Books for Gifts – Fiction Classics

Continuing in our series of book suggestions for Christmas gifts we’ll tackle fiction today.  Good Christian fiction is hard to come by so I’ll concentrate on the three classics that everyone should read.  On a personal note, we are on a continual cycle of reading through these in my house.  In fact I’ve literally read the covers off of my Narnia and Lord of the Rings books.  Hardbound editions of both are on my wish list this year.

The must reads for any age are,

• Pilgrim’s Progress (Parts 1 and 2), John Bunyan
• The Chronicles of Narnia, CS Lewis
• The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, JRR Tolkien

Raising my kids in Middle Earth

I love reading aloud to my kids.  They love it too.  Of course they love it in different ways.  My 6 year old usually sits right next to me on the floor in rapt attention occasionally asking his loquacious brothers to please be quiet–though the please isn’t always included.  My 4 year old generally chooses reading time to expend all left over energy from the day.  This usually includes covering every square inch of his bedroom with leaps, bounds, and general mayhem.  He is however listening and often proves it by interrupting at key moments to ask questions.  My two year old listens less but snuggles more.  He generally sits in my lap, not so much to listen to the story but to be close to his daddy.  My one year old is more oblivious and spends reading time exploring his brothers’ room with his new found skill–walking.

Each in their own way, my boys love listening to me read and I love reading to them.  We’ve been through the Narnia series and are now almost finished with the Lord of Rings trilogy.  We actually began in The Hobbit and have read straight through.  I love that my boys are growing up in Middle Earth.  I primarily love the times we spend in family worship studying the Bible but our secondary family stories of Aragorn, Ents, and Gandalf are sweet to a father’s soul.

I know I am only becoming vaguely aware of the power of stories in my own life.  I always loved nonfiction and intentionally majored in Chemistry to stay away from literature and history.  But reading to my children has changed my attitude to the whole thing.  I frequently get so caught up in reading that I have to stop for a minute finding my throat choked up with the thrill of plot or the poignant truthfulness of the moment.  My boys take note of daddy’s wavering voice and learn about bravery in battle, virtue towards women, and love for friends–and they’re learning how to feel about these things.

I love reading to my boys.  I hope to make it a long standing family tradition.  For whatever reason Middle Earth has become our staple.  I couldn’t be happier.  I close simply by asking, “Where are you children growing up?”

For further reading

• Enchanting Children by David Mills, in Touchstone Magazine
• The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien
• Author of the Century, Shippey

Shire Reckoning

Shire Reckoning – It seems that Peter Jackson has signed on to produce the movie version of Tolkien’s, The Hobbit. The Hobbit is due out in 2010 with its sequel following in 2011. No word yet on whether the sequel will be the second part of The Hobbit or whether it will cover new material.