Wayne

Here is another section of the June, 2005, issue of the HEADSUP Newsletter for your consideration.

11. NOW, CHOOSE A GOOD BOOK, RELAX, AND READ AWAY
by Wayne S. Walker
     The July 3/10, 2004, “Summer Books” issue of World Magazine was entitled “The Quest for Good Fiction from a Christian worldview.”  After an article on the “Battle of the Books” by cultural editor Gene Edward Veith, the cover story, “Truth and Fiction” also by Veith, dealt with different kinds of fiction written from a Biblical worldview.  “Freedom Summer” by Priya Abraham concerned  the National Endowment for the Humanities' fifteen “wonderful and powerful books that shed light on our national heritage,” which include Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit; Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451; George Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984; C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Paul Revere's Ride; Julius Lester's To Be A Slave; and Willa Cather's My Antonia.  Abraham wrote, “Some 1,000 school and public libraries–and even homeschool libraries–can now apply for a set of the books, which the NEH will mail to award winners next spring.” The article also noted, “The NEH is also reaching deep into communities previously shunned by federal programs.  Alfrieda Day is one example.  The Illinois homeschool mother received the first courage bookshelf this year, but has been turned down in the past for other programs because she didn't represent a public school.  'I was surprised when we got it,' she said.  'It's really nice to be included–we are educating our children.”
     There are also an interview with Bret Lott, a novelist who is “using his God-given talents in his vocation, writing about forgiveness, and 'setting God in the midst of these stories;'” an article entitled “Single Minded” by Lauren Winner, asking, “Why must Christian 'chick lit' always reach the same destination as its secular counterpart–the alter?”; an interview with Frank Schaeffer, himself a novelist and son of Francis Schaeffer, influential evangelical writer; and Veith's “Know Nothings” about how popular fiction, feminist scholarship, and even Christians' false piety have helped revive the ancient Gnostic heresy and produce a new manual for worldview thinking, namely The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, which is an attempt to deconstruct Christianity and to reconstruct it into a completely different religion.  Most of these latter articles dealt primarily with “modern” adult fiction and really held very little interest for me, but they did contain some interesting information.
     What I propose to do now is to list the one hundred best authors (actually, when I finally finished it, I found that I had to extend it to 120) and their books that I have read, most of which I have also read aloud either to one or the other or both of the boys or to the whole family.  These books span all ages, from small children to teenagers.  Most are fiction, although a few would fit other categories.  There are those which have been around awhile and those which are relatively new.  I did not include some of the popular series such as The Box Car Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner, The Hardy Boys by Franklin W. Dixon, Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene, The Bobbsey Twins series by Laura Lee Hope, the Cam Jansen series by David Adler, The Happy Hollisters by Jerry West, and similar sets, all of which are acceptable by most standards but are admittedly “lighter reading.”  Some perfectly wonderful books that you may have read do not appear on this list simply because I have not read them.  Some of the books that I put on the list you may not think to be of the highest quality.  As stated previously, we all have our likes and dislikes, but if you are looking for something good to read to your children, hopefully you will find these recommendations helpful.  (Note: some of the books listed below do have a little inappropriate language in them; for the most part it is relatively “minor” and can easily be edited out in reading aloud or, if you wish, eliminated with a black pen or a bottle of white out.)
     Alcott, Louisa May.  Little Men (I have never read Little Women).
     Alexander, Lloyd.  The Prydain Chronicles series.
     Awdry, Wilbert.  Thomas the Train stories.
     Barrie, James Matthew.  Peter Pan.
     Baum, L. Frank.  The Wizard of Oz, and sequels.
     Benge, Janet and Geoff.  The Christian Heroes Then and Now series.
     Bibee, John.  The Home School Detective series.
     Bjorn, Thya Ferre.  Papa's Wife (the sequels are not as good).
     Bly, Stephen.  Adventures on the American Frontier trilogy.
     Bond, Douglas.  The Crown and Covenant series, and the Mr. Pipes series.
     Bond, Michael.  A Bear Called Paddington, and Paddington at Large.
     Buck, Pearl S.  The Big Wave (I did not like The Good Earth).
     Bunyan, John.  Pilgrim's Progress.
     Burgess, Thornton W.  The Green Forest and Meadow Creatures children's stories.
     Burnett, Frances Hodgson.  A Little Princess, and The Secret Garden.
     Burnford, Sheila.  The Incredible Journey.
     Burroughs, Edgar Rice.  The Tarzan books, especially Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins.
     Cleary, Beverly.  The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and Runaway Ralph (her Henry Huggins and Ramona Quimby books are only fair, and Dear Mr. Henshaw is depressing).
     Costain, Thomas.  The Silver Chalice.
     Crane, Stephen.  The Red Badge of Courage.
     Culpepper, Peter, Gina, and Victoria.  Brownie the Lonely Dragon.
     Dagliesh, Alice.  The Bears on Hemlock Mountain, and The Courage of Sarah Noble.
     Davoll, Barbara.  The Christopher Churchmouse books.
     Deal, William.  John Bunyan: Tinker of Bedford.
     DeBrunhoff, Jean and Laurent.  Babar the Elephant books.
     Defoe, Daniel.  Robinson Crusoe.
     DeJong, Meindert.  The Wheel on the School.
     Dickens, Charles.  A Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol (other Dickens books are good too).
     Dodge, Mary Mapes.  Hans Brinker.
     Douglas, Lloyd.  The Robe (The Big Fisherman is all right but not as good).
     Eliot, Geroge (Mary Ann Evans).  Silas Marner.
     Fleischman, Sid.  The Whipping Boy.
     Fleming, Ian.  Chitty Bang Bang (I do not recommend the James Bond books!)
     Forbes, Esther.  Johnny Tremain.
     Fraser, Wynette.  The Mirror Mountain series.
     Gannett, Ruth Stiles.  My Father's Dragon, Elmer and the Dragon, and The Dragons of Blueland.
     Gardner, John Reynolds.  Stone Fox.
     George, Jean Craighead.  My Side of the Mountain, On the Far Side of the Mountain, and Frightful's Mountain.
     Gilbreth, Frank Bunker Jr. and Carey, Ernestine Gilbreth.  Cheaper by the Dozen, and Belles on Their Toes.
     Grahame, Kenneth.  The Wind in the Willows.
     Gregory, Kristiana.  The Prairie River series.
     Haddix, Margaret Peterson.  The Shadow Children series.
     Halvorson, Mathew.  The Scripture Sleuth series.
     Harris, Joel Chandler.  The Uncle Remus books.
     Henty, George Alfred.  The Cat of Bubastes, The Young Carthaginian, For the Temple, Beric the Briton, Wulf the Saxon, and The Dragon and the Raven (these are the ones we have read; the rest are supposed to be good too!).
     Hest, Amy.   Love You, Daddy (the sequels are terrible!).
     Hunt, Irene.  Across Five Aprils.
     Jackson, Dave and Neta.  The Trailblazer Books series.
     Jacques, Brian.  Redwall, and sequels.
     Janney, Rebecca Price.  The Impossible Dreamers series.
     Johnston, Annie Fellows.  Joel: A Boy of Galilee.
     Keith, Harold.  Rifles for Watie.
     Kingsley, Florence Morse.  Titus: A Comrade of the Cross.
     Kjelgaard, Jim.  Big Red and sequels.
     Karon, Jan.  Jeremy: The Tale of an Honest Bunny.
     Kipling, Rudyard.  The Jungle Books.
     Latham, Jean Lee.  Carry On, Mr. Bowditch.
     Leeuwan, Jean van.  The Pioneer Daughters series.
     Leppart, Lois Gladys.  The Mandie series.
     Lewis, Clive Staples:  The Chronicles of Narnia series.
     Lobel, Arnold.  Frog and Toad books.
     London, Jack.  White Fang (I did not like Call of the Wild).
     Ludwig, Charles.  Michael Faraday: Father of Electronics.
     MacLachlan, Patricia.  The Sarah Witting trilogy.
     Marshall, Catherine.  Christy.
     McPherson, Joyce.  A Piece of the Mountain: The Story of Blaise Pascal.
     McSwigan, Marie.  Snow Treasure.
     Milne, Alan Alexander.  The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh.
     Montgomery, Lucy Maude.  The Anne Shirley series.
     Myers, Bill.  The Bloodhounds series.
     North, Sterling.  Rascal.
     O'Brien, Robert C.  Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM.
     O'Dell, Scott.  The Hawk that Dare Not Hunt by Day, and Island of the Blue Dolphins.
     Oke, Janette.  Trouble in a Fur Coat and other Animal Friends books.
     Orczy, Baroness Emmuska.  The Scarlet Pimpernel.
     Paolini, Christopher.  Eragon.
     Park, Linda Sue.  A Single Shard.
     Pearson, C. H.  The Frontier Series Illustrated two-book set.
     Pene Dubois, Rene.  The Twenty One Balloons.
     Peretti, Frank.  The Cooper Kids Adventure series, and The Veritas Project books.
     Potter, Beatrix.  The Complete Tales.
     Prins, Piet.  Scout: The Secret of the Swamp.
     Pumphrey, Margaret.  Stories of the Pilgrims.
     Rawls, Wilson.  Where the Red Fern Grows.
     Rey, H. A. and Margaret.  The Curious George books.
     Richter, Conrad.  The Light in the Forest.
     Robertson, Keith.  The Henry Reed books.
     Rogers, Jonathan.  The Bark of the Bog Owl.
     Saint John, Patricia.  Treasures of the Snow, Twice Freed, and The Runaway (all of her books are good).
     Selden (Thompson), George.  The Cricket in Times Square, and Chester Cricket's Pigeon Ride.
     Sewell, Anna.  Black Beauty.
     Sharp, Margery.  The Rescuers.
     Skurzynski, Gloria.  The Minstrel in the Tower.
     Sobol, Donald.  The Encylopedia Brown series.
     Speare, Elizabeth George.  The Bronze Bow, Calico Captive, The Sign of the Beaver, and The Witch of Blackbird Pond.
     Sperry, Armstrong.  Call It Courage.
     Steig, William.  Abel's Island.
     Stevenson, Robert Louis.  Treasure Island, and Kidnapped (others are good too).  I have to add what Nathaniel Bluedorn said about Treasure Island because it mirrors my sentiments exactly.
     “WARNING:  If you read this book you may not be able to enjoy any other book again because you will subconsciously compare it to the perfection of this book and always find it lacking.
     “NOTE 1:  If you read this book and find it does not captivate you, then there's no hope for you, and you may look upon yourself as a truly sorry case.
     “NOTE 2:  If you look up the word 'adventure' you will find listed in the dictionary as its definition 'circumstances that follow the plot of Treasure Island.'
     “I will leave you to read the book to discover the plot line for yourself.”
     Stewart, George R.  The Pioneers Go West.
     Stratton-Porter, Gene.  A Girl of the Limberlost (Freckles is good too but has some bad language).
     Stuart, Jessie.  Mr. Galion's School.
     Taylor, G. P.  Shadowmancer.
     Taylor, Mildred.  Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
     Taylor, Sidney.  All of a Kind Family and sequels.
     Taylor, Theodore.  The Cay.
     Ten Boom, Corrie.  The Hiding Place.
     Tolkien, J. R. R.  The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
     Trapp, Maria Augusta von.  The Story of the Von Trapp Family Singers.
     Twain, Mark.  The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and The Prince and the Pauper.
     Ullman, James Ramsey.  Banner in the Sky.
     Verne, Jules.  20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
     Vernon, Louise.  The Christian Heritage series of historical novels.
     Walton, O. F.  Christie's Old Organ.
     White, Elwyn Brooks.  Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, and The Trumpet of the Swan.
     Wiggin, Eric E.  The Hannah's Island series.
     Wilder, Laura Ingalls.  The Little House series.
     Williamson, Joanne.  Hittite Warrior, and God King.
     Willis, Patricia.  Danger on the Ohio.
     Wyss, Johann.  The Swiss Family Robinson.
     Yates, Elizabeth.  Amos Fortune: Free Man (anything by Yates is excellent!)
     Undoubtedly, I will be adding to this list from time to time as I read more and more books.
     I will close by making a few more comments about book lists.  Several people highly recommended Gladys Hunt's Honey For a Teen's Heart, so I purchased a copy of the latest edition.  It is published by a well known religious publisher, Zondervan.  Mrs. Hunt says, “Profanity and crude speech are in the air around us, and both are in books.”  She then objects to it for two reasons, first that it is a misuse of the gift of language, and secondly that it demeans human life.  I agree wholeheartedly!  However, I must say that I was somewhat amazed that, while many good books are listed, a lot of books that I consider pure and plain junk, sometimes because of the language, are recommended and even identified as essential reading for teenagers.  Apparently, this was done to satisfy the following explanation.
     “Both sex and coarse language are issues that demand parent-teen discussion.  If you avoid these subjects, what are you saying to your children?…Reading books together can introduce these subjects in the best possible way so that the discussion originates from the story and is thus less personal and less defensive.  It shouldn't surprise us that what is so obviously a part of our culture is also in books.  The use of profanity and crude language is increasingly common in young adult literature [editor's note: ain't it the truth?  WSW]….The reader needs to learn how to discern and how to reject.  What should a parent do with bad language in culture and in books?  One option is to react with horror and ban the book.  That may keep a teen from reading the words, but it doesn't take them out of his hearing in the culture.  We need to talk about it openly….Maybe you are a parent who wants to exclude all reading except what you know is safe.  That becomes more and more difficult as a child becomes a teen and moves further out of your control.” 
     I really do not wish to get into an argument with Mrs. Hunt, but I do have to make a few comments.  Speaking for my own family, we have no intention to “avoid these subjects.”  However, while I understand that as children grow older they do become more exposed to the evil that is in the world, and we as parents have the responsibility to prepare them for that experience, I still have trouble understanding the idea that we can do that by letting them read literature that is less than wholesome in its language and picture of life.  I believe that we can discuss these subjects with our children without necessarily using those kinds of books.  Mrs. Hunt did admit, “We reluctantly rejected several otherwise good books for our bibliography because of language that was pervasively foul, making it impossible to skip over it.  In many cases, we try to warn you that language (or violence or improperly expressed sexuality) might be a problem in a particular book.”  However, when I looked at her descriptions of several books that I have read and rejected as not being worth my time because of bad language, I saw no such warnings with them.  So, I would hate to see a list of the ones that were rejected!
     Mrs. Hunt also says, “We live in a fallen world.  Good literature does not avoid that fact.  But it does not revel in it either.”  Unfortunately, there are some of the recommendations that Mrs. Hunt (and co-author Barbara Hampton) give that I personally believe do tend to revel in the fact that we live in a fallen world.  Obviously, these are decisions that each family must make, and as noted earlier, different families will have different standards.  Apparently, Mrs. Hunt's standards are not quite the same as mine.  That is all right, but I do get a little tired and somewhat irritated at people like Mrs. Hunt who like to use words like “censorship” and say that “young people are not helped by parents who react with shock and outrage” when all we are trying to do is make sure that the material which our children read does not contain “corrupt communication” but rather “what is good for necessary edification” (Ephesians 4:29).  That will continue to be the standard in our home!