What roads did you take when you started learning to drive? Maybe the back roads where there were wide open spaces or maybe those you could travel with a friend!
That’s what happens with Max when she first learns to read on her own. Her excursions take her through places like I Can Read Road, Little Golden Lane, and Scholastic Street.
She feels a great sense of accomplishment when she comes home to declare, “I can read!”
Yes, I can do all things . . .
Those I Can Read books, first published by HarperCollins in 1957, focus on lovable characters such as Amelia Bedelia, Fancy Nancy, Pete the Cat, and Flat Stanley. All feature a unique way of capturing a child’s interest.
For instance, after my nephew moved to New York, his younger cousin sent him a Flat Stanley book so that Stanley could travel the subways and see the city. Everyone in the family was excited to see and hear about this literary character’s journey, and all the kids wanted their own Flat Stanley books.
Simon and Schuster began publishing Little Golden Books in 1942. Originally available in five-and-dime stores and supermarkets for 25 cents, they are now sold in stores like Barnes and Noble for $5.99.
Other iconic early readers like the Dick and Jane books were so effective in the mid twentieth century that they made a comeback when they were reissued in 2003.
With repetitive words and phrases and simple sentences, these books help hook kids on reading.
Traveling down the same road multiple times is beneficial. Repetition helps us remember. For example, how many times did we see Spot run before we began to easily recognize those words?
Scholastic, which has been around since 1920, also provides a world of ways to encourage kids to fall in love with reading. Their mission, “to inspire all children to become life-long learners, unlocking an imaginative curiosity about themselves and the world,” is also one of my goals for Max and Her Stacks.
Many of the early reader book selections in the I Can Read series, The Little Golden Books, and the Scholastic books contain valuable moral lessons.
For example, Peter Rabbit teaches us to listen to the wisdom of our elders, and all our actions have consequences. The Little Red Hen teaches us we reap what we sow. (Proverbs 23:22 and Galatians 6:7-8)
Kids need to know about love, and books are the perfect tool to help them learn. They can see how big love can grow when they read about a big red dog named Clifford, and Mercy Watson can teach them all about unconditional love. (The image below shows Max happily immersed in a Mercy Watson book.)
While my publisher wanted Max and Her Stacks to go out into the secular world, I was hopeful that somehow those subtle Christian elements might still be evident.
As I have shared Max in recent school visits, I have shared many of the books in Max’s stacks. For example, when I read “a wonderful creature named Aslan helped her understand the true meaning of love,” I show them The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and point to the lion on the cover.
In a recent visit to a group of second graders, one young girl came up to me after my reading and whispered, “Did you know the lion in that book is really Jesus?”
Be still my soul!
“Yes,” I responded. “And I’m so proud that you know it too!”
God works in such mysterious ways!
“From the day she was born, Max had been surrounded by stacks and stacks and stacks of books.”
This video shows the real Max sharing her love of reading with her brother.
“Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”--Proverbs 22:6
While I believe Max had an innate ability to read well at an early age, I also believe being surrounded by books, more importantly the right books, had a positive impact. Her parents’ dedication to the cause (and possibly her aunt’s constant encouragement) made her the avid reader she is today. In addition to sharing the importance of beloved story books, Max’s family has made it a ritual to travel a Bible path at the end of every day.
In “A Letter to Parents” from Amy Parker’s Night Night Devotions, the author defines the word devotion as “love, faithfulness, closeness, loyalty.” She further explains the importance of sharing with children “a lifetime of love for the God who loves them.” Reading together can help cement a lifelong love for God and family.
Here are a few suggestions from my own roadside reading stops this month. I’m literally stumbling my way through Jordan Peterson’s We Who Wrestle with God. I’m finding The War for Middle Earth by Joseph Loconte to be enlightening, but it’s also requiring discipline on my part. Finally, I’m happy to join the bandwagon of supporters of Allen Levi’s Theo of Golden.
Speaking of roads, my Sunday school class has recently been discussing luck vs. Providence. Some don’t believe in luck. Others believe things happen for a reason. While trying to write this blog, I’ve had bouts of writer’s block—or one could call it a roadblock. This morning my devotional was entitled “God’s Pathway for You.” Here’s an important line:
“Before you let your worries pull you under, go to God. Ask Him to show you the pathway you cannot see with your limited vision. He will clearly reveal the road He’s carved out just for you.”
Was reading these particular words on this particular morning luck or Providence? You decide.
“Every person gathered there already knew the importance of those books. The stories had cradled them through difficult times, offered light and hope when all felt dark and lost. They were there to celebrate reading and a community brought together by a love of those books.”—from Madeline Martin’s The Keeper of Hidden Books
Philippians 4:13; Jeremiah 6:16; Proverbs 4:26-27; Isaiah 35:8
Love this!