However, children will grow up, no matter what you try to do to slow the pace, and as I started to peruse the shelves of juvenile books at our local library, I realized that I don't want to set them free, unsupervised, to select and read whatever is there. While there are many good books, there are at least as many trash books resting on those shelves, waiting to corrupt some child's imagination with sin, impurity, and, let's just say it, plain old stupidity.
Let me clear the air a bit before signing off on this first post. I fully recognize that it is impossible to protect my children forever, and absolutely foolish to try. However, it is my duty to keep their childlike innocence intact. You might as well know that my first concern as a parent is for their souls: that they may freely choose the path God has laid out for them in His wisdom, so they may follow Him to eternal happiness. To that end, I will do all I can to protect them while they are young from what they cannot possibly comprehend, while answering whatever questions they may come up with on whatever topic, whenever they ask. Soon enough, they will discover all the sticky, messy things the world has to give, but first, they should know the gifts of God, be able to recognize them, so that they can recognize the Giver in whatever difficulties and challenges await them.
What does this have to do with books? Books inform the mind, and story informs the imagination. Children love stories, images, art. If we give them good, well-written, intelligent stories, their minds and imaginations take hold of that and form in the way of thoughtfulness and truth. And of course, the opposite is true as well. Feed them on nothing, or worse, on bad writing, poor, stupid, or corrupting stories, and their minds may well stagnate, their imaginations warp. And the older the child grows, the more eager his mind, the better the books must be. So I will endeavor to read. Not to forbid books to them, necessarily, but to know what they are reading, to be able to answer what questions they have, and to, when necessary, steer them toward those books that will feed and inform their imaginations with substance.
And so, I begin this blog. Because I wish, with the little time I have to do things, there was already a blog with a like-minded someone telling me about good books and books to watch out for. Maybe there is someone else out there already doing this project! But maybe there are also those who, like me, would like some honest reviews of books for children and not-quite-children-anymore, to make the stacks slightly less intimidating.
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