The Warren & the World Vol 6, Issue 31

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

to my kids, please just be you

At finding joy, Rachel Martin has words for her children about loving their own skin.

I wish I had learned this when I was younger, honestly. I wish I had learned it when I was your age. But I don’t think I started getting comfortable in my own skin until I was older. Much much older. Like approaching 40 kind of old. Which, just so you know, now that I’ve passed that number is truly not that old.
But I want you to hear it from me – just be you.

What Homeschool Can Teach You About Discipleship

Scarlet Hiltibidal reminds us that discipleship happens when we live life alongside our children—in a homeschool classroom or elsewhere.

Cats in crocheted hats aside, homeschooling my oldest has given me a fresh perspective and appreciation for discipleship. You may be a group leader discipling a bunch of young marrieds. Or maybe you teach Sunday School to their grandparents. But no matter what your tribe looks like, God has given you a group of people to disciple, and these three things I’m learning as a homeschool mom can help you as you seek to faithfully disciple.

The Lifegiving Parent: A Review

Julie Silander has a review of our friends Clay and Sally Clarkson’s new book over at the Rabbit Room.

“…And that’s why I never read parenting books anymore.” – Recently spoken by a dear friend and mother of four.
We had been discussing the particular challenges we were facing raising teenagers. My friend is a diligent mom who takes seriously the calling of raising children. Why had she sworn off reading books that promise healthier, well-adjusted and happy children? I knew the answer without further probing. I felt similarly.

Favorite Early Reader Books (for kids who are learning to read)

Sarah Mackenzie has a great list of early readers over at Read Aloud Revival.

Do you remember struggling through early reader books back when you were learning to read? Was it all Dick and Jane? Was it … boring?
Think about this: nobody asks you now, as a grownup, how old you were when you became a fluent reader. Know why?

Because nobody cares.

Around the Warren

Our Apples Are Golden

Lesley Gore challenges us to find the magic that points to the Kingdom in every day.

If we know the following words of Chesterton by heart, it’s because they ring so true:

“Fairy tales say that apples were golden only to refresh the forgotten moment when we found that they were green. They make rivers run with wine only to make us remember, for one wild moment, that they run with water.”

But we who are sowing holy imaginations in the minds of our children know that it is not only fairy tales that aid us in accomplishing our task.

Flora is a Feast for Little Eyes and Minds

Loren Eaton introduces us to the wordless picture book, Flora the Flamingo.

To many parents who prize creativity, children’s animation occupies a lower rung on the artistic ladder. The stuff of Saturday mornings can often seem needlessly broad, hopelessly derivative, and crassly commercial (with a few notable exceptions). In other words, it too often starves young imaginations rather than sustaining them. But what happens when a one-time animator decides to try her hand at children’s books? Very good things indeed if you happen to be former Dreamworks artist Molly Idle. Her Flora and the Flamingo is a wordless picture book fairly bursting with beauty and containing some surprisingly deep lessons for very young readers.