The eight members of the Durdin family are all avid readers, and so is our eldest son's wife. If you are looking for one of us at any time of the day (and some of the night) when nothing else is happening, chances are you will find that person ensconced behind the covers of a book, oblivious to what is going on all around (even in the midst of a thunderstorm). At times, for our children, this reading habit became such an obsession that we had to put our foot down and ban all reading of any kind (even for school) until all other affairs were attended to. Even then, one was likely to come upon a junior Durdin reading the label on the bottle of detergent, or the notice on the back of the packet of tea! Even their parents had this tendency...

With such a love of reading to provide for, we had to start collecting for expected future readers some years before our first child was born. John and I had been married a little over a year when we went to a second-hand book sale in the university town where we were living at the time. Most of the books we bought were children's books! Over the following years, I continued to buy children's books whenever I found some in good condition at reasonable prices (at garage sales, library sales, secondhand shops, and remainders tables). In this way I picked up many good children's books, both fiction and non-fiction, many of which our children still read, or use in their studies. Our eldest son is now twenty-seven years old (and has a daughter of his own), our sixth and youngest daughter is almost sixteen. Many of the books I bought thirty years ago are now out of print (or have been re-written to make them 'politically correct'), but they have been read over and over again. Some series, such as Dr. Paul White's Jungle Doctor books (based on his experiences as a missionary doctor in Africa) continue to be read and re-read by all of us because they are so encouraging.

Although I did not become a Christian until our eldest child was six months old, most of the children's books I had bought do fit the guidelines which I write about below. This says a lot about the values that used to be promoted in children's books. Some of the books I bought back then, however, I did discard later as inappropriate, and my children themselves also decided that some of them were not helpful.

As a result of seeing my children reading, many friends and acquaintances have asked me: (a) how I got them interested in reading, and (b) what books I recommend. Most of these people are Christians and consequently concerned that their children acquire a Christian world-view as well as an interest in reading. My answer to (a) was easy -- both John and I are avid readers, as were our parents (and probably our grandparents). Try to prevent our children reading! I am convinced, after talking with many, many parents and children, that some children are born readers, and some children are not. Ours just happen to be born readers. Of course, being readers ourselves, we fostered a love for books in our children, both indirectly (they saw us read and heard us talking about books) and directly (we read to them and provided books for them). But I don't think that we taught them love of reading; it's just part of who they are.

What can one do about a child who does not like reading? This is another question I have often been asked. I think one can probably encourage a child to learn how to read effectively for information, for that is a skill that is very necessary in our knowledge-flooded world (even Internet websites have text that has to be read, after all, and all through life there are forms which can't be filled out unless one reads the questions...), but as far as I can tell, if a child does not enjoy reading and there are no physical or mental problems causing the dislike (such as dyslexia or learning difficulties, for example), and other mind-dulling influences such as television or video-games have been eliminated or put under strict control, there is no way one can force a child to enjoy reading. Such children have plenty of other ways of learning and of entertaining themselves. I think, for example, of a family we know whose four children are not interested in reading but are very involved in outdoor activities, music, and sport. It is wrong to suggest that a child who does not read is just lazy. In fact, sometimes is is the child who reads avidly who is lazy!

So, what books should one choose for one's children? Friends have asked me to give them lists of books I recommend for small children and for older children, and in the past I have provided such lists. However, it seems to me that it would be better for me to explain the principles I used in choosing my children's books rather than give a list. So many new titles come out every month that it's impossible to keep up with all the books available.

As I said above, when I first started buying children's books I was not a Christian, and the books I chose were mostly those that spoke to me from my own childhood or that fitted into that category. I also bought classics because I felt that they presented good values (though I was not a believer I was still "old-fashioned" enough to subscribe to Judeo-Christian ethics). After I came to Christ, my views on bringing up children took a track quite different from that which they had hitherto followed. In particular I came to realise that what one fills a child's mind with at an early age is crucial in their emotional and spiritual development. I have read both the Communist Manifesto and the Humanist Manifestos, and other similar documents, and I am aware that the authors of these documents knew this fact very well. Advocates of early-childhood education who want to develop a certain type of "good little citizen" have that in mind, too.

So, I asked myself, what kind of books will I choose for my children, and how much will I control their reading, keeping in mind that what one reads is remembered more effectively than what one sees (for example, on television)? I did not want to give my children books that would frighten them, encourage them to be defiant, suggest to them that the abnormal and bizarre is the rule, or teach them wrong values such as violence, dishonesty, selfishness, immorality. I needed to have something to guide me in my choice, a principle to go by. As a Christian, the only completely trustworthy reference for me on matters like this one is the Bible, therefore that is where I looked for help. And there it is: Philippians 4:8 --

With this verse (and all that is behind it, including Proverbs 22:6, "Train a child in the way he should go...") in mind, I set out to find reading material for my first child. I asked myself of every book, "Is this book going to build him up, encourage him to desire what is good, lead him to the things of God, tell him of things that are true, beautiful, honourable?" I decided that for the first few years, as far as I could, I would choose what my son read, or what was read to him, and I would not let him read things that were not in line with the principle of Philippians 4:8. "Censorship!" was how some people reacted to this when they heard of it. Well, all right, yes. Censorship. Censorship is not always a negative word. You practise it when you keep pornography or sex manuals away from your children, too. I carried the process that much further by keeping other, not so obviously harmful books from my children until they were old enough and had a secure-enough basis from which to choose for themselves. Only if they were familiar with what was good and true would they recognise the difference when they came across something wrong or false.

The first thing I did when I chose books for my children was to read them myself. That was easy enough when the books were mostly pictures with a little bit of text. It took somewhat more time as the text increased and the pictures decreased. I found that not all children's books are safe for children, not even (or perhaps especially!) those that had won children's book awards. I found that there is a large amount of rubbish produced for children (as there is for adults, too...). Some book illustrations are lovingly produced by the artist and then spoiled by an indifferent or stupid (my children's opinion, too) text, or vice-versa.

Some of the books which upset me most were versions of Bible stories written for children. Some of these had so much of the writer's imagination thrown in I could hardly recognise the part that had come from Scripture. How was a child to tell the difference between a Bible story (which is true) and a fairytale (which is not true) if so much invention was added to the Scripture passage? My own childhood memories told me that a child wouldn't recognise the Bible story as anything other than just another fairytale... I had rejected Jesus and the Bible in my late teens because as far as all I had read told me, it was all myths and legends, and there were so many variations on the familiar Bible stories, just as one gets with fairytales. So I decided that I would only read to my children directly from the Bible or from simplified or children's versions which added nothing to the Scripture passage.

The reference to fairytales brings me to that subject. As far as it was within my control, my children did not hear or read fairytales until they were at least eight or nine years old and able to distinguish between fact and fantasy. Fairytales are full of sorcery (magic), evil, violence, and revenge. They are usually frightening. So are ghost stories. I kept books with sorcery, ghosts, pirates, and other Godless things away from my small children (How on earth did anyone ever come to think pirates are fun??). Of course they heard about such things (the three older ones went to school for some years), and when they did it was easy to explain to them why we didn't read such books. In fact, one of our boys had such terrifying nightmares after hearing a ghost story (written for children!) at school that he declared he would never ever listen to one again and he certainly would never read one himself! He saw the difference between what is true and worthy of praise and what is not, very readily!

Until the child was about seven years old I chose all the books that child was exposed to, and then reserved the right to veto their choices (with reasons given) until they were about eleven or twelve. If they happened to be given a book that was not acceptable, by a friend or relative, I would replace it with another book of the same value. If the giver was upset, it was their problem, really, not mine. You may think this is going too far, but consider: if someone gave your child a packet of cigarettes, would you let your child keep and use it, so as to keep the giver happy? Or, to use a more probable analogy, if your friend gives your young child a large packet of sweets, do you let your child have and eat them at will, despite the probable damage to their teeth? Some books are destructive too, though they might not appear so to someone else, especially a non-believing friend. Think of how many people you know who think the Harry Potter and other books extolling witchcraft and horror are wonderful for children!?

A friend once gave my children a book they had bought in a Christian bookshop and thus they assumed it was all right. This book, aimed at children, was a fairly nightmarish tale about modern children travelling back in time and then through the ancient Egyptian mythological underworld and meeting its gods and godesses, both good and bad. It was heavily promoted as a Christian children's novel, yet there wasn't a single mention of God, Jesus Christ, or the Bible in the entire book, even though it was published by a company which was run by Christians. My friend hadn't read the book and had simply bought it trusting that the bookshop's promotion was truthful. I exchanged the book for one that would point my children to the One True and Living God, not to false gods.

What was I trying to do by controlling my children's reading? The aims were several. To keep my children's minds filled with wonder at God's creation, I chose books which showed the marvels of nature and the universe (avoiding those that preached evolution -- not always easy), and especially books which showed them that such wonders were to be found right in their backyard (so they could see the real thing as well as hear or read about it). To keep them aware of God's order of things, I chose the Bible and books which told them about Bible characters, simple biographies of people who loved the Lord, and stories both true and fictional about people who chose God's ways. To give them the opportunity to enjoy words and word-pictures, as well as humour and fun, I chose poetry, nonsense stories, and funny stories. Some fantasy stories are so obviously far-fetched that they do not risk getting a four-year-old muddled as to what is real and what isn't, so I did include some fantasy (for example, Whistle up the Chimney by Nan Hunt -- it was obvious to my train-mad eldest, at five years of age, that trains do not go down people's chimneys! He loved the detail in Craig Smith's illustrations.).

An important part of books and reading for my children was, and continues to be, discussing what has been read. At first, when the older ones were very little we talked mostly about what they liked or didn't like about a story. Sometimes we would ask questions about a character's behaviour (if the child didn't ask first!). Later, and especially as their reading became more extensive and they chose more of their books, as well as discussing likes and dislikes we talked about the characters, the plot, the values presented, humour or lack of it, even writing styles (Sample question: If you were to write this book how would you do it?). We compared what they read with real life and with other books. Often the dicussions led to other subjects. It was much easier to do this once we began homeschooling and we could talk about things with them at any time of the day, as they came up.

It may be very difficult for you to read everything your children read, but do try to do it at least when they are still at the picture-book and easy-reading stage, so that you can guide their reading in the right directions. If you don't have the time to read through their books, and even if you do, be sure to ask the Lord for guidance in choosing what they read. Know what your child's mind is being filled with, and do talk with them about what they read. Once it's in you can't take it out again, but you can encourage them to think critically about it.

Do encourage your children to read the Bible for themselves, even as beginner readers, and again, talk about what they read with them. Let them see you reading the Scriptures yourself each day, just as they see you reading other books. The Word of God is a sure foundation -- teach them to judge all their other reading in its light.

When our older children were in their late teens, they began discovering and recommending books to us! They would also tell us when a book wasn't worth reading. Once our second son, then seventeen years old, borrowed some science-fiction from the local English-language library. We still often read the books our children borrow, and this was no exception. David stopped me, however. "I wouldn't bother reading that," he said to me as I picked up the book, "The author is very cynical and has values that are rather off. One of his stories is actually blasphemous. I didn't finish the book and I won't bother borrowing anything by him again." I followed his advice.

The five eldest are now adults and choose their own books. They are considered rather conservative by many of their peers, although they do read some books we wouldn't read ourselves. Our youngest mostly chooses herself what she will read, but she still likes to ask for our opinion as to what is appropriate, and she is quick to stop reading a book she finds unsuitable. All of them often tell us of books they recommend or not. Books and the values that are presented in them continue to be a frequent topic of discussion among us.

Original version first published in Parents Teaching Overseas (Dallas, Texas), Vol.6 No.1, Jan 1996