The Warren & the World is Story Warren’s weekly newsletter, providing a round-up of our favorite things from around the web as well as a review of what was on our site over the past week. We’re glad you’re here!
Around the Web
Desire, Choice, Consequence: Building Character Through Stories
This is an old piece, actually, but it was reshared in my newsfeed by a friend this week and I wanted to pass it along to you. Six years ago, Jonathan Rogers posted this piece at the Rabbit Room that explores the ways good stories build us into who we want to be.
- At writing seminars everywhere, writing teachers are giving stuck story-writers the same advice: “Ask yourself, ‘What is it that my character wants?’”
Why? Because once you know what a character wants, you know what choices he or she is likely to make. Once your character starts making choices, consequences follow. And then a story begins to take shape.
Desire. Choice. Consequence. That’s what a story is made of.
Coffee Table Book: Illustrated Summaries of Biblical Books
- This coffee table book is the collection of every diagram in the Read Scripture series alongside short, written summaries of that book. The diagrams include the Old Testament and New Testament books in the Protestant tradition.
These illustrated summaries are bound together in a gray cloth hardcover binding. The dimensions of this book are 19″x12″ (48cm x 30cm). It is perfect for displaying on a table or pulling out to use during family Bible studies or small groups.
Why Was Turkish Delight C.S. Lewis’s Guilty Pleasure?
- Turkish delight is the British name for a sweet called lokum, one of many spellings and a corrupted version of the original phrase, rahatü’l-hulkum, which means “giving rest to the throat.” Mary Işın, a food historian and author of Sherbet & Spice: The Complete Story of Turkish Sweets and Desserts, which includes a full chapter on the history of lokum, dates the origins of the sweet to the 18th century. Lokum was probably invented by palace confectioners, though the original exporter, Hacı Bekir, claims to have masterminded it.
A Heart Reset When Things Are Less than Ideal
Alison writes at Courage for Better Story on learning to share her heart resets before God with her kids.
- It had been a rough, hot mess day, and it was only 9am.
There had been a hungry baby fussing and the general morning rush to make lunch for my husband, get everyone fed & dressed, while trying not to ignore my own hunger for too long. There had already been a glass broken accidentally, but still as a result of some loud toddler emotions. It was going to be a hot day in Pennsylvania, and the humidity of the morning only made it that much harder to not be annoyed.
I texted my husband for prayer, telling him that it already felt like a “I’m-not-so-sure-I’m-going-to-make-it” sort of day.
Around the Warren
Is Screen Time the Enemy of Reading?
Summer can bring about extra rounds of battles about screen time, but Carolyn Leiloglou suggests that sometimes the right media can encourage kids to read books they might otherwise never have picked up!
- If you are like me, you tend to think that screen time is the enemy of reading. After all, digital media can be pretty addicting, for adults as well as kids. It can be hard for books to compete with lights and sounds and moving pictures.
However, I think there can be room in most kids’ lives for both books and screens. We live in a world where it’s nearly impossible to get rid of all digital media. In my view, we need to find a happy medium.
But finding that balance is not what we’re here to talk about. What I want to tell you is that digital media and book are closer friends than you realize.
Ed is Excellent!
Laura Peterson introduces us to poor Ed (the lovably puppy protagonist of Excellent Ed), who struggles with an all-too-common enemy: that sneaky voice of comparison. Ed’s story isn’t heavy-handed or moralistic—it’s just the plain, beautiful truth that each of us is excellent in our own unique way.
- Clifford. Biscuit. Harry. Milo. Daisy. The Poky Little Puppy. Everyone loves a good dog book, don’t they? I’ve been on a hunt for good readaloud storytime books in my new job as a children’s librarian, and the other week I found one that I immediately wanted to share with the Story Warren family.
Something to Do with Your Kids
If you have a day this summer when turning on the oven doesn’t sound terrible, this Hot Rocks activity sounds like a great way to use up leftover crayon ends and create something beautiful.
And Something to Watch
The story behind this video is that in 1992 a guy named Jim Wilson got the idea to slow down a recording of chirping crickets. The revealed sound simply was called “Gods cricket chorus.”
Thank you for reading. We’re on your side.
You can find her at carolyncgivens.com or on Facebook or Instagram at @carolyncgivens.
- The Warren & The World Vol 13, Issue 16 - May 10, 2025
- The Warren & The World Vol 15 - May 3, 2025
- The Warren & The World Vol 14 - April 26, 2025
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