The Value of Good Literature

We've just finished a delightful book which I found at one of my favorite little local gift shops full of new and used decor, furniture, and books. Apparently it was quite a deal at $6.50 (which at the time I found outrageous!) since I just looked it up on Amazon and the going price is $97.00 for a new one!! Anyway, it is a little gem of a book called "Biddy Christmas" by Priscilla Warner. We've read it over our Christmas break and have all enjoyed hearing the tale spun by this talented author.

Since the time my children were tiny I have inundated them with good literature. We begin with the original "Winnie the Pooh" but have enjoyed countless treasures along the way. I've always steered clear of the new and popular books which I've nearly always found to be twaddle in untold measure. They may have color and action, but they almost always lack in beautiful words and beautiful stories which fill a child's heart (and mine!) with a rich vocabulary and a growing understanding of the world and emerging relationships surrounding them (not to mention moral character).

Books by Louisa May Alcott (she wrote some lovely tales before and after "Little Women") are always full of life, laughter, and little life lessons. Her use of words and the English language is just intriguing and we always find ourselves speaking and relating to each other differently during one of our reading sessions through "Eight Cousins" or "Little Men" or "An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving".

Of course, there are other classics -- some of which we haven't even traversed yet (there is so much to look forward to!!). "Wind in the Willows" provides a landscape of excitement and a text which just MAKES you speak with an English accent. When reading "Anne of Green Gables", I weep and laugh and find myself absolutely relating to each incident with my children. The children and Daddy (and the children's godfather - Andy, while he was staying with us) have sat transfixed on the edge of their seats as I read each night from R.M. Ballantyne's "Coral Island". We always read through at least one of E.B. White's books each year -- usually in the summer during our picnic lunches under the Ash tree. Isabelle has single-handedly listened to "Trumpet of the Swan" via audiobook at LEAST 20 times in her young lifetime.

I treasure my time reading aloud to my children. Yet, there isn't all the time I would like for this and so I have invested in a rich library of classic audio books as well. Isabelle especially has benefited from daily rest times in which she has listened to the Bible (the greatest classic of all!) as well as treasuries from James Herriot, Beatrix Potter, and Laura Ingall's Wilder to name just a few. Favorites include "The Railway Children" (not to be confused with the Boxcar Children), "Elsie Dinsmore", "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew", and "Incredible Journey".

I implore you to make the time each day to read classic literature to your children. Encourage them in their own reading. Be intentional and purposeful in making this a priority and lavish in the precious luxury it is to share the beauty of words with them.