Bright Wings: Children’s Books to Make the Heart Soar – Details, episodes & analysis

What if some of the best titles being published are not new, but OLD? Join Charity's conversation with Jill Morgan from Purple House Press. Charity shares her joy at discovering how a beloved childhood picture book is back in print! Jill shares stories from 20 years of rescuing books--stories about author relationships, the practicalities of bringing back favorites, and the community feeling built around the books we want appreciated for generations. 

Browse Purple House Press!  *Please, try to buy direct from them!

Books mentioned in this episode:

• The King With Six Friends by Jay Williams. aka Charity's favorite picture book
• Mr. Pine's Purple House by Leonard Kessler
• Twig by Elizabeth Orton Jones
• The Arts Library (What I would do if I were still homeschooling!)
• Sabre Jet Ace by Charles Coomb
• The Living History Library, includes Jenny, John Bull, Alaska Bush Pilot
• The Nature Study Library, includes Buzztail and Leaper
• The Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher, aka the book selling for $1,000...
• MISTMANTLE by M.I. McAllister

Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.

Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

Vivian Dudro, senior editor at Ignatius Press, joins Charity to talk about Catholic book publishing. Vivian discusses publishing works that allow children and teens to connect their lives to the deepest truths of Christ's presence. How can "wholesome" literature depict the Real? Is it necessary for Christian books to be well-written, or is it enough for them to be church-y? Join Charity and Vivian as they explore these questions. Enjoy Vivian's recommendations on the books currently exciting interest at Ignatius Press, works that are "coming soon," and her treasure trove of unique classic book recommendations.

Vivian's Recommended Books:

• In The Shadow of Rome, series by Sophie de Mullenheim (includes The Phantom of the Colosseum)
• Sarah and Simon SEEK and FIND, series by Geert de Sutter. The Life of Jesus, Seek and Find
• Faelan and the Miracle Machines, series by Abigail Palmer
• The Adventures of Loupio by Jean-Francois Kieffer.
• How to Handle My Emotions, (Joy, Fear, Sadness, Anger), series by Gaelle Tertrais, Violaine Moulière, Ségolène De Noüel

• The Story of Rolf: A Viking Adventure by Allen French
• Heidi by Joanna Spyri
• The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren
• The Little House on the Prairie, series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Books by Hilda Van Stockum

Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.

Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

Everyone is happy to promote "girl power," and we did our own version of that theme in Episode 18: Stories for Strong Girls. But what about our boys? Is there something distinctive about being a boy? What is good about being a boy? Dr. William Hamant joins Charity to discuss what is positive and distinctive about masculinity.  He reflects upon what masculinity reveals about what it means to be human. Dr. Hamant supports his insights with literature and poetry and wise experience.

PRINTABLE LIST of Best Books for Boys

Poetry quoted by Dr. William Hamant:
"When Nature Wants a Man" by Angela Morgan
"Man in the Arena" by Theodore Roosevelt OR a print-and-frame version!
"Invictus" by William Ernest Henley

To learn more about what is happening to boys and men:

• Honestly podcast, "Why We Must Save Our Boys"
•  Youtube video, "Avoiding School Shootings and The Boy Crisis"
• Honestly podcast, "Why Men Seek Danger"

Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.

Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

Wildwood, the first in a trilogy by Colin Meloy, is praised by Trenton Lee Stewart. It is also 541 pages! Could this book be the start of the next greatest series for your child?! It is long and has sequels...could this be just the thing for my voracious readers? Listen and discover along with Charity what this book is like--do it's characters have any character? Do they discover where they're from? Where they are going? 

Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.

Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

 Can an author as prolific as Gordon Korman really generate books of value? After reading a dozen Gordon Korman books (sample size is 10% ladies and gentleman!) Charity delivers the answers and makes her recommendations.

Check out the recommended book list!

Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.

Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

Have you ever returned to a beloved children' book as an adult and found the content unnerving? Charity introduces the topic of cynicism as a perspective that shapes what we are able to see, a stance that conditions our vision, a judgement that conditions our choices. Charity introduces an excellent essay by Anna Kaladish Reynolds regarding cynicism, a critical reading of Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully. Reynold's essay proposes that the innocence available in picture books like Mirette On the High Wire may help us to learn a wisdom that is greater than any that cynicism can offer to us.

Read Innocence: A Perspective of Intelligent Reading on the Bright Wings' blog.

Follow Bright Wings: Children's Books on Instagram :)

Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.

Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

Ready for a couple of the most satisfying stories you've heard in a while? Charity reviews Beauty: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley and Snow and Rose by Emily Winfield Martin. If you enjoy fairy tales--or if you simply enjoy a story with both action and reflection--join Charity as she explores the value of these two novel-length retellings.

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy a book through them, you support Bright Wings at no additional cost to you. ;)

Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.

Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

Do you know what discernment is? Can we examine what motivates our literary choices for our children? In this podcast Charity wonders what motivates our literary decision-making: Does a desire to protect motivate? Does fear of harm predominate in our decision-making? Is our end goal to equip our children? Are we convinced that the good is stronger and more pleasing than evil?

Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.

Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

Were you ever obsessed with WWII fiction and stories as a child? Do you have a child who is really into stories from this era? Why the fascination?! Is there something weird about this interest? Charity unpacks what is vital to understanding the value of books about World War II. Children appreciate this time because good and evil are clear and there are high stakes and choices to make. Children like this era because hard moral choices and suffering are contexualized by singular and personal characters. Best of all, literature set in this era often affirms that "a light has shown in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it." Charity affirms the unusually high quality of WWII literature as a genre and prizes it for its ability to allow children opportunities for self-reflection.

Enjoy this printable booklist! World War II: Best Picture Books and Novels

Check out this book review of  Hilda Van Stockum's The Borrowed House by Sara Masarik.

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Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.

Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

As part of an ongoing initiative Charity reviews books to save you time and teach you how to know a good book when you see it!
Charity reviews the Masterminds series by Gordon Korman. (Masterminds; Masterminds: Criminal Destiny; Masterminds: Payback)
She contrasts it to Keeper of the Lost Cities series and points out how keenly interesting (and desperately fun) it can be to allow a glaring ethical problem (cloning) drive the action of the plot and character development. Does Korman do this in an engaging way? Is it readable? Alternatively, is the problem dealt with in an ethically responsible way? Is his understanding of the Nature vs. Nurture question a reliable one? 
(*Spoilers included to save parents' time + increase conversation with children.)

Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.

Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!