The Books Our Children Read

Okay, I was blog surfing. I saw a post from a lady who said she reads every single book that her children read before they can have it to read themselves. Albeit, her children are small and are not voracious readers at this particular time, so she's able to keep up with all that her children are reading. She gave some distinct examples of books she would not let her children read.

She wouldn't let her children read Little House on the Prairie books, because Laura Ingalls Wilder was a feminist. What? Okay, I don't agree with that one iota! Laura refused to say the word 'obey' in her wedding vows to Almanzo, so she's a feminist. Now, at first hearing that, you might think, 'yeah, she's a feminist.'

Personally, I think Laura knew her own personality so well, that she didn't want to maybe 'lie' when she took her wedding vows before God. In other words, Laura knew she was an imperfect human (just as we all are) and that she knew she wouldn't be able to 100% uphold this statement. She took her vows before God very seriously, and she didn't want to get caught up in a lie. I didn't perceive her actions to mean that she would out and out disobey Almanzo throughout their marriage. I perceived it more of an issue between her and God than between her and Almanzo. Which if you read the books, you would know that she did always abide by Almanzo's wishes and if she didn't, she didn't write about it.

I also noticed from the many comments on this young lady's blog that there are others (many) that don't let their children read the Little House books for this same reason.

The lists that some of these ladies were printing that they won't allow their children to read made me start to wonder if they let them read anything??? One lady said she let her children read Pilgrims Progress.

I know that some are totally against letting their children read the Harry Potter books, but I was never one of them. I can understand totally the conviction of some who don't let their children read Harry Potter, I just don't share that conviction.

The ladies were really trashing the American Girl series too. The books are too liberal and too feminist. I can't voice my opinion on them due to the fact that I've never read them.

Did I read every single book that my son read before he read it? No! Emphatically, no, nor would I want to. Truthfully, I usually had a pretty good idea of what he was reading, but I didn't pre-read every single book. The boy would sometimes discuss books that he was reading, or I would ask, or we would discuss a book that he was reading that I had read in the past. Hubby would sometimes recommend a book for the boy to read that he liked. They would have some lively discussion from the reading.

If I had read every single book before my son read it, my house would have been dirty, my laundry wouldn't have been done and dinner would have been served maybe once weekly! OR he wouldn't have read as much as he did, because I wouldn't have time to pre-approve his selections.

Some ladies had children that were 17 years old and they were pre-reading the books their children were reading??? Uh, uh, not me!

Okay, when my son was small, of course, we read everything to him, because he couldn't read. In fact, for many, many years after he learned to read, we continued to have a 'family' book that we would be reading aloud. In fact, I know a lady who still does this with her grown, teenage boys. That's a wonderful tradition and one that I've enjoyed in the past too. I think that is a wholesome family activity that all should consider putting into being.

I had skimmed or looked over a lot of books that my son read through the years, but I'm certain that I didn't read every single book.

One lady quoted one sentence that she found objectionable in a chapter book that her daughter was reading and she took it away from her. One sentence! It was something about the little girl in the book being upset with a visitor, because it was going to be putting a kink in her Christmas celebration. There was an activity that the family wouldn't be able to participate in due to the fact that they would be having a visitor in the home. She simply thought "Oh, pooh, on Cynthia, I wish she wasn't visiting so we could go do .....(whatever it was they couldn't do)." The woman said that the girl's behavior exhibited selfishness, so she didn't want her daughter reading it.

I wonder if that particular lady has ever seen her own daughter exhibit that kind of behavior in the past. Because personally, isn't that the way kids are? They DO exhibit selfish behavior. They just do and if you don't think your children exhibit selfish behavior ever, then you aren't very realistic.

We know it's not a pretty thing to see our children exhibit selfishness, so we discuss that particular behavior with them. I often would explain these 'bad behaviors' to my son, by pointing out my own 'bad behavior' and how it had come back to bite me. I think that's the best way sometimes to show them that you learned from your own bad behavior and so can they.

Another lady suggested 'editing' the books that your child reads. She said she would pencil in notes or use sticky notes on library books to show her child the ungodly activities of the characters in the book. Ummm, I'm sorry, but usually young readers are reading books that have a moral to the story. They are usually reading books that describe an unattractive behavior, then the book goes on to explain the effects of those 'unattractive behaviors.' So, I think you're taking a whole lot away from the child by doing this. It's like telling the punchline of a joke first, then telling the joke! You take away from the child the great anticipation of reading the plot and thinking through what the consequences most likely will be. To me, that's the whole point with fiction reading.


A Dugout Covered with Sod, Home of a Prairie Homesteader, 1800s

I'm a Christian. I'm constantly trying very hard to be the holy person that God wants me to be, but I fail miserably. (No, I won't bore you with all that). But I also find loads of enjoyment in my life. I'm not constantly looking to see the evil in everything. I see a lot of evil and demonic things, but I certainly don't go looking for them. I believe we must be ever watchful for evil creeping into our lives, but really, I don't think Laura Ingalls Wilder books are evil! I just don't!