Well, here we are on the first Thursday of September and it is a GREAT pleasure to introduce today's guest brought to us by Tyndale House Publishing, so PLEASE welcome...Melanie Dobson!
Helping Kids Choose Great Books
Some of my best childhood friends were books. I learned from their pages as I embarked on treacherous journeys, traveled back in time, and helped my favorite characters solve countless mysteries (as if they needed my help…). Books helped me understand the world, and as I grew older, they slowly began to do something else—they inspired me to write adventures of my own.
Forty years later, I still love to read, and when my husband and I adopted our daughters, we wanted to pass along this love of story to them. We’ve spent many sweet hours snuggled around a book as a family, exploring the world together through its magical pages.
When my girls were in preschool, I began taking them to the library to choose books for themselves, and I was shocked to discover what was now available in the children’s and youth sections. I quickly realized that not only did I want to encourage my daughters to love a great story, I needed to help them develop tools to critique a book’s content before they embarked on their own adventures.
In my latest novel, Hidden Among the Stars, the protagonist co-owns a children’s bookstore. Callie, nicknamed Story Girl, explains how a well-written children’s book can mold and shape its readers. It can be a refuge for the mind or it can open the door to a frightening, hostile place. Through Callie’s character, I wanted to communicate my passion for great children’s literature as well as share some of what I’ve learned as a mom who wants to teach children how to choose books wisely.
Hidden Among the Stars is about children’s literature, but it’s also about the dangers of banning books, particularly during World War II. I’m not encouraging a book ban, but I’m a huge proponent of media education as we help our kids make great, healthy choices for what they consume.
As my daughters grew into avid readers, we developed a critique system of sorts that we all understand, dividing books into three different categories for our brains:
Nutrition
The healthy books we search for at the library are ones that fuel our minds, just like good food fuels our bodies. The fruits and vegetables of literature, they offer the best in nutrition for growing the intellect and imagination.
Compelling novels with depth and purpose are a great choice for children, developing their critical thinking skills as they enter a story world very different from their own. Biographies about remarkable people and the many resources explaining how things work help them learn. Poetry and parables expand their minds, challenge their thinking, and often portray God in a fresh, memorable way.
Some of these books taste like berries, others may seem more like brussels sprouts, but they are packed with powerful nutrition to inspire and educate the mind.
Brain Candy
These are the books we read for pure entertainment, the cotton candy of literature. They are super fun and meant to be enjoyed. I love reading brain candy books with my girls, laughing together as we stumble over silly words or take a journey to a faraway land, but like overloading a body on sugar, our brains start to go numb if we gorge them with entertainment.
For most of us, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying a few pieces of candy, but too much of a sweet thing can induce a sugar coma. Our brains begin to starve if we don’t feed them something with substance.
Poison
Some people believe that children should read whatever they’d like, as long as they are reading, but I think this is a dangerous philosophy. It’s like telling my daughters they can eat whatever they’d like, staying silent instead of warning them if something is riddled with poison. No loving parent is going to allow their son or daughter to eat salmonella-tainted meat, even if this child is craving chicken. They are going to teach them how to recognize and avoid poisoned food.
What constitutes “poison” is different for every parent, but just like salmonella can kill a young person, some of the material in children’s books can slowly kill a mind. Or it can kill the hope that flickers inside.
Books, like movies or music, are not meaningless entertainment. The stories and information inside the covers often begin to define their readers, and I, for one, want my girls to grow strong and healthy in both body and mind, learning to critique their options before deciding what’s best for their brains.
Author Bio: Writing fiction is Melanie Dobson’s excuse to explore abandoned houses, travel to unique places, and spend hours reading old books and journals. The award-winning author of almost twenty books, Melanie enjoys stitching together both time-slip and historical novels including Hidden Among the Stars, Chateau of Secrets, and Catching the Wind. More information about Melanie’s journey is available at www.melaniedobson.com
Hidden Among the Stars can be purchased at Tyndale, Amazon and wherever books are sold!
Hope you enjoyed today's post and that you'll check back for more Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight.
Until next time take care and God bless.
PamT
8 comments:
Discernment in reading is so important for our children. I too remember cuddles while reading together with my five kids, and how important that time was.
Hi Melanie,
I am in agreement with you concerning the need for children and young adults reading appropriately. Although my teen novels deal with serious topics, I make certain there is humor in the novels as well as positive values--and this is done without preaching. Your book sounds like a fine read. Wishing you every success!
Books are such wonderful friends. I remember as a child, being curled up in my bed reading until all hours. I had adventures all over the world within the pages of books. My daughters and I read together some of those same books. Precious memories. We need to present children with living books that offer wonderful stories filled with living ideas. Thanks so much for sharing.
Thank you for your notes! Yes, some of my best memories with my daughters are of us snuggled up, reading a great book together. I love great children's literature and loved communicating some of the wisdom found in children's books in Hidden Among the Stars.
We are blessed with a family cabin in a remote area. When our children were young, we spent hot summer days there boating, water skiing, fishing, and swimming. No telephones or television, or any electronics were allowed. During rest times, I read to them aloud while they wove pot holders, did beadwork, jigsaw puzzles, coloring, painting, sculpturing, etc. My reading to them encouraged their love of reading. Over three or four summers, we read LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, THE HOBBIT, the Narnia Tales, etc. Our older son, Joe, loved J.R.R. Tolkien so much that he did term papers on Tolkien in high school and college English courses. His older sister listened, but she prefers non fiction. I didn't realize that. She is an amazing wife and mother, and read to her two boys regularly. Joe is a lawyer who has four children who love books. Our younger daughter, Cassie, is a certified early childhood teacher whose four children also are enthusiastic readers. Younger son, Jim, who died of cancer at 39, was a lifetime reader, who had hundreds of books on cassettes. He traveled. All four of our children were and are enthusiastic library patrons. I monitored what they read, but I was lenient. THE EDUCATION OF LITTLE TREE, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, UNCLE TOM'S CABIN, and other controversial books were allowed. Their opinions and lively discussions stimulated us all.
What a great approach for discerning what books your children should read. Lovely post!
I really enjoyed the way you used "brain food", "poison" and so on to label what literature tastes like. That's an easily understood analogy. Thanks so much. Cheers
What a lovely post. Books will always be my best friend. I have to read every day. When my girls were little, I would put them in our red wagon and off we'd go to the library. Today both have a gift for words and writing.
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