AUTHOR HIGHLIGHT: RENEE RIVA

If  you look back to one of my past blog posts, "Tips for Selecting Good Books", you'll see that all Renee Riva's stories fit the criteria (according to William Kilpatrick) of what constitutes a "good" book.   Whether you choose to read aloud her cute children's picture books (illustrated by talented Steve Bjorkman):  Guido's Gondola and Izzy the Lizzy; her fun chapter book:  Farley's Five and Dime; or her hilarious Saving Sailor Trilogy, you will find an author who sticks to writing imaginative family classics that not only entertain, but teach and inspire...without sounding preachy or overly sentimental.

Today I'd like to focus on her trilogy of novels for teens and young adults (or "for ages 12-100", as Renee says on her website).  The first book in the trilogy, Saving Sailor , is followed by Taking Tuscany  and Heading Home.  I just finished reading the first novel and literally laughed out loud at the antics of A.J., a ten-year old girl, who likes to talk with a fake Southern accent, and her dog, Sailor.  The story is told from A.J.'s innocent and spunky perspective.  She's part of a big Italian-Catholic family who spend their summers on an island in Idaho during the 1960's.  I was taken back to my own preteen years, when, like A. J., I still tried to sneak the marshmallow bits out of the "boring part" of the box of breakfast cereal, my dolls were trolls, and I wasn't ready to admit that boys were starting to be a little bit interesting (though I, too, was secretly smitten with with Joe Cartwright from BONANZA!).

One thing that is really refreshing about this series, is that A. J.'s story isn't about family dysfunction and shallow friendships, that you often find in many contemporary "coming of age" books for teen girls, but about wholesome (and sometimes feisty) family love and hope:  think All-of-a-Kind Family, Mama's Bank Account , or Betsy-Tacy , mixed with the humor of  Barbara Robinson's The Best Christmas Pageant Ever .

On the other hand, this is by no means an old-fashioned, Little House on the Prairie  series.  The characters are colorful and eccentric - from A.J.'s down-to-earth, mischievous parents (her mom, Sophia, pretends to be Sofia Loren out in public, just to cause a stir), to her wonderful and understanding teacher, Sister Abigail (who oversees some hilarious catechism sessions) - you'll be drawn into the plot immediately.

A.J.'s constant honesty in confronting her beliefs and her shortcomings is completely endearing.  The series follows her from Indian Island, in Idaho, to Tuscany, Italy (where she moves with her family for 8 years) and then back to the island, where she is finally reunited with her childhood friend, Danny.  You'll want to read all the books to find where A. J.'s heart, and God, lead her.

Renee Riva says the Saving Sailor Trilogy is "based on a true story, sort of".  I knew I'd like it as soon as I read her Introduction:

  When I was growing up, I thought I came from the weirdest family on earth.  Now, as I look back on my childhood, I know I did...for one thing there were seven of us...I had only one set of parents, and they actually loved each other.  A lot.  Scary, isn't it?  And here's the real clincher -- I had a great childhood.  The kind where your mom stayed home and baked cookies for you...what can I say?  Pretty much, just, Thank God. 

  Did I mention we weren't perfect?  Well, we weren't.  But perfect isn't what makes a great childhood.  What makes a childhood great is being able to look back and remember the good over the bad, the laughter over the tears, and the love that covered a multitude of sins.

  It's looking back to that one summer that stands out above the rest.  You know...the one where you knew what really mattered in life:  God, your dog, your hamster, and your family.  Most definitely in that order.

To read more about Renee Riva and her books, and to see fun pictures of her real-life childhood and family, go to her website:  http://www.reneeriva.com/. 

"READ TO ME, PLEASE!" - PRACTICAL TIPS FOR READING ALOUD...

My last post included guidelines on how to choose good books. This entry focuses on practical tips for reading aloud to children:

1. Try to set aside some time each day for reading aloud.

2. Be attentive to your child's reading/listening level - don't force a book too early, but remember that children can understand and enjoy books above their reading level.

3. For very young children, remember that they enjoy and are stimulated by stories with rhythm and repetition. The sounds of language count most at this stage.

4. Be aware that myths, fairytales, and folktales come in many adaptations. Find the good ones! And look for editions with illustrations that don't trivialize the text, but do it justice.

5. Reading aloud will be more enjoyable for all if you can find stories that you, yourself, liked.

6. Good stories deserve a good telling - practice, or at least skim over, the book you intend to read, if possible. That way, you'll be prepared for the plot, characters (voices!), and rhythm.

7. Be expressive when you read aloud. Learn to slow down, speed up, create suspense with a low voice, etc.

8. Allow your children time to settle down before you start...if you're reading a picture book, you could talk about what's on the cover. If it's a chapter book, you can gently prompt your child to remember what happened where you left off.

9. Don't be tempted to explain the "moral" of the story. Just enjoy the story and let it speak for itself. At the same time, it's perfectly fine if the book brings out conversations and questions, just try to let your child do the asking spontaneously.

10. Balance read-aloud time with silent reading time. (Even prereaders can have time alone with their picture books.) As my kids got older, naptime was replaced with "quiet time", as they did their silent reading.

-Adapted from BOOKS THAT BUILD CHARACTER, by William Kilpatrick and Gregory and Suzanne M. Wolfe.

TIPS FOR SELECTING GOOD BOOKS

So - you've decided to start reading aloud to your children and you're at the library (or bookstore, or an online source, such as Amazon). Here are some guidelines that William Kilpatrick gives for selecting good stories, from BOOKS THAT BUILD CHARACTER, A Guide to Teaching Your Child Moral Values Through Stories:

1. Think back to stories that had a positive impact on you when you were growing up. There's a pretty good chance that the same stories will have a similar effect on your child.

2. Choose a book in keeping with your values, not simply on the basis of its reputation.

3. Try to distinguish between issues and virtues. Many contemporary children's books focus on trendy issues rather than character development. You want your child to acquire strength of character before he acquires a lot of secondhand opinions. It's one thing to have an opinion on an issue such as immigration, and quite another to develop a habit of helping those you have an opportunity to help. Having enlightened opinions is no substitute for having character. Good books should reinforce qualities like courage, responsibility, and perserverance rather than offering prepackaged opinions on divorce, euthanasia, and the like.

4. Look for books where the author has an interesting story to tell, not a message to convey. Many good books deal with contemporary issues, but the issues are integrated with the characters, setting, and plot; and they are people centered, not problem centered. The characters are real. We are gladdened by their victories and saddened by their sufferings. They are not there just to teach a lesson.

5. Context is crucial. Character-building books are not simply about good people doing good things. Moral books may deal with immoral behavior. The question is not whether unethical behavior is present but how it is presented. The hero or heroine may give way to temptation, but a good book will show the real costs of such a choice.

6. Allow some room for growth. Although you want to be careful about choosing books that are way over your child's level, it's okay to challenge them by reading somewhat above their level. You definitely want your children to learn to extend themselves through reading. How do you determine which books will help your youngsters grow? A simple rule of thumb is to look for books in which the main character grows. As your child becomes involved with the protagnonist, he vicarioiusly shares in that character's development.

7. Choose books that are fun to read aloud: The above guidelines are not to suggest that books with a moral theme are the only type of book you and your child should read! There are all types of books and all kinds of reasons to read them: for suspense, for humor, for the beauty of the language, for the pleasure of wordplay and nonsense rhymes. There is no discernible moral in GOODNIGHT MOON; TO THINK THAT I SAW IT ON MULBERRY STREET; THE JUMBLIES; or THE CREMATION OF SAM MCGEE, but it would be a shame to deprive your child of the pleasure they bring.

"To the extent that the well-made-thing provokes a responsive, corrective, self-examination, it works to educe from us an ongoing, active and answering creation--an answer that performs our longing to wholeness and reconciliation. One might say that, in attending to such art and in answering it with substantive response, we make our hope matter." -Scott Cairns, Poet and Professor of Engish (from "Art and the Meaning of Creation", published in The Huffington Post, June 1, 2010).

HOW CHOOSING GOOD READ ALOUD BOOKS CAN HELP CULTIVATE YOUNG SOULS...

BOOKS THAT BUILD CHARACTER, by William Kilpatrick and Gregory and Suzanne M. Wolfe, is a wonderful guide for parents, grandparents, and teachers who want to choose worthwhile and imaginative books for children. Honestly, if you could only buy one book on the subject, this would be the one I'd recommend! It's full of good children's stories that are as satifying on an adult level as they are on a child's. The recommended reading list is a comprehensive guide of book summaries, grouped by age level (young, middle, and older readers) and literary genre.

Here are some more of the authors' thoughts on why reading good stories with a moral dimension can help cultivate young souls:

HOW CAN READING ALOUD GOOD BOOKS TO CHILDREN DEVELOP THEIR CHARACTER?

- Stories create an emotional attachment to goodness, or a desire to do the right thing.

- Stories provide a wealth of good examples to kids - the kind of examples that might be missing from some children's day-to-day environments.
- Stories are a good way of introducing "codes of conduct" to kids.
- Stories can help kids make sense out of life.

HOW DO GOOD STORIES HELP CHILDREN LEARN RIGHT FROM WRONG?

Good writing in stories can touch kids on a level where it really matters - their imaginations - by giving them mental pictures: "images". Pictures have a way of staying in children's memories long after parents explanations and admonitions have worn thin. So one of the benefits of good read alouds, whether based in real life or fantasy, is that they save the parent from doing all the reminding! And through the power of the imagination, children can vicariously participate in the stories, sharing with the hero/heroine's choices and challenges.

A great example of this for young readers is The Tale of Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter. What child will forget how Peter disobeyed his mother, got sick from being wet and cold in Mr. McGregor's garden, and had to go to bed..."while Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cotton-tail had bread and milk and blackberries for supper"! (My kids asked for this story over, and over, and over...)

Or, for older readers, what about all the life lessons learned by David as he comes of age in the novel David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens? They will definitely develop an emotional attachment with the young David, as he learns about friendship, kindness, love, and forgiveness from the many colorful characters he encounters!

Here are a few exceptional titles we might have missed or never attempted to read aloud, if it weren't for the fact that they were recommended in BOOKS THAT BUILD CHARACTER:

The Princess and the Goblin, by George MacDonald
Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Jester
Prydain Chronicles, by Lloyd Alexander
Carry on, Mr. Bowditch, by Jean Lee Latham
The Endless Steppe, by Esther Hautzig
Barry the Bravest St. Bernard, by Lynn Hall
Book of Virtues, by William Bennett
Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Clooney
The Bully on Barkham Street, by M. Stoltz
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

WHAT DO I MEAN BY "GOOD BOOKS"?

"Good books not only capture the imagination, but cultivate the conscience as well" - William Kilpatrick, author of GOOD BOOKS THAT BUILD CHARACTER

If you're thinking, "I'm not into preachy morality books", don't worry - neither am I! This blog is not about books and authors whose main purpose is to moralize. A good storyteller should be first, someone who has a story to tell. But that is not to say that good literature does not teach us...

As my kids got a little bit older, I really began to realize the importance of the concept that "just because a book is a good read , it might not be good in the deeper sense of the word." I didn't only want "readable" books that would capture my kids' imaginations. I wanted to find books that would be good for their souls.


Where did I come across this concept? From two books by William Kilpatrick - WHY JONNY CAN'T TELL RIGHT FROM WRONG, and BOOKS THAT BUILD CHARACTER. In them, he says that the context in which behavior is portrayed in a story is what's important: "character building books are not simply books about good people doing good things...the question is not if unethical behavior is present, but how it is presented."

For example, my oldest son David was really drawn into the Goosebumps series for awhile. The books were admittedly suspenseful page-turners (teachers even said: "a great way to get kids reading") but, in my opinion, there was really no other redeeming quality to them. They were formula horror stories for kids. (Think Stephen King, written "Babysitters Club" style).

After a few, Goosebumps was all my son wanted to read! I coined them to be "junk food in book form". (Not a good daily regimen for a reading diet!) I had lots of other options for David to read, so I made the suggestion that if he sustained a "diet" of good literature from our book lists, I'd let him indulge in a Goosebumps book once in a while.

Luckily, I read BOOKS THAT BUILD CHARACTER later that year, and discovered a book series by John Bellairs that not only satisfied my son's interest in scary stories, but was described by Kilpatrick as "very well written and undergirded by a moral vision". (Remember: "capturing the imagination and cultivating the conscience" is the goal, not just finding a "good read"). Was I a happy mom? yes!

More tips from BOOKS THAT BUILD CHARACTER in my next post...