Home
Order Page
Essays 
Video
Blogs & Links
About Us
TBD

Some fun Literature for the Curriculum for the Culture of Life.
There are some who say that anything that gets children reading is worthwhile. This is not the case; children, like other people, can be wounded by what they read. They need beauty, courage, laughter, and holiness.
Be sure to look at historical fiction and lives of the saints.

Alcott, Louisa May
    Little Women  Courageous family after the loss of the father — famous characters of the 19th century. 
    Little Men
    Jo's Boys

Austen, Jane 
    Emma
    Pride and Prejudice
    Sense and Sensibility
Young people may not see anything more than love stories, but the psychology of place and action keeps them alive and working.

Burnett, Frances Hodgson
    Secret Garden
    I loved this story as a child. Now that I am older, I see a lot of pantheism in it...

Chaucer
    Canterbury Tales
    Chanticleer and the Fox   This is one of the Canterbury tales; not all are suitable for young children. The Barbara Cooney adaptation is very good.

Chesterton, G. K.
    Father Brown mysteries Mystery stories with a theological twist.
    Everlasting Man What does a philosopher have to say about evolution?
    The Man who was Thursday A deeper mystery story. 
    Tremendous Trifles Chesterton reflecting very largely on very small things

Colum, Padraic
    Greek myths
    Iliad and Odyssey
Easy to read and follow these stories. If you are not up to "the real thing" this gives the story — and as a children's story, not a summary.

Doman, Regina
    Snow White and Rose Red [teens version of courage and
faithfulness -- spin off the fairy tale]

Dooley, Tom 
    What was going on in Southeast Asia in the fifties? This doctor was trying to practice medicine while the Communists were determined to destroy everything good.
    Edge of Tomorrow
    The Night They Burned the        Mountain
    Deliver Us from Evil

Farjeon, Eleanor
    The Glass Slipper 
    The Silver Curlew 
    Martin Pippin in the Apple        Orchard
One of the few 20th century authors who succeeds in writing good fairy tales. Not Disney; loveliness.

Lamb, Charles and Mary
    Iliad
    Odyssey
    Shakespeare for children
Again, the great stories, readable as stories for children.

Lattimore, Eleanor Frances
    Little Pear Child of early 20th century China.
    Little Pear and his Friends

Lewis, C.S.
    Narnia Chronicles Children's allegory of the atonement.
    The Screwtape Letters Famous letters from senior to junior demon.
    Till We Have Faces a fantasy about the myth of Eros. A reflection on substitutionary love.
    ...everything by this great writer

London, Jack
    All his Short Stories

Godden, Rumer
    Miss Happines and Miss Flower
    all her doll stories
    The Kitchen Madonna A child makes a traditional prayer space
    In This House of Brede (for an older crowd)

L'Amour, Louis
    Walking Drum
    Haunted Mesa
    ... many wonderful things. Western dramas with a romantic touch. Good local color.

 Literature Links
History Page

Hedge School
Hedge School
MacDonald, George
  At the Back of the North Wind
  The Princess and the Goblin
  The Princess and Curdie 
    George MacDonald was part of C.S. Lewis' path to faith; his stories breathe holiness.

Milne, A. A.
  Winnie the Pooh 
  House at Pooh Corner
  When We Were Very Young
  Now We Are Six
    Incomparable stories. Probably belong on the Psychology page.

Montgomery, Lucy Maud
  Anne of Green Gables 
  All the Anne books; if there is a red-headed, moderately philosophical chatterbox in your life, especially if it's yourself, you will get this.

Pyle, Howard
  Robin Hood
  King Arthur and the Knights of  the Round Table
The great storyteller old (medieval) times.

Ransome, Arthur
  Swallows and Amazons 
  Winter Holiday
  Children on vacation on their very own "desert island."

Schulevitz, Uri
   Dawn    A beautifully illustrated dawn     by the lake.
   Rain   Almost a poem, beautifully    illustrated.

Selden, George
   Cricket in Times Square    A cricket who plays beautiful music on his wings is discovered by a little boy...
   Harry Cat's Pet Puppy    Same characters as above, new setting.
  Etc.

Shakespeare, William
    Hamlet   What does it mean for a youth to contemplate the dishonest times into which he is born? 
   MacBeth  What does it feel like to plot murder and carry it out while you still have a conscience?
   King Lear  What is it like to belong to a hunted minority and not know whom to trust?

Seredy, Kate
  The Good Master Hungarian children learning to love and be good.
  Singing Tree Hungarian children of the 20th century, learning the history of Hungary

Stratton-Porter, Gene
    Girl of the Limberlost A girl discovering her true self is basically timeless. Now reaching its fourth generation.
   Freckles Not as famous but good.

Tolkein, JRR
    Hobbit
    Lord of the Rings  The best literature of the 20th century.
    Tolkein Reader 

Twain, Mark (Samuel Clemens)
   Joan of Arc  Twain's own favorite of his books, a wonderful read.
   Tom Sawyer
   Huckleberry Finn (Not actually for the very young.)

Van Stockum, Hilda 
  The Winged Watchman
  The Mitchells
  A Day on Skates
  Everything by Hilda Van Stockum is full of humor and innocence and courage.

Verne, Jules
    20.000 Leagues under the Sea
    Journey to the Center of the Earth 
   Around the World in 80 Days 
The science fiction of 20th century.

Wilder, Laura Ingalls
  Little House on the Prairie Life in pioneer Kansas
  Little house in the Big Woods Life in pioneer Wisconsin
  ... everything else by Ms Wilder

View shopping cart