growing up in Burrell Holler, NC, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. His momma made legendary biscuits and pork gravy, and his feisty father nicknamed him “cat”. He left home as a teenager […]
Point Kids to the Gospel Through Great Books
NOTE: This article first appeared at thegospelcoalition.org One morning, while strolling through Oxford, J. R. R. Tolkien described Christianity to C. S. Lewis as the “true myth.” Christ, Tolkien explained, is the full revelation of God; all other great stories merely echo that truth. Lewis later credited this discussion with Tolkien as instrumental to his Christian conversion. […]