The Family Under the Bridge

by Natalie Savage Carlson
Listening Age: 5+

This was one I read to my younger girls, though 13 year old Fifi might have listened in for the latter half of the book because the story was so compelling.

It revolves around a self-styled Paris vagabond who loves his lifestyle for its freedom from responsibility. But one day he unwittingly befriends a trio of children who have just joined the ranks of the homeless with their mother who works during the day. Before he knows it, he has taken the children under his wing and helps hide them from dangers and authorities alike.

The nature of the story line involves children in distress, but not so much as to scare a young listener. Really, it only opened the eyes of my children to better appreciate what they have been given. There are many opportunities to discuss the choices made by the characters in the book: is the mother right in her assertion that the family stay together at all costs? Or should the children's physical comfort be considered a higher priority? Is she being negligent when she leaves her children alone with Armand as she does? Or is she just doing the best with the situation she's been dealt?

Be prepared that those questions and others might just stump you, the discussion leader, too.

Also be aware that there is quite a bit of attention given to the children's hopes and expectations of "Father Christmas." Acknowledgment of such a character gives some people pause. There is a lengthy interaction with a band of Gypsies which is endearing if not another springboard for discussion about different people, their different belief systems, and the different values that pour forth from them.

The story finishes all too soon, but resolves in a very clever, everyone-lived-happily-ever-after kind of ending.

We give this easy read a "B."

Brighty of the Grand Canyon

by Marguerite Henry
Listening age: 5+ Parental discretion advised for theme and language

We loved this book from start to finish! Truly, some of the best literature for children is wrapped around animal stories. Of course, Marguerite Henry is not an unknown author to the genre; I know there is at least a trilogy of horse stories on my shelf--but until now, I don't think I'd had the pleasure of reading any of them.

The story is about a real burro who lived around the start of the 20th century and helped carve out the path down the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Unknown to me as I read--and confirmed by my on-line research since--is that most every person and detail in the story line is true!

Henry's account of Brighty begins with a story of greed and murder that is so skillfully narrated by the author, that we, the readers, are allowed to connect the dots for ourselves before the other characters in the book feed the discovery to us. There are no gratuitous details of the crime, which I appreciated very much.

Only some portion of the remainder of the book was dedicated to the tracking and capture of the murderer, but as such, included many gritty, suspenseful moments. Don't worry, though! None unduly frightened even my most sensitive girl; I can only imagine that boys will like it even better! (You can preview the suspense for yourself starting in chapter 23; there is some weapon wielding that happens in chapter 28, and again at the end of chapter 30, into 31.)

My advice is that you don't let poor spellers or young students read this book to themselves; there are too many moments of phonetic spelling to confuse them, i.e., "yer" for your; "extry" for extra; "goin'" for going, "ain't" for aren't; "nacherel" for natural.

Another concern in letting children read this book for themselves is the bad language--none that would raise an eyebrow by today's standards, possibly, but there is the occasional mild expletive and the frequent use of the biblical name for a donkey (which I, personally, wouldn't want my young and impressionable child to mimic in today's climate--so I censor).

But enough of the bad!

The storyline weaved some very exciting real-life learning moments into the narrative. There is American history in the form of intersections with the rough-riding Teddy Roosevelt; engineering by way of construction of a suspension bridge over the Colorado River, and first aid and survival skills learned through the hardships of being snowbound.

But my very favorite chapter was chapter 20, titled, "Well Done!" in which a surprisingly bold Christian theme comes to the fore--voiced by the humblest of characters. Beautiful. *sigh*

Oh! And the subtle elements of detective work toward the capture of the murderer gave even my youngest children an opportunity to exercise their logic muscle. Marguerite Henry is a master of her craft, and I'm so glad to have discovered this book.

I give this book an "A."

The Phantom Tollbooth

by Norton Juster
Listening Age: 6+
Reading Age: 10

"I loved it...and that's saying a lot [from me] for a "weird" book."

-Fifi, 13 years old, lover of Dickens

Children like weirdness. It's true.

That's why they read things like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Alice in Wonderland. But, truly? My girls say those books are actually creepy and bizarre, and I'm not sure they really enjoyed them at all.

This book, however, was weird in a most delightful way! It is certainly not poetic or classic, but I can't call it twaddle either.

Let's dub it a fun departure! A breather! What you read after you say, "...and now for something completely different."

The Phantom Tollbooth begins with a 10 year old boy who is bored. He is bored with his stuff, with his life, with his toys and with his schooling. He is just flat. out. bored. Oh yes! And he's an expert at killing time for no good reason.

One day, out of nowhere, a strange gift appears in his room--an empty miniature tollbooth--and little Milo is whisked away (reminiscent of Harold and the Purple Crayon) in his imagination to the far-away land of Wisdom. On his way, his first friend and traveling companion is Tock, the time-keeping dog clock. Together, the two embark on an adventure to the Kingdoms of Dictionopolis where words are grown, and Digitopolis where numbers are mined. By now, they have a mission too: to rescue and return the twin princesses, Rhyme and Reason from the dungeon to which they were banished when they couldn't conclude which kingdom was the more important.

Along the way, inattentiveness gets Milo caught in the Doldrums, assumptions leap him onto the Island of Conclusions (which is so very difficult to leave), and a variety of demons like the Everpresent Wordsnatcher, the Threadbare Excuse and the Gelatanous Giant try, unsuccessfully in the end, to detour and distract the the rescue party from their purpose.

Any child would love to hear this book read aloud rather than be lectured by Mom about any of the many well-intentioned character flaws and consequences--and benefits and pleasures of learning, too--addressed in the storyline.

But, it is weird.

I give this book a "B+," but the children would give it an "A," I'm sure.

Red Sails to Capri

by Ann Weil

Listening age: 5+
Reading age: 9-10

To get every laugh out of your children that this book deserves, you must approach it with no less than 4 European accents for no less than 8 different characters! Count them--8! The laughs are going to come in response to your effort in bringing the dialog between characters to life. This is no time to be shy!

Capri and Anacapri share a tiny island off the western coast of Italy, near Naples. Nothing much happens in the sleepy community--especially not in the winter time. But then, three strangers sail onto shore in their red-sailed boat and the local fishman, Angelo, directs them to the inn of his friends, the Paganos.

The fictional three strangers include a Frenchman looking for adventure, a British painter looking for beauty, and a German bibliophile. Their stay represents a lot of income to the modest Italian family who dedicates themselves to making the traveler's stay happy. Everything is fine until the visitors start making plans to explore a near-by cove that the locals not only avoid, but refuse to even mention for its terrible history and the legend that grew from it.

In the end, the reader gets a wonderful geography lesson out of the story line that will send you to web for a search of pictures and information about this picturesque place.

I will caution you that there are some objectionable adjectives in the narrative--relatively mild words that we don't allow our children to use (st*pido, idi*t, etc.). Sometimes I censored right past them, but sometimes they were necessary in developing the character and relationship of Angelo to the others. Somehow, saying them in the heat of the moment in a heavy Italian accent takes the edge off.

Also, there is an occasion in which the mother of the family rebels against her homemaking duties for a time, but in her defense, she does it because the situation is desperate and she doesn't know what else to do. If you're hyper about such a theme, this might not be the story for you.

My favorite moment in the book came as the young innkeeper's son is faced with the heart-wrenching decision to choose the trip of a lifetime or to keep intact, a life-long friendship with one who is as close as a brother.

I'm happy to report that he chooses well.

I give this book the grade of "B."

The Chronicles of Narnia

by C. S. Lewis
Listening age: 6+

This is the FIRST book in the 7-book series written by Oxford English Professor-but-Christian convert-anyway, C.S. Lewis. It is called The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It was written first. It was published first. It was meant to be read first. Read this one first.

Why? I'll tell you why. Because in the course of the series there are little asides now and then from the author to the reader which more than clearly express Lewis' assumption that you are reading the books in the order they were written. And better yet--because there is a fantastic goose-bump moment at the end of the sixth book that you and your child will miss out on completely if you read The Magician's Nephew first.

This is the SIXTH book in the series. Some people--in fact, the new edition publisher--will tell you to read The Magician's Nephew first because...because...well, because maybe they are ignorant and have not read the series. And because they take themselves and their classical method too seriously. Not everything must bow to the chronological time line. Our great God made us more intelligent than that! And your children too. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK FIRST just because the events in it precede those of the actual 1st book in the series. Read this book 6th. After the 5th book: The Horse and His Boy, (and before the 7th book: The Last Battle). After the 4th book: The Silver Chair. After the 3rd book: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. After the 2nd book: Prince Caspian. After the 1st book: The Lion, the Witch....you get the point.

*sigh* O.k. That said, I must say a bit more before I can tell you of the excitement that these books brought us this summer. I will only acknowledge that there is some controversy in Christian circles about some of the fantasy elements in this book. Again...people taking themselves too seriously. There is much Christian allegory, but the series is not strictly such, and Lewis never meant it to be. There are "nods" to mythology and fairy tales; wicked magic and miracles disguised as magic; good battling evil, and you can read some pretty strong opinions about all that on your own through a Google search. Or you can read this scary condemnation if you can make sense of it past the giant chip on someone's shoulder.

In the end, my advice is to ask the Lord. Remembering that it is not what comes at us from the outside, but rather what bubbles up from our hearts that defiles, I encourage you to pray about your own children--their strengths and their weaknesses. Can they differentiate Truth from fantasy? Can they recognize sin (attitudes, conspiracy, faithlessness) without inviting it to live in them?

Two years ago, I could not say yes. Two years ago I was concerned that reading these books to my youngest girls would be like passing them through the fire. They were not ready. Their knowledge of the Holy One was not steeped enough to rightly divide the Word of Truth.

This summer, I was prayerfully able to say yes, and I have not regretted it.

These books involve different children, across a span of time, and the adventures that bring them to, and through, a place called Narnia. It is filled with talking beasts and the battle between good and evil permeates the land. While I'm fairly sensitive to exposing my girls to gratuitous bad behavior in books or movies, the occasional "rotten apple" child in these story lines always serves the bigger purpose of teaching the reader about reaping and sowing, repentance, forgiveness and redemption--or even sin and judgment.

There is some violence in some battle scenes along the way, and some of the descriptions are graphic enough to have unnerved my 8 year old at bedtime (though we never read these books after dinner). My 6 year old girl was not phased--go figure. My 13 year old girl has been fashioning and sewing Susan Pevensie's quiver and archery dress from scratch ever since. She liked the stories very much, had read them before, but I think really enjoys when I read them to her complete with my sad attempts at Middle-Eastern accents.

And that reminds me...there is another controversy I found during a Google search. *exasperated sigh* Lewis' covert, yet undeniable use of Isl@m as the pattern for the "others"--sometimes friendly, sometimes enemy, but clearly outsiders--has some people (though not actually the supposedly offended people) screaming, "Racist!" because of his acknowledgment of turbans and scimitars.

Blah, blah, blah.

I guess I just don't get wrapped around the axle so easily. Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world--red and yellow, black and white--they are precious in His sight...

But, back to my review: the best thing that came of our adventures in Narnia is a sense of the eternal. Not the actual eternal, mind you, but the ability to imagine the eternal. And that it is not lesser just because it is invisible. Our family believes the Bible and reads it every day, but somehow Lewis' vivid descriptions of Narnia and the children's adventures there served to exercise the faith imagination muscle of my littlest ones who have yet been so unsure, even scared, at the thought of an invisible Jesus. Even though they know He loves them.

When my youngest was just 3 and afraid to go upstairs by herself, I reassured her that she was never by herself because the Lord Jesus was with her. And I believe that with all my heart, and do not just say it to keep the peace or assuage a fear.

But to that, she fumbled around for the words to express, "But I want someone real....someone I can see."

Jesus loves the little children, it is true, but faith is a pretty abstract idea when you're them and it's dark at the top of the landing.

The children would give this series an enthusiastic "A+" for fun, suspense and adventure.

Pinnochio

by Carlo Collodi

Listening age: 5+

I was a bit hesitant to continue with this book before I had got very far because that Pinnochio--he's some kind of bad character! But, alas, his behavior does not go undisciplined, if only by the harsh consequences that come naturally (if you can call turning into a donkey, "natural").

The book is full of adventure and suspense, and after a horridly malicious start, the author manages to turn our sympathies toward the little wooden puppet.

In the end this rich piece of children's literature was quite enjoyable for all. There were even points in the story that brought Scriptural truths to mind very clearly. I think I'd like to read this one again in a few years, and make a point to research and line up the applicable Proverbs with it.

We give this book a "A-."