You’ve probably heard the following Bible verse in at least one translation.
Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.
Proverbs 22:6
This advice from across the centuries can be applied to many aspects of life. Religion. Respect for authority, elders, and law. Healthy habits. Appreciation of the arts. And one of my favorites: love of books and learning.
Did your parents read to you? Or an older sibling? Did you read to your children? Have you listened to them read — sounding out a word, matching word and picture, the look of pride when a page, or a book is complete. Have you let books take you to the past? The future? Walk among natural wonders or learn how a machine works? Have they made you laugh? Cry? Swoon? (Who swoons these days?)
For a sampling of recent reads enjoyed by this author click on the “Book Review” page.
Ask people what they read when they were young. You’ll be surprised. Yesterday I asked a 91 year old woman that question. “Robin Hood”, “Ivanhoe”, English history, “Jane Eyre”, was her answer. Her mother told her she could read anything except Grace Livingston Hill or Madame Bovary. Now Grace Livingston Hill was an extremely popular moral, spritual novelist of the early 1900s.” Madame Bovary” was totally opposite. The lady said she read “Madame Bovary” later and thought it was boring.
I also grew up in a household with an “open bookcase” policy. Early favorites were Heidi and Bambi (not the Walt Disney version).