Story Warren

Kindling Imagination for Kingdom Anticipation

The Warren & the World Vol 7, Issue 35

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It’s been a rough week over here. I’ve had to remind myself over and over and over that God is faithful and he is good. I’ve immersed myself in songs and books that are comfortable and true. And you know what? Right now, I believe it. I believe it all–God is good, there is Truth.

Around the Web

Growing Up Surrounded by Books Could Have Powerful, Lasting Effect on the Mind

Smithsonian Magazine reports on a new study that (surprise) says books are good for brains. Well shucks. Too bad nobody around here likes books.

  • Research has already suggested that opening a book may help improve brain function, reduce stress, and even make us more empathetic. Now, a team led by Joanna Sikora of the Australian National University is looking into the benefits of growing up around a book-filled environment; as Alison Flood of the Guardian reports, the researchers’ expansive new study suggests that homes with ample libraries can arm children with skills that persist into adulthood.
    Read more

As Agatha Swanburne Once Said…

MaryRose Wood (author of The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place) has a great email about waiting that came across my radar recently.

  • I type this from a plane—how newfangled!—that was two hours late to leave the gate.  
    Generally, I’m not the sort of person who minds these kinds of delays. More time to read, I say!  
    (One of the great advantages of a bookish outlook on life is that one can always keep happily occupied reading or writing, or thinking about what one has recently read, or imagining what one might soon write about. It’s particularly useful while traveling, as travel always seems to involve plenty of waiting!)
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Children Need Stories That Tell the Truth About Life and Death

Rebecca Bratten Weiss writes at Image Journal on the value of life and death tales for children–and recommends a few for them and for you.

  • Around the middle of the summer, I noticed that one of my chickens had disappeared. The next day, another was missing. The morning after that, my kids came in from doing their chores.
    “All the chickens are dead,” my seven year old informed me. “And one of them has its butt eaten off.”
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A Beautiful Book List

I don’t usually share Story Warren articles or lists in this section, but this week I needed beautiful books again and found myself headed back to this list we made a few years ago. What books would you add?

  • On Monday we had a piece on “beautiful books” and the need of them as a portion of your reading diet. The following list are suggestions from members of the Story Warren team of some of our favorite beautiful books for all ages. Also, check out the comments section of Monday’s post for recommendations  from other readers.
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Around the Warren

Salt of the Earth: In Praise of Shane

Christine Norvell recommends a classic.

  • Sometimes I reread children’s literature because I enjoy being captured again by the quality of writing and the stir of imagination. To truly know me as a reader of all things young, you must know that I read Laura Ingalls Wilder alongside every Louis L’Amour western in my junior high library. Not one librarian said I couldn’t read them because I was a girl, and thankfully, those same librarians pointed me next to Zane Grey. At age 13 and 14, these westerns were deep to me, even if I did recognize the plot patterns. I loved them. Action, mystery, rescue, the setting sun, the lonely West, and often, a misunderstood man.
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Mr. Harding’s Hopefuls

Hannah Hubin has a story for us.

  • Once, there was a man, named Mr. Harding, who made a business of working with light.
    He placed electric twinkling bulbs in old raspberry jam jars with tiny brass cranks and sold them to his customers – the township’s children.
    Every morning, Mr. Harding drove his cart to the corner of Second and Main, where various shopkeepers sold their goods, parked it next to a flower vendor, hung a sign that read “Mr. Harding’s Hopefuls,” and opened for business.  The children always came, and they bought the lamps for 12 pence apiece.
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Something to Do with Your Kids

Got a need for something to keep little fingers busy? Give weaving a try!

Something to Watch

So, uh…did you see this? #RabbitsWithSwords

Thanks for reading. We’re on your side. 

-The Story Warren Team

Carolyn Clare Givens
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