Current reading

Well, I haven't quite finished reading the other items I was working through. All the same, I have another couple of titles which I am reading.

Give Them Wings: The Experience of Children's Literature Edited by Maurice Saxby and Gordon Winch, Sydney: Macmillan 1987
Following my last reading list, a dear friend recommended this book of essays. It is a lovely mix of usefulness and inspiration. I expect it will be a plunge pool I dip into regularly. I can't resist sentences like this,

Children are indiscriminate readers, it is argued, and the avalanche of published mediocrity makes it possible for children to have a steady diet of indifferent books, and such a diet will produce emotional and aesthetic acne. Maurice Saxby (1987) The Gift of Wings: The Value of Literature to Children in Give Them Wings: The Experience of Children's Literature p.11

Saxby goes on to make the point that a wide diet of literature will grow children to value and prefer good literature. Quite apart from the point, I had never thought of emotional and aesthetic acne before. Quite a fun textbook!

I am still reading Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child by Anthony Esolen. I bought a Kindle version. It is entertaining, but I feel I have to play mental gymnastics to follow his argument. I am a bear of little brain these days, so that is tiring. It is also a different perspective from the Project Based Homeschooling, so I am constantly measuring each against the other. This is a great thing to do, but sometimes it is better just to pull out a picture book with the kids.

For joy, I am reading Australian Christian Life From 1788: An Introduction and an Anthology by Iain H.Murray, Banner of Truth Trust, 1988.

Australia has a bizarre and troubling history. It is sobering and encouraging to read the stories of some who loved Jesus here, in the middle of the mess. I am also finding that the more I read about Australian history, the more spills into conversation with my kids.

For the record, my reading is creeping along slowly, with stolen minutes while feeding a baby, or ten minutes before I fall asleep at night. Many of these books will be long term companions.