Family Culture: Reading

Part of our family’s culture is reading. After dinnertime, we all pile into the family room while my husband reads aloud a chapter book before reading the Scripture. Sometimes it’s in reverse order, depending on what time it is. Throughout the day, since our children are home, they can be found sprawled out on various surfaces in the house with a book in hand. Our preschooler memorizes every book and “reads” them to herself and to anyone who will give her an audience. (The audience usually means the baby, but we all love to hear her various versions of different books…the first ten times, anyway.) Now, our children play a lot as well, but I think they consider reading a part of that play.

Cultivating an atmosphere of reading in the home will not make your children godly, but the things that are forsaken in favor of reading might prove to be beneficial to their character, making it easier to promote godly character in the meantime. What I mean is, because reading and listening to read alouds are part of our family culture, sitting quietly in order to listen during family worship is not a chore. Because we generally reject activities that do not stimulate the mind, body, or soul, they are not conditioned to “tune out” or vegetate during worship. Among the many benefits of reading, I believe this attentiveness is the most valuable side benefit for children. (“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction…” Proverbs 1:8)

There are other productive ways to develop character and train children in the Lord; this is just one idea that works successfully in our family. I submit that it’s still possible to raise godly children who prefer an Xbox to a stack of worthwhile literature (and no, I’m not the Xbox police, and my kids have played one before…), but I believe that cultivating and feeding good habits makes the job of training in righteousness just a little bit easier. And I say, “Bring it on,” to most things that make my job less complicated.

Recommended reading:

Most of All, Jesus Loves You, by Noel Piper, illustrated by Debby Anderson. This is a delightful picture book with smiley children on each page. It is an easy read for beginning readers, as there is repetition on each page. The book seeks to make one point with just a few sentences: while Mom, Dad, cousins, aunts, and others love you very much–most of all, Jesus loves you. Simple, sweet, and a favorite over-and-over again book for preschoolers.

As a side note, Noel Piper also wrote a book for women on the subject of traditions, as well as a new release entitled Faithful Women and their Extraordinary God, which I am going to buy soon.

God Knows My Name, by Debby Anderson. This is a great book for children aged 3-7, and for moms who are sitting on the couch, wondering if God really sees and cares about all that they do. As the author’s students sweetly sign their names in kindergarten print on the front and back pages of the book, Anderson creatively works in each of the children in her class into the book’s wonderful illustrations. Anderson is a fabulous illustrator, and her talent shows well in this book and the book I mentioned above.

God Knows My Name opens with a simple truth expressed, “God made everything and God knows everything! God knows me. He even knows my favorite color. What’s your favorite color? Surprise! God already knew it! ~Psalm 139:1” I love it. After reading, “God sees me when I go to bed. He can watch over me because He never sleeps. He can see in the dark,” my three-year-old deduced, “And He can see me, too, Mama, when I go to sleep at night.” Yes, He can. Not only does our God see, but He is a God who cares for our plight. I don’t mind reading this book repeatedly, as it renews the profound truth of God’s particular caretaking of His people in my own heart each time.

I think a wonderful addition to the book would have been to work in the Scripture references (perhaps as watermarkings) in the illustrations. But, it’s a top notch book just as it is.

The Big Picture Story Bible, by David Helm, illustrated Gail Schoonmaker. This book is akin to the opening scene in The Sound of Music, wherein the camera pans the mountains before zooming in on Maria, except that when the book zooms in, the picture isn’t entirely clear. (When my kids saw the juice spilling out of the “forbidden fruit,” they asked why there were worms in the apple.) If you’re looking for a very broad overview of common Bible stories that is appealing to preschoolers and won’t bore the schoolage children, this book is a good choice. I even enjoy it.

Since the title of the book contains the words, “The Big Picture,” really, the book is fulfilling its purpose, even though it skips a lot of history. The book is 451 pages with large illustrations and about 3-5 sentences on every two pages. My seven-year-old has read through it several times already, because “I don’t know, Mom, I just like it.” All the well-known Bible stories are here (except Daniel), plus a few lesser attended ones–some of the kings and prophets are briefly mentioned and John’s vision is explained over several pages.

In short, it’s not a Bible substitute, but rather, a good Bible reinforcement. I mentioned previously the mistake we made early on in our family worship practice when we used Bible storybooks as our devotional material, rather than the Bible itself. So long as the book is seen in its proper place–that of retelling rather than replacing– I think it has a appropriate and fitting place in the hands of all children.