a conviction from a children's book

cultivating a library of beauty, truth, and goodness

I have always loved children’s literature. There is something powerful about the first stories to spark imagination and creativity. Those early worlds shape our consciousness, even before we know it. They provide us the earliest tastes of beauty, truth, and goodness. They shape how we view reality.

As I’ve slowly been curating our picture book library, I’ve tried to prioritize meaningful works, even ones that Little Man may not yet understand. However, I was also recently convicted by a fellow Substack author’s thoughts on children’s stories. I wish I could recall who it was. (You have my gratitude! Unfortunately, being past your due date and scheduling posts for publication means things go missing… mainly in my brain.)

You see - I love stories that teach Little Man nobility and virtue, that train him to cherish beauty and goodness, and to seek truth. But, I’ve done so while choosing to avoid books that emphasize a paternal role. I imagined that I was shielding him. When he’s older, I thought, we can read books with dads in them. He’ll understand more, and perhaps it will hurt his heart less.

But in reading the post by this Substack author, I realized that in trying to protect my son’s heart, I’ve been doing more harm. He needs to see what God intended the family to look like. He needs stories of loving homes with fathers and mothers pouring into their children. He needs to grow up knowing that our situation, while sadly not uncommon, is not good. To refrain from letting him see whole families in literature is to fail to give him something to envision as he grows up. And in its absence, the world will be only to glad to offer him an alternative definition of family.

What children need is for us to steep them in the truth, so that when they encounter lies, they will see it as it is. What children need is not for us to protect them from every difficulty, heartache, or pain, but to show them the way through it.

G. K. Chesterton writes, “Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon.”¹

Little Man needs a library brimming with stories of good, godly families. Ones with mother and father because it is better for him to face the spectral absence of a daddy and see that it wasn’t meant to be that way, than for me to try and pretend that all is exactly as it should be.

It isn’t.

As such, I’ve been working on making a list of books to add to our collection that feature good and godly families going on adventures. I’ve had people recommend Brambly Hedge (which is next our list to purchase), but I would appreciate other recommendations as well.

Some books that we are looking forward to collecting are Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik, Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney, and I Love You Like Yellow by Andrea Beaty.

Three Generations Reading the Bible Together, by Maria Spilsbury, 1800s.

emotional resilience

I’ve thought some about the books we already have, and I think many are worth sharing. There are two in particular that I feel like help develop emotional resilience. I have used both in trauma-healing groups for adults.

The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld. This books provides a gentle way to discuss reactions to trauma and the best ways to support those who are grieving. The story revolves around a little boy who grieves and processes the loss of his beloved block tower, which he worked very hard to build. Various animals come to try and help the boy with his grief, but ultimately, it’s the Rabbit, the one who just listens that helps him grieve well. The illustrations are simple and whimsical, and the trajectory is hopeful without it being ‘everything is all better now.’

After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again) by Dan Santat. The first time I read this book, I was cuddling Little Man in my chiropractor’s office, still in the throes of first trimester exhaustion and recent grief. I cried as I read it. So hard. This book imagines what Humpty Dumpty’s life was like immediately after his fall. It shows how his experience shapes his life, causing him to live with fear. His reactions are described in kid appropriate ways that will resonate with adults as well. Both parents and children will be able to remember times when a bad thing happened and they weren’t able to engage fully in life again. Then ending had a twist I didn’t see coming, and it’s beautiful. It’s a proclamation of choosing to live again, of facing fears, and ultimately finding freedom.

some just for fun

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don Wood. I can’t say too much about this one without giving away the plot, but the illustrations are charming, and Little Man loves to snuggle in my lap as we read it.

I Will Love You till the Cows Come Home by Kathryn Cristaldi. I’m not sure why we love this book so much, but we do. It’s one of Little Man’s favorites. The first time I read it, I liked it, but didn’t imagine it would become so cherished that we would need a copy at the Cottage and the grandparents’ house. It has a firetruck in it, and cows in it, so Little Man loves it. He asks for me to read it a lot. Especially in the sleep insomnia of second trimester, I would read this so much, usually the last story before Compline, that I somehow memorized it? I may have also run the two together on nights of deepest delirium. I have tried some of Cristaldi’s other works and I don’t find them near as endearing.

imagination and beauty

Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. Little Man has a hard time sitting through the whole story, as it’s lengthy, but I love it. The illustrations are gorgeous, and the message about needing to leave a legacy of beauty for others is one I appreciate as a mother and an artist.

Degas and The Little Dancer by Laurence Anholt. This was one of my favorite picture books growing up. It was a treasure to find it again and share it with my own babies.

The Katie Series by James Mayhew. I remember reading some of these with my own grandmother. She was wheelchair bound, but reading these books together took us on a journey through art. I especially remember Katie Meets the Impressionists. (My love of impressionist art work probably stems from the early exposure to their work!)

in conclusion

Please send me your book recommendations! Especially picture books with beautiful illustrations and strong families.

Also - please be praying for our little family as it expands. This post was written at the 4o weeks and 2 days mark, so please be forgiving about the typos.

1. Chesterton, G. K. 1909. Tremendous Trifles.