Friday, May 27, 2011

Read For The Heart ~ TOS Review

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I have loved books from the day I was born. Ok, well maybe not quite that early but it seems to me I was never without a book, and an adventure, near to me.

I have a tough time dealing with the fact that my boys do not always share my fervor for reading, although my younger son is beginning to devour books in a similar fashion. My daughter, at the wonderful age of 2, is showing signs of being just like her momma. I often find her perusing our plethora of books, picking and choosing with care just which she will look at next.

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Read For The Heart is a blessing to me. Here I have been lamenting over the last few years how all the books I loved as a child will be missed by my children because of my horrid memory and God just plops this little gem in my lap, as if to say “You don’t need to try to remember any more, stop your fretting.”

Sally Clarkson has drawn on her own fondness for reading and kinship with books to share with us the secrets of reading books to others. She explains why sharing books and reading aloud is such an important and loving thing. Following this part of the book are her amazing and (for me) perfectly chosen book lists based on many varied points such as age of reader, illustrators, type of books, etc.. I know this will be my go to book from now on for finding just the right books and for filling up Christmas lists and birthday wishes for years to come. (Mom are you reading this?)

Here is a link to read the first chapter.

Put out by Apologia Press you can be assured of it’s wonderful devotion to our Lord and the morality of the books suggested.

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100_3724From the site:

“A great book spurs the imagination in childhood, inspires our dreams in adulthood, and nourishes the soul with depictions of life fully and courageously lived. Among the greatest gifts you can bequeath to a child are a love for reading and a passion for books. But how do you sort through the many thousands of books available to your children to find those that are worthwhile? Apologia has the answer. Keeping Read for the Heart close at hand is like having a children's librarian for a best friend! Let Sarah Clarkson be your guide to the best in children's literature for your family. From timeless classics to modern favorites, from picture books to adventure novels to read-aloud favorites, more than 1,000 wonderful stories for young people are recommended within these pages. Now you can make great literature a lasting part of your child's life and education.”

If you would like to see the Table Of Contents follow this link.

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Sarah has a way with words and her philosophy on what reading great literature means for the future has absolutely enthralled me. I admit at first I thought this would just be another book list book but it is so much more. Take the following quote for instance:

“On a more spiritual level, the habit of reading influences the ability to think deeply about life-altering ideas of faith and belief. Madeleine L'Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time, once wrote that the decreasing vocabulary of modern culture would result in an inability to think greatly about God:
"The more limited our language is, the more limited we are; the more limited the literature we give to our children, the more limited their capacity to respond, and therefore, in their turn, to create. The more our vocabulary is controlled, the less we will be able to think for ourselves. We do think in words, and the fewer words we know, the more restricted our thoughts. As our vocabulary expands, so does our power to think."
. . .
A young intellect nourished by a feast of words can tackle any concept -- whether mathematical, scientific, spiritual, or imaginative - with confidence.” (pages 20-21)

Sarah has completely put into words my thoughts about why we homeschool and do not trust institutions to educate our children and why we use living books and great literature to do so.

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Author: Sarah Clarkson

Cost: $17

Format: Paperback

Apologia Educational Ministries
1106 Meridian Plaza Suite 220
Anderson, IN 46016 US
Phone: (888)524-4724
Fax: (765)608-329

Please visit the TOSCrew to see what other homeschool families thought about this book!

Mandy

Disclaimer: I received this as a review product, free in exchange for my honest opinion. No other compensation was provided.

1 comment:

i cant decide said...

I too, loved this book! It is difficult to not have all of your children share you bookworminess, I know. I do try to read aloud a lot as my children who don't love to read enjoy hearing a story read to them. At least we can share a book together.

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