“They must grow up upon the best. There must never be a period in their lives when they are allowed to read or listen to twaddle or reading-made-easy. There is never a time when they are unequal to worthy thoughts, well put; inspiring tales, well told” - Charlotte Mason
What a child reads, or what books are read to them have the power to shape their lives forever.
That is why it is so important that children read quality books, and not “twaddle”, as Charlotte Mason would call it. So, what is “twaddle”, what should children read instead, and can a child be overwhelmed even by quality literature?
First, let me try to define “twaddle". It’s kind of a funny word, and it may be confusing if you’ve never heard it before.
A few ways to describe “twaddle” are books that talk down to a child, are diluted, undervalue the intelligence of a child, are made easy to read, and are second rate, stale, and predictable.
C.S. Lewis said, “A children’s story that is only enjoyed by children is a bad children’s story”. Chances are, if the story bores you, it’s probably boring to the child you are reading it to.
So, why shouldn’t children read books that could be defined as “twaddle”?
Like I said before, books can shape a child’s (and an adult’s) life, so why wouldn’t we want them to read books that will shape them for good?
When children read books that are full of silly foolishness, that’s all they are going to know. I’m not saying there isn’t a time and a place for a fun, silly book, but that shouldn’t be all that children read.
Let them read “great literature”, books that will teach them important life lessons, and fuel their imagination. Everything we see, hear, and read provides “scripts” for our life.
When a child is not reading or being read to, or is reading and hearing books that are not life-giving, they are either growing up unscripted, or given the wrong script.
It's also possible for a child’s life to be over scripted. Reading too much to a child or letting them read, without giving them the time to THINK about the book that was read and to act on it, will cancel out the positive effect the book might have had on the child.
A good book is like food. You can’t sit down and eat a ton all at once. You have to have time to digest what you’ve consumed.
It would be overwhelming to a child to sit down and read several books, even if it’s good literature, all at once.
The stories children read and hear help make them who they are and who they will become, they give children identity, and are often their first and possibly only glimpses into certain areas of life.
Choose your books wisely. Books can mold a child. What books will you choose for your children today?
Author - Savannah Townes
Follow me on Instagram
Suggested age-appropriate reading with links to purchase:
Preschool -
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
The Original Mother Goose Illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright
The Complete Tales of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
Aesop’s Fable, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
Kindergarten/Grade 1 -
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish
A Chair for My Mother by Vera B Williams
Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban
Billy and Blaze by C.W. Anderson
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
Frog and Toad All Year by Arnold Lobel
Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
Little Bear by Else Homeland Minarik
The Little House by Virginia Lee Vurton
The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
The Story about Ping by Marjorie Flack
Grade 2 -
The Velveteen Rabbit by Marjery Williams
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
Grade 3 -
Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
Baby Island by Carol Ryrie Brink
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan or get the complete series HERE
Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims by Clyde Robert Bulla
Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
Story of Dr. Doolittle by Hugh Lofting
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater
Grade 4 -
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
King Arthur by Roger Lancelyn Green
Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow by Allen French
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois
Hinds' Feet On High Places for Children by Hannah Hurnard
Grade 5 -
Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth, Jr.
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery or the 8 book set HERE
Bambi: A Life in the Woods by Felix Salten
The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
Lad: A Dog by Albert Payson Terhune
Johnny Tramain by Esther Forbes
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Grade 6 -
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain or The Norman Rockwell Collector's Edition HERE
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Grade 7 -
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens or get the Charles Dickens 5 volume set HERE
The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Sounder by William H. Armstrong
Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Grade 8 -
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Grade 9 -
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Brave New World by Aldoux Huxley
The Best of Poe by Edgar Allen Poe
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
Grade 10-12 -
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Ben Hur: A Tale of Christ by Lew Wallace
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Hinds’ Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Click here to FOLLOW OUR FAMILY BLOG
If you liked this blog then use the SHARE button at the top of this page.
0 Comments