Book Review -- Honey for a Child's Heart

Honey for a Child's Heart

First, I must tell you the story of how I thought I discovered this book, and how I found that I'd really discovered it long ago.

I was discussing home schooling with our amazing midwife, Sue. The topic of great books came up. It turns out that one of our shared philosophies is that a key to a great education is a steady diet of great fiction from a very young age. A love for books is worth all the memorization of facts in the world. Sue recommended this book, which contains an annotated list of great books for ages 0-14 and a whole discussion of how to encourage your children to be avid readers of great literature. So I ordered it from Amazon.

Then I called my mom and raved about it, and she was almost in tears! She said, "You were raised on that book! I loved that book!" I instantly understood why the book lined up so well with my ideas about educating children -- it formed them!

Anyway, now that I've read the book I have to recommend it to all of you, my readers.

First, the qualifications of Gladys Hunt. As near as I can tell, she has no title or qualification other than the fact that she has done what very few parents can do -- developed her children into thoughtful, literate, creative adults who love great literature. Plus the love of literature has connected their family in a way that many parents wish for. This is a woman whose college-aged son came home one summer to tell his father, "I'm going to sell these books back, but before I do I thought you might want to read the passages I've marked." In another instance, her son copied the poem they were studying in his high school English class and brought it to her because he thought she would like it. Another one of her children told her that he was trying to remember where he got his deep value on living things and protecting the environment -- he decided it was from reading Lord of the Rings as a family. The bad guys destroyed things and the good guys grew things! Indeed, when they come to a part of nature that has been destroyed by human hands, someone in their family will often say, "The orcs have been here."

This book isn't just a list -- although the lists of reading material would be worth the price by themselves -- it's a guide to a way of nurturing children's souls through great books. Hunt includes chapters on fostering creativity, encouraging high values and connecting as a family. They are practical and inspirational. She even includes two lists -- ten ways to ensure your children will be non-readers and ten ways to encourage children to be readers! They are very clever.

So the Alyssa review gives this one five stars for sure! Happy reading!