Teaching Character Through Literature

Our newest guide is now available! It is our revised and expanded Teaching Character Through Literature study and we're so excited about it. We've added titles, authors, Bible verse memory cards, discussion questions, and so much more to this study. It still has notes and lists for both the Primary and Intermediate levels and is a wonderful resource for families seeking to add meaning to their read aloud time, concentrate of character development, and see depth in conversation. From the description:

Neil Gaiman once wrote, "Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” This is one of the many reasons a literature-rich childhood is as important to a child's moral development as vegetables are to his health. We know that reading aloud is important for nurturing academic skills, but even more essential, the stories we choose to tell our children will help shape their moral imaginations. Choosing the best tales, myths, and fiction for our children can be a daunting task, but this guide will provide a roadmap for your journey. Lists of wonderful books for multiple levels are paired with comprehension questions designed to draw character lessons out of the stories. Each title has been picked for its literary value as well as the character traits exhibited by the heroes and heroines. Nothing dry and didactic here!

Additionally, lesson plans make it easy to incorporate these books into your family reading time, while spurring discussions that will jump off the pages and impact real life. Bible verses are provided along with memorization cards to make it easy to incorporate these essential truths into your child's daily habits. This latest edition of the study guide has added dozens of books to broaden its scope while retaining its flexible structure. Use this guide as a reference for trips to the library, to help add depth to family read-aloud time, as a character development curriculum, and more.

Of course, the literature used in the study is the most exciting part, and we're thrilled with these book offerings. Check out the titles in the Primary Pack: 

~When God Made You

~The Seven Silly Eaters

~Obadiah the Bold

~Rachel and Obadiah

~Wilfrid Gordon Macdonald Partridge

~Last Stop on Market Street

~Time of Wonder

~When I was Young in the Mountains

~Miss Rumphius

~Brave Irene

~Clown of God

 All beautifully illustrated stories of courage, beauty, and wisdom. The study notes and discussion questions help bring out lessons of faith in God, respecting one another as fellow image-bearers, a recognition of sin and the grace of redemption. And check out the wonderful illustrations. These are books your child will ask you to read over and over and over. And we know this from experience because our kids have worn through copies of these books.

From Last Stop on Market Street 

From When God Made You

From The Seven Silly Eaters

And here are the books in the Intermediate level pack. 

~The Green Ember

~Caddie Woodlawn

~The Happy Prince and Other Tales

~The Door in the Wall

~A Gathering of Days

~Call it Courage

~The Whipping Boy

~The Family Under the Bridge

~The Little Prince

~The Hundred Dresses

~Fables

~Benjamin Franklin

This mix of classics and new titles will allow your middle schooler to travel from pioneer America to post-war France to Indonesia and England, as well as an imaginary world where rabbits wear swords and fight evil wolves. We hope that this guide brings delight to many families as they discover the joys of reading and discussion great stories together!

We hope you find this helpful. Please never hesitate to contact us with any questions. We can be reached at 800.889.1978, letters@bfbooks.com, on Facebook, and Instagram.