The Little Riders

Peter Spier (Illustrator). HarperCollins 1993, Paperback, 80 pages, $3.16

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Johanna, a young Dutch-American girl, is visiting her grandparents in Holland when World War II breaks out and Holland is invaded by the Germans.  To her dismay, the Nazis appropriate her bedroom to be the living quarters of one of their officers.  This not only produces inconvenience for the girl, but also endangers her grandparents who are leaders in the resistance movement.  She takes consolation in watching the village’s treasured Little Riders, iron figures of noblemen commemorating the Crusades, which make their circuit in the church steeple as the great clock strikes the hours.  When the Nazis announce their intention to melt the Little Riders down for ammunition, Johanna joins the movement to keep the statues out of the Nazis’ hands.  When plans to smuggle them out of town go wrong, Johanna is left alone with them and she heroically implements a desperate solution.  The story ends with a surprise which underscores the humanity of all people who participated in this war.

This riveting story gently introduces the pain and evil involved in World War II, without going into graphic detail about the horrors of the war.  Johanna’s courage and loyalty are very admirable, and they seem to grow naturally in the context of her family’s values of love and courtesy.  The book is written at a transitional reader’s level and (unlike most war stories) is appropriate for precocious pre-readers.

Jin Woo

Chris K. Soentpiet (Illustrator). Clarion Books 2001, Hardcover, 32 pages, $6.06

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Jin Woo tells an adoption story from the perspective of older brother David, also adopted.  Bunting writes with perceptive tenderness about his anxieties as his parents prepare to welcome a new baby home.  Their joyful anticipation seems to overshadow his own desires, as he deals with mixed feelings of obligation, selfishness, and insecurity at the coming of this new baby.  But his parents allay his fears by presenting him with a letter they have written for the new child to his big brother, reassuring him that he will gain a brother without losing his parents’ love.  Through their example, reassurance and gentle leadership, he begins to accept the new child.

The book is beautifully joy-filled, and the joy of this adoption is reflected on the faces of onlookers who celebrate with the parents as they welcome their new child home.  The story’s main strength is Soentpiet’s poignantly beautiful watercolors.  Himself a Korean adoptee, his paintings undoubtedly pay tribute to his own adoptive family, and the chubby baby on the opening page could well be himself.

There are many picture books about adoption that emphasize adoptive parents’ and adopted children’s perspective, and far more that deal with older children’s fears at the arrival of biological siblings, but not many that describe the experience of adoptive siblings.  This is an excellent choice for any family, but may be especially helpful for young children whose families are preparing for adoption.

Amos & Boris

William Steig. Square Fish 2009, Paperback, 32 pages, $3.16

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amos and Boris tells the story about a mouse and a whale’s unlikely friendship, in a twist on Aesop’s fable of the Lion and the Mouse.  When Amos the mouse takes a journey out at sea, his boat tips him into the water and Boris the whale kindly helps him get back to shore.  During the journey they become good friends.  When Amos promises to someday return the favor, Boris laughs, but many years later, when he finds himself beached in the sun, he has reason to be grateful for the mouse’s friendship.

Steig’s writing and illustrations are snappy and appealing, and the story combines lighthearted humor with a compelling relational theme.  An excellent read-aloud choice.

The Gardener (Sunburst Books)

David Small (Illustrator). Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) 2000, Paperback, 40 pages, $2.34

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The Great Depression in America was a time of uncertainty and difficulty for many Americans, but its trials also provided opportunities for courage and hope.  In this story, Lydia Grace has been invited to stay with her dour uncle while her father looks for work.  Uncle Jim is a baker, and Lydia Grace happily learns what she can about baking while working to bring beauty into her uncle’s life by planting beautiful flowers in his window boxes and cultivating an elaborate surprise to delight him.

The story is told by means of Lydia Grace’s cheerful letter home, giving the reader an unusual means of following a story line.  Her letters are inset into David Small’s evocative, understated drawings, which reflect the mood and architecture of the period.  In one striking scene, Lydia Grace’s figure is dwarfed by the shadowed train station, evoking her uncertain future.  Her bright blue dress, inherited from her mother, is the only point of color in the picture.  This image presages the rest of the story, as it is her indomitable courage that eventually brings joy into her uncle’s life.

Lydia Grace’s courage and love overflow in her care of plants and flowers, which bring beauty to her uncle’s life.  With its emphasis on family, beauty, courage and hope, this story is a wonderful way to introduce the Great Depression to young readers.

Sugaring

Jos. A. Smith (Illustrator). Greenwillow Books 1996, Hardcover, 24 pages, $10.25

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Nora and her grandfather, with the help of two horses, tap the maple trees on their Vermont farm and boil the sap into syrup.  At one point Gramp leaves Nora alone, and she adds a drop of cream when the syrup boils up, preventing it from boiling out of the pan.  She also takes initiative to share sap and syrup with the horses.

The family members are dressed in modern clothes, but their practice is an old one, as is their equipment.  Haas’ writing is excellent, and Smith’s evocative watercolor paintings vividly render the crisp outdoor cold, which contrasts with the steamy indoor warmth in the boiling shed.  Nora’s generosity toward the horses is reminiscent of biblical admonitions for people to care for their animals that serve them (Deuteronomy 25:4; Proverbs 12:10).  The relational bond between grandparents and grandchild is nearly tangible, and Nora’s participation in this exciting grown-up work is an excellent example of the privileges that come with responsibility.  This is an excellent story for helping children understand how maple syrup is made.

Noah’s Ark (Picture Yearling Book)

Peter Spier. Dragonfly Books 1992, Paperback, 48 pages, $3.85

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Everyone should have at least one Noah’s Ark story, and Peter Spier’s version is one of the best available.  It is especially well suited to children, with its wordless format and careful attention to visual detail.  Sweeping illustrations fill up each page with well-developed vignettes, evoking the horror, danger and hope of the original story.

The story is simple, yet this book is complex enough for both pre-readers and readers.  Having discussed it with an adult, pre-readers will be able enjoy it on their own for an extended time, since the pictures convey at least as much information as the words.

The Mitten

Jan Brett. Putnam Juvenile 1989, Hardcover, 32 pages, $7.28

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

In this Ukranian folktale Nicki, a young boy, asks his grandmother Baba for snow-white mittens.  She protests that he will lose them in the snow, but because he wants them so badly she complies and knits some for him.  When he goes out to play, he does lose one, and it is found by a chilly mole who cosies up inside to get warm.  When a rabbit happens by, he crowds into the mitten, followed by a hedgehog, an owl, a badger, a fox, and a bear.  Finally a tiny mouse comes along and, perching on top of the great bear’s nose, causes him to sneeze, and all the animals tumble back out.  The mitten is thrown into the air and Nicki, on his way home, finds it.

The story is told with well-paced, pleasant repetition and a funny, dramatic climax with a visual joke at the end, as Baba inspects the mysteriously enlarged mitten.  Nicki is a likable and energetic child with a nurturing, sensible adult caretaker, and the animals are rendered in their animal characters, with only a shade of human personality.  But it is the gorgeous illustrations that really make this story: each scene is rendered beautifully, enclosed in elaborate borders that include the traditional folk art of the region, with “peek-ahead” sights of Nicki’s activities as well as the next animal that will be introduced.  This story will surprise and delight children from a wide range of ages, from toddlers (there is a simplified board book version just for them) to readers.

Dogger Storybook and CD

Kevin Whately (Reader). Red Fox 2009, Paperback, 32 pages, $7.03

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Dave’s favorite toy is a stuffed toy named Dogger.  He carries him everywhere and depends on him to help him go to sleep.  One morning, while out with his mother, meeting his older sister Bella at school, Dogger disappears.  When bedtime comes, Dogger is nowhere to be found, and although Bella loans him one of her teddies, he is very sad during the night.  In the morning at the school fair, Dave is too sad to have fun, and he wanders off from the rest of his family.  At one of the used-toy stands he is shocked to see Dogger for sale.  He runs to find his parents, but finds only Bella, who returns to the stand with him just in time to see another child walk away with Dogger.  Bella saves the day, trading her new teddy bear for the worn old Dogger.

This well-written story begins with concrete details and builds to a dramatic crisis and resolution that any child who’s had a “lovey” can identify with.  Hughes’ artwork is wonderfully rendered, with a particular eye to details that emphasize the warmth and closeness of this family.  Most importantly, Bella’s open-hearted self-sacrifice epitomizes the kindness that siblings ought to express toward one another.  Elder and younger siblings will appreciate this story for different reasons.

Frog and Toad Book Set

Scholastic Books (Technical Editor). Scholastic Books 2002, Paperback, 256 pages, $27.00

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Frog and Toad are two friends whose similar appearance belies their distinctive personalities.  Toad is impulsive and emotional, and Frog easygoing and rational.  The two of them get into a number of scrapes and adventures together, most of which hinge on their unique character traits.  Lobel’s brief, easy-reader chapters spin out complex, suspenseful plots in a way that looks effortless but is quite rare.  Embedded in the stories are subtle moral implications relating to character qualities such as loyalty, wisdom, and self-control.  The books are interesting enough to use for read-aloud, but simple enough to introduce as a beginner’s read-alone.

Of all the easy-reader books in print, this series may be the best in writing quality, complexity, character development, and humor.  Lobel’s genius has earned, among other awards, a Caldecott Honor for Frog and Toad are Friends and a Newbery Honor for Frog and Toad Together.  Frog and Toad All Year and Days with Frog and Toad were both American Library Association Notable Children’s Books.

This fine collection is available in CD audiobook and mp3 format, but they do need the pictures as accompaniment.

Out of the ashes came the perpetual adolescent.  “With the ancient is wisdom,” said Job; but with the young was suddenly “where it was at.”  But if maturation was the new no-no, it soon became clear that it wasn’t just grey hair, smile lines, and cellulite that were on their way out. Also diminished was an appreciation for what ideally went along with maturity: traditional virtues including forbearance, honor, sobriety, decorum and … wisdom.

Along with this idea of the “wise child” I have observed a prevalent view in modern youth literature that childhood ought to be a season of carefree innocence, possibility, and enjoyment.  Eventually, the cruel world of adulthood intrudes on this happy condition, and the child must grow up.  This paradigm is played out quite explicitly in Marjorie Rawlings’ The Yearling.

I believe Americans choose to think of their children as wise and innocent because they don’t want to accept that they are sinful.  The romantic conception of innocent childhood arises directly out of the belief that humanity is morally  good.  If you believe children start out good and are then  ruined by their exposure to the world , it makes sense that they should want to remain in this ideal condition.  If adults think of themselves as having been sullied by their longer contact with the world, it even makes sense for them to look to children for leadership.  This way of orienting between young and old has brought tremendous confusion to our society.  It is in sharp conflict with the Biblical teaching that all humans are sinful, but those who trust in Jesus can be brought into true goodness (Romans 3:10-18; Romans 6:22-23).

Scripture describes children as being not only sinful, but naturally foolish (Proverbs 22:15).  From this foolishness, children are supposed to grow into maturity, as Paul states in 1 Corinthians 13:11.  Parents’ vital role in guiding their children into wisdom and blessing is shown in the Fifth Commandment (Exodus 20:12), which is quoted by Paul in his instructions to New Testament church about how to structure their family relationships (Ephesians 6:1-4).

Even Jesus, the truly perfect, innocent and all-wise child, went through a process of growing into maturity (Luke 2:40).  After correcting Mary and Joseph for not recognizing God as His true father, He displayed a respectful, submitted orientation toward them (Luke 2:49-51).  In this He is our ideal example of wise childhood, because even in the acknowledgement of absolute perfection, which no other human can rightfully claim, He submitted to His parents.

God has placed parents in their children’s lives to help them grow toward genuine wisdom, and this calling comes in conflict with prevailing cultural winds.  Al Mohler, in his article “Seen But Not Heard,” writes that

The goal of Christian parents must be to raise children to adulthood — a genuine adulthood. The Bible honors children, but the biblical worldview establishes parents as the authority figures and adults as the figures of wisdom…. Christian parents are reminded that raising godly children in this age requires the courage of a counter-revolutionary*.

In building our childrens’ libraries, Bible-believing parents ought to refuse to accept the reigning cultural paradigm of child-focused practices that perpetuate their natural immaturity.  We can inspire and provoke our children toward true wisdom by providing great stories that emphasize maturity, responsibility, and respect for authority.  As David Mills writes in “Enchanting Children“,

A good story will not make [the reader] good, but it should help him understand goodness a little better and make doing good a little easier by making it feel more normal. It will teach him that the world is this kind of place and not that kind.

And our responsibility doesn’t stop there.  As parents, it is our duty and privilege to be the primary human authorities in our children’s lives.  As J.C. Ryle said, “Children learn more by the eye than they do by the ear.”  By God’s grace we must model wisdom and virtue, and invite them to walk alongside us and learn from us (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).  Our lives contain some of the most influential stories our children will ever hear.  Nurturing them on great literature will corroborate and confirm the lessons we want them to learn under our influence.

* Dr. Mohler further discussed this topic on his radio program of the same day, “Seen but Not Heard,” where I was given a call-in appearance.