Today I'm excited to share the following from Kathy. She's sharing her thoughts on stories, her memories of her favorites, and how important these books are to character formation.
While reading through the article, “10 Profound Children's Book Quotes That Probably Changed Your Life” I got to thinking about the impact that books have had on my life. It wasn’t just the book quotes which impacted and changed my life, it was the stories themselves. My pivotal turning point came during the daily read aloud in Mrs. Schrepher’s third grade class. She chose books which not only captured the imagination; she chose books which cultivated the conscience.
As we traveled along in the land of story books, I learned some valuable life lessons. In E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web I learned the value of friendship. During the reading of Eleanor Estes’ The Hundred Dresses I learned it was okay to be different from the crowd, and that bullying is a dead end street. Little House in the Big Woods and Heidi taught me the importance of family, while Lois Lenski’s Strawberry Girl taught me to “love my neighbor as myself.” William Kilpatrick and Gregory and Suzanne Wolfe in their book, Books That Build Character, believe one of the most important contributions parents can make to their children is “reading aloud.”
Parents’ reading aloud to their children is important in developing their child’s character. Why? Stories have the ability to create an emotional attachment to goodness. They create the desire to do the right thing. Stories provide children with a wealth of good examples, the types of examples which are often missing from the child’s daily environment. Stories familiarize children with the codes of conduct they need to know. Stories help us to make sense out of life.
Here at Beautiful Feet Books, we believe that “the ultimate end of writing is both to instruct and delight.” Our “Teaching Character through Literature” is a wonderful way to introduce your child to the enjoyment of books, while allowing the stories to shape and influence their lives.
Memories of Childhood Stories
by Kathy Alphs
While reading through the article, “10 Profound Children's Book Quotes That Probably Changed Your Life” I got to thinking about the impact that books have had on my life. It wasn’t just the book quotes which impacted and changed my life, it was the stories themselves. My pivotal turning point came during the daily read aloud in Mrs. Schrepher’s third grade class. She chose books which not only captured the imagination; she chose books which cultivated the conscience.
Cultivating conscience
As we traveled along in the land of story books, I learned some valuable life lessons. In E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web I learned the value of friendship. During the reading of Eleanor Estes’ The Hundred Dresses I learned it was okay to be different from the crowd, and that bullying is a dead end street. Little House in the Big Woods and Heidi taught me the importance of family, while Lois Lenski’s Strawberry Girl taught me to “love my neighbor as myself.” William Kilpatrick and Gregory and Suzanne Wolfe in their book, Books That Build Character, believe one of the most important contributions parents can make to their children is “reading aloud.”
The importance of reading aloud
Parents’ reading aloud to their children is important in developing their child’s character. Why? Stories have the ability to create an emotional attachment to goodness. They create the desire to do the right thing. Stories provide children with a wealth of good examples, the types of examples which are often missing from the child’s daily environment. Stories familiarize children with the codes of conduct they need to know. Stories help us to make sense out of life.
Here at Beautiful Feet Books, we believe that “the ultimate end of writing is both to instruct and delight.” Our “Teaching Character through Literature” is a wonderful way to introduce your child to the enjoyment of books, while allowing the stories to shape and influence their lives.
Thank you Kathy! I loved reading about your memories of some of my favorite books from my childhood.
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