Some thoughts about books and growing good reading habits

KNOW WHAT YOUR CHILDREN ARE READING
Homeschoolers around the world are known for their voracious appetite for books, resulting in many parents discovering afresh the joy of reading. That’s good. But it doesn’t end here. As responsible parents, we need to show more than a little interest in our children’s reading diet - just as we keep an eye on the friends they make and the company they keep, or the way they spend their time and money.

All the same, showing concern ought not turn parents into apprehensive snoops, or worse, some 1984-type thought police. We should instead approach books and reading as an opportunity to bond with our children, as interested adults walking alongside their charges on a literary pilgrimage.

BOOKS COMMUNICATE IDEAS
Every author is a philosopher, every book a point of view. The term that is sometimes used to denote a particular viewpoint or philosophy is called ‘worldview‘. A worldview as one writer has described it, is a mental map of an individual’s beliefs or presuppositions about life and existence.

Having said that, you will appreciate that sometimes even the most innocuous paragraph may be coloured by the worldview of a writer, Christian or not. But remember, good writers do not litter their prose with little signposts that say, “Next paragraph: What I think about morality,” or anything like that.

Books – especially fiction - are a universe to themselves. Usually the writer’s worldview is echoed by inhabitants in the book, manifest in the prevailing moods and expressed in the way a situation or crisis is resolved. In this respect, Jacques Ellul’s observation that a work of art is like a watch, while a biblical narrative is a compass, hits the nail on the head.

READING IS LISTENING TO WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
It has often been said that Christians have a tendency to preach a bit too much at people who hold opposing views. How to remedy that? Well, you could read and reflect more than you normally do. Because books offer everyone a simple non-threatening lesson in listening.

“Literature is experiential,” says Leland Ryken. So, if you are reading a book – let’s say, by a non-Christian writer – you are really eavesdropping on his or her thoughts and conversations. You live out the drama of someone else’s struggles to come to terms with the great issues of life and death.

Good literature opens a window to the interior world of writers, and that of Everyman, many of whom “live lives of quiet desperation,” to borrow a phrase from Thoreau. You see others as they see themselves, which is what empathy is all about. Indeed as we all know, empathy is the heart of compassion.

READ WIDELY
Too many of us read books mainly to glean some specific information - which is not a bad thing in itself, unless it’s all you ever do. Rarely do we read for pleasure or personal enrichment. Yet beyond the fiction and non-fiction divide are literature and writings of various genres – poetry, fantasy, allegory, humour, biography, etc. that awaits discovery.

Like adults, children need a balanced diet of different kinds of literature. The better we are acquainted with these, the more we will be able to appreciate the story-telling devices writers employ. Armed with this understanding, we will be more equipped to pick out thoughts behind words, and meanings beyond facts.

Imagine what it would be like if we were not inveterate readers ourselves: suddenly the demands of homeschool with its emphasis on wide reading pulls us into a world we are unaccustomed to. Like one who has been confined in a darkened room for long periods, we are momentarily blinded by the dazzling array of books, many by authors whose worldviews we are unfamiliar with. Invariably red flags appear.

Reading widely - especially of good literature - builds an informed mind, which the Spirit uses to broaden our capacity to respond knowledgeably and wisely to the issues of our times.

READ WISELY
We must learn to respond critically with a Christian mind to everything we read, just as we do the things we see or hear. This would require us to develop our minds in the first place, but that’s another story for another time.

To begin with, one must not make the error of presuming that only Christians communicate acceptable ideas, while unbelievers don’t. We are all prone to error and misjudgments. It should not surprise us then to know that Christians (like unbelieving writers) are capable of communicating a wrong idea wonderfully and a good one horribly, or vice-versa.

When reading, play devil’s advocate, the grand inquisitor or plain ignoramus - but discuss ideas and themes with your children. For starters, ask if the book is fiction or non-fiction. Are the events plausible or believable? Why do the people behave the way they do? Are these actions good or bad? Why do you say so? What does the Bible say about these things? Would you recommend the book to a friend? By provoking deeper thought you challenge young readers not to take things at face value.

Aesthetics aside, how well a book is written, how well a tale is told must finally be judged against what kind of thoughts they plant in our hearts and minds.

DRINK DEEP FROM GOD’S WORD
Sin is a stain upon humanity and all creation. More than an ugly deficiency it is a mortal wound, the very mark of God’s wrath. This side of heaven, the words of Jesus come to mind, that wheat and tares need out of necessity grow side by side. The sacred and the profane, the mediocre and excellent, the bland and the beautiful artfully coexist in dozens of permutations. This is not to gloss over sin and its tragic consequences, but an acknowledgment of a tension that dogs our existence.

We are not called to live in a hermetically sealed cocoon as a means to keep our children and ourselves pure. Neither can we be there all the time to tell our children what’s right or wrong, and what’s good or bad. That is why it is so important for our kids to develop deep familiarity with and an affinity for God’s word, so they can confidently sieve through the experiences life throws at them, and joyfully account for the faith they hold.

The word “Bible” means, a collection of books. That’s an instant library of 66 books in any home that has no bookshelf! Christians know that this divinely inspired word of God is redemptive history played out across different kinds of writings or genres. As the word of God, it is the one book that will cast light on all other books we may read. For that reason, it is truly the first book we need to read well, and the last word on issues that confront us. Read it conscientiously.

TEACH KIDS TO FEAR GOD, NOT IDEAS
He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world, the Bible tells us. Therefore we do our children a huge favour when they learn to fear God more than they fear words and ideas. Throughout centuries, the birth of new ideas has spawned revolutions good and evil. Interestingly, the course of history has been determined by the fear of ideas as well.

If we want to avoid scenarios depicted in Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451? or the fatwas of self-righteous mullahs, we do well to remember that the fear of ideas like the fear of man, is a snare. The legalist in us all should remember that the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life – something the Pharisees of Jesus’ time missed to their loss.

I am convinced that God who calls man to “Come, let us reason together,” means us to engage our grey matter in the good fight too. How else do we love God with all our heart, mind and soul if we don’t? As Francis Schaeffer once wrote, if we want to resist the spirit of the world, we must challenge it in the form it takes in our present age.

May God grant us wisdom and grace to stand fearlessly for His name’s sake.

Further reading:

Want to learn more about literature? Don’t know how? Well, here’s a good place to start. Get hold of the books listed below for a mind-expanding tour of the world of books and ideas.

How to Read Slowly: A Christian Guide to Reading with the Mind
by James Sire
An excellent primer for beginners on what writers say and what they mean. The book also provides advice on what to read and when.

Reading Between the Lines: A Christian Guide to Literature
by Gene Edward Veith, Jr.
Here’s a valuable book to help you cultivate a taste for good literature. Meet writers past and present, explore the Christian worldview, understand Biblical concepts in imagination, post-modernism and more.

The Universe Next Door: A Basic World View Catalog
by James Sire
The book has three objectives – outline basic worldviews of the western world, trace historical developments of these worldviews and the move to eastern mysticism and new age belief systems –and succeeds admirably. Good intro for all concerned Christians.

The Universe Upstairs: A Cartoon Guide to Worldviews
by Merve Jones
Inspired by James Sire’s Universe Next Door, Irish Merve Jones breaks down complex worldviews into a fascinating simple-to-read visual (read, comic book) journey.

The Literature of the Bible
by Leland Ryken
This is a book that requires serious chewing. Quite intimidating in scope and technical in parts, but a genuine eye-opener nonetheless. This seminal work by Prof Ryken will help increase the pleasure of Bible reading.

How To Be Your Own Selfish Pig (And other ways you’ve been brainwashed)
by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
The late Francis Schaeffer’s daughter reduces her father’s ideas into something understandable and contemporary by way of wacky prose and penetrating propositions. Recommended for high school and college students, and perfect for adults starting out from zero! With a bit of creativity, it’ll work for junior too.

How to Read the Bible for all its worth
by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart
A great help in making sense of Scripture as it was first recorded, the types of writings it encompasses, and its different rules of interpretation. Guaranteed to clear foggy notions about understanding the word of God.