The Warren & the World Vol 5, Issue 37

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

I Stopped Praising My Kids For A Week, & This Is What I Learned

Alana Romain read the research on how over-praising kids causes excess stress and decided to see what directed, measured praise would do instead. Here she chronicles a week with her preschoolers:

There is pretty much an infinite number of reasons why parenting is hard, but one thing that only makes this already-impossible task even more difficult? Parenting experts’ opinions and advice about the “right” way to raise kids is constantly changing. Once upon a time, kids got spanked on the regular and nobody wore seat belts. Then, it was all about self-esteem and helicopter parenting and handing out participation trophies so no one got their feelings hurt. But today, parents are being told a different message: maybe ease up a little on the achievement-focused stuff. And, oh yeah, you probably shouldn’t praise your kids so much.

You Should Thank God That Your Kids Are Mediocre Athletes

Hans Fiene explores the grace of having kids who are not great athletes.

You should thank God for numerous things. You should thank him for the gifts of clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home. You should thank him for giving you a good job and a loving spouse. In addition to thanking God for your wonderful children, you should also thank him that none of your kids is particularly great at any sport.

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

September 21, 2017 is the 80th anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit. And September 22, of course, is Bilbo and Frodo’s birthday. So how better to celebrate than to hear a six-year-old’s summary/review of Tolkien’s beloved book? If Evelyn’s Jib-Jabs about books don’t make you want to read, you have a heart of stone.

About the Hobbit. One day a man went to Bilbo Baggins and the man (you can call him Bilbo-I just call him Bill) Bilbo let that man come to his house. So it turned out that Balin, Dwalin, and Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bombur, Bofur, Thorin Oakenshield, that was the most important dwarf of all of them. One night they planned to go and get a treasure the dragon was guarding. It was a secret hill. And Bilbo could come if he wanted to.

7 Tips for Starting a Book Club (For Kids)

Deborah Lytton has some great suggestions on starting a kids book club.

Book clubs are a wonderful way to combine reading and friends. A book club allows for discovery of new books as well as ideas. Here are 7 tips for starting your own.
In my newest release, RUBY STARR (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky), the main character Ruby is a ten year old who absolutely loves books. She is inspired by her mother’s book club to start the Unicorn book club. Once a week, Ruby and her friends meet at lunch to discuss their latest read.
Here are some Ruby-inspired tips for starting a book club of your own.

Around the Warren

The Gift of Grief

James Witmer explores the gift that grief is and the ways it turns us toward joy.

It is the business of a sinful world to turn our eyes away from Jesus – to the more pressing, familiar-seeming things around us: “a newsboy shouting the midday paper, and a No. 73 bus going past” (Lewis, The Screwtape Letters).
Our work, entertainment, and hobbies act as anesthetics. And like anesthetics, they block pain and pleasure – grief and joy – alike. We grow blind to the glory shining through cracks in a broken world.

In Times of Destruction

Tyler Leland reminds us to be people who build, no matter the destruction around us.

April 19, 1906: “3000 Dead, $300,000,000 Lost, San Francisco is Obliterated“
October 25, 1929: “Greatest Crash in Wall Street’s History“
December 7, 1941: “War! Oahu Bombed By Japanese Planes“
September 12, 2001: “U.S. Attacked: Hijacked Jets Destroy Twin Towers and Hit Pentagon in Day of Terror“
These are a few of the headlines that have hit U.S. newspapers over the past 100 years. The common thread weaving each one together is summed up with one word…destruction.

Something to Do with Your Kids

Over at What Do We Do All Day, they’ve got an abstract strategy game for kids called Watermelon Chess. It’s easy to learn and simple to play on the go. Check it out.

And Something to Watch

Destin over at Smarter Every Day took a slo-mo camera to the Amazon rainforest. And he made a sling for his cat to hang in like Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible.