When I read a review about the book Honey For a Child’s Heart: The Imaginative Use of Books in Family Life on the blog Sunlit Pages, I immediately added it to my library hold list. With one child in our house currently learning how to read and another child that is thoroughly engrossed by letters, I knew that we could use a lot of help in our house in figuring out good books for my girls to read. I love reading and in thinking back upon the stories, books, incentives (Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pizza for D.E.A.R. and the Ravenous Readers Club at my elementary school), my parents, and teachers that helped me to learn a love for books---compelling stories were an essential ingredient. Because Honey for a Child’s Heart includes hundreds of suggested books with compelling stories, it is a great resource to turn to when looking for new books to read.
Honey for a Child’s Heart can be divided into two parts. The first half of the book focuses upon how books help children to grow. “That is what a book does. It introduces us to people and places we wouldn’t ordinarily know. A good book is a magic gateway into a wider world of wonder, beauty, delight, and adventure.” The author focuses a lot upon the privilege that parents have in being able to introduce books and ideas to the “uncluttered, supple mind of a child, the delight of knowing the many rich things God has given us to enjoy...Children don’t stumble onto good books by themselves; they must be introduced to the wonder of words put together in such a way that they spin out pure joy and magic.”
What do good books do? According to the author books can give security, teach geography (as children visit families from other countries). They teach children “the pleasure of words so well chosen that they awaken sensibility, great emotions, and understanding of truth.” Books help us to communicate with one another to bond. A shared story helps communication. Reading good stories teaches children that reading is fun, regardless of their current reading abilities. “Good books are about the stuff that makes up life.”
What kind of books should we introduce to children? EVERYTHING! “Stories that make for wonder. Stories that make for laughter. Stories that stir one within with an understanding of the true nature of courage, of love, of beauty. Stories that make one tingle with high adventure, with daring, with grim determination, with the capacity of seeing danger through to the end.” Said C.S. Lewis, “No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally worth reading at the age of fifty.” When considering the qualities that makes one book superior ask some of the following questions: What is the author trying to say? (Theme; Weak themes = flabby story.) How does the author use language? (Style) What is the plot? (Good plots grow out of strong themes.) The author urges that whenever possible we should read original versions because “simplifying great writing means less than great writing . . . the loss of words put together in the right way cheats the reader.”
As parents we must make the conscious and intentional decision about our values. We teach our children by the way we spend our own time. “Families who care about their children need to monitor how much time is spent in an activity that offers so little in return.” Those who argue that they don’t have time, are making that choice. “We make time for what we think is important and in doing so we teach our children about what things really matter in life.” For me the strongest argument for why parents need to intentionally incorporate reading into family life is the topic of influencing our children. “Who influences your children? Communication flows out of conviction. Far too many parents feel little responsibility beyond providing physical needs, seeing that order is kept, and making sure that their children are at the right places at the right time. They do not plan to be influencers of ideas, to furnish the mind with what is true. They expect the school and church to do that for them. . . . Influencing our children is not a casual task. It won’t get done unless we have a plan. Parents who read widely together with their children are going to be those who most influence their children.”
In addition to a great list of recommended books for solitary reading and family read-aloud, several strategies are offered for incorporating more language and reading into our homes. Description games where the family describes an experience in words is one great example. Using a questions such as “How does a summer night sound? How does a rainy day feel? What does a Kindergarten child look like on her way home from school?” This game is great for teaching children about the possibility of words. Another great suggestion was a list of ten guidelines for raising readers vs. non-readers. “Ten ways to raise a reader: 1. Restrict television watching drastically. 2. Keep the computer under control and where it can be monitored. Don’t allow too many hours on pointless computer games. 3. Have books and other good reading material within easy reach, an enticement to read. 4. Let your children see you reading. 5. Read books aloud together regardless of age. 6. Talk about books together; play games together. 7. Have well-lit rooms with comfortable chairs that invite reading. 8. Balance activity schedules with reading time. Let your kids know the library is important as the gymnasium. 9 Encourage reading in bed with good lights to do so. 10 visit the library often and listen to books on tape when traveling.”
The author ends this first section by reiterating that children are eager in imaginative and the window in which they are incredibly open and formative is short. She also makes the very important point that children have different interests and we should honor their choices and try to select books that will be interesting to them, but to also introduce them to a large variety of reading material, everything from poetry, fiction, non-fiction, religious, etc. “While books are no substitute for life, a keener pleasure comes to life because of books.”
The second half of the book includes several book lists. It starts with a great section on the best way to use the book list and then breaks reading suggestions into categories by age and genre. Books suitable for children from ages zero through fourteen are recommended, but if you have older children there is also a book in this series specifically geared towards teenagers.
