Welcome!
So, as most homeschool moms will say is that it's SOOO important to read books. Yes. Good quality, high literature, classic authors, etc, etc.
Our kids mostly like to read. Our oldest is a super book nerd and would read ALL day if we let him, but the younger two prefer to be read to versus reading on their own. Since they were babies, we have tried to read (3-4 nights a week) a solid 30-45 minutes a night of books. Some months it was lots of Dr. Seuss, some weeks it was Mickey Mouse, and some weeks it was Peter Rabbit and classic kid books. We have LOTS of Usborne books, so we get fun illustrations, good authors, and we keep finding more and more.
Lately though the books we have been reading have been impacting us on a new level. Our homeschool curriculum (My Fathers World) uses and recommends classic family read alouds throughout the school year. We have over the years read great books from it such as Little House on the Prairie, Farmer Boy, Sarah Winchester, and many more. This year however was a handful of books I had zero backround with by Patricia St. John, and I decided to read it WITH my boys for my first time through as well.
We started off with Tanglewood Secrets. This book surprised me with some of the rich storyline and hard topics. Spoiler alert: a main character dies at the end. Now, for us who have first-hand dealt with the loss of our daughter; and the boys, their sister, this opened up a door for them to discuss it in a way they never had before. It's been almost 2.5 years since she passed away and I still struggle to get them to open up. What I truly loved about this book through was how it presented the hope, truth, and love of Jesus Christ for children, from the perspective of a child. Even when these children faced the loss of a close friend who was also a child, and they see the unfairness of life, they are still taught the unaltered truth of God's constant grace and loe through it all.
Now, this last couple of weeks, we have been reading Star of Light. This book was harder for me to get into with them because it took place in Morocco, and it took me a little while to really understand the cultural and religious differences. However, this book constinually discusses an older brother who has to protect and help his 2 year old sister. This has been an avenue for our oldest son to deal with and sort through his self-seen failure of not protecting his sister. It has allowed us to bond with a character who goes through some very serious life struggles, but to also discuss what it is like to feel afraid for the safety and future of a younger sibling. It has allowed me to go through some of his trauma with him and discuss even better why our daughters/sisters death was in NO WAY the fault of our son. He has spent two years blaming himself constantly, and nothing we have said or counselled him through has seemed to help. This story has been healing as he sees the adults and children in the book navigate some hard situations. Several times our son started becoming worried for the sister in the book, and trying to find ways to save her. I was moved to tears as we read about the love of a missionary nurse, and the perspecttive of others around her, and how they loved these children through their trials. However, my favorite part of this book, once again, is how simply and gracefully they incorporate the truths and blessings of Jesus Christ. From a child's perspective who has NEVER heard of Jesus, it has spoken deep truths to our children from a perspective that most kids won't hear in children's church or "regular" Bible time.
We will have one more of her books to read this school year called Treasures in the Snow, and I have NO doubt that it will share the same amazing truths and importance that the others have. I have discovered the writings and stylings from the early 1900's are showing us rich storylines and new perspectives we normally would not.
I am excited to read more of Patricia St. John and add even more to our collection!
I will post another day about our 40 book challenge, and just WHY reading is important, but tonight as I tried not to cry as I watched my children heal through their struggles, I am so thankful for rich Godly truths and authors who wrote it in a way that our family (over 100 years later) desperately needed.
When life feels hard, find the rich and uplifting stories, and snuggle in together and read through the comfort together.
