Honey is good for kids

In college, I took a course entitled “Children’s Literature”. Simple sounding title, but I think it was one of my most enlightening classes. I have always been a lover of books–but this class opened my eyes to the profound effect literature can have in children’s lives. As I worked through the projects and reading assignments given me, I grew to love the different genres and authors that I was exposed to. I also became aware of the ways that good literature can affect children.

Now that I am a mother, my “recreational reading” has gone by the wayside and my book choices are mainly informational. I covet my reading times, and therefore choose books that will help me grow and develop as a Christian, wife, and mother. And the same should be true of my book choices for my children! Although I want them to have fun while reading, and I desire that they will choose books for themselves that they like, I want the books they read to cultivate them as people.

As I was packing, I ran across a book left from my Children’s Literature class. It is entitled “Honey for a Child’s Heart” by Gladys Hunt, and is a precious resource for mothers who desire to go beyond bedtime stories and really expose their children to good books. I am planning to re-read this book over the next few months, as I seek to fill my children’s hearts with the sweet HONEY of good literature.

One of the most thought-provoking paragraphs in the book is on page 21. Gladys states:

“The instruction to ‘train up a child in the way he should go’ encompasses so much more than teaching him the facts of the gospel. It is to train the child’s character, to give him high ideals, and to encourage integrity. It is to provide largeness of thought, creative thinking, imaginative wondering–an adequate view of God and His world.”