Yesterday, Nancy at Round the Reading Chair posted an inspiring piece about keeping a book list, titles that she intends to read with her children -- a reading journal so to speak. She wrote:
I like to think of it as gathering little gold nuggets for my children, picking them up here and there as I find them. Small treasures that will, I hope, enrich their hearts and minds during these fleeting growing-up years.
This week many of my late night hours have been spent editing and compiling a collection of devotional essays, written by various women from our church, into one book. Just as Nancy wrote, our pastor's wife, in her essay, also acknowledged the important role that books play in molding the hearts and minds of our children. She wrote:
I stood many nights over each babies' crib asking four things: “Please, Lord, help them to love You, to love Your Word, to love other people, and to love good books.”
...there is a bottomless wealth of truth and beauty of the ages in good books. Truth about God’s world and the nature of man exude from good literature -- nursery books to the classics, nature books to philosophical and scientific tomes. In some measure, by reading good books we teach our children to love God with their minds (Deuteronomy 6:4-6).
I quite agree. The boys and I spend many happy hours reading together. I am always amazed by what they observe, learn, and question as we read together. What teachable moments!
I have found The Read Aloud Handbook to be very informative regarding the importance of reading with your children. It also includes a long list of recommended titles for various ages. However, please remember that this book is not written from a Christian perspective.
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