The Wisdom of Wonder, as Discovered in the Family Supplement
Written by Nicki Johnston
When Well-Read Mom released its booklist for Year of the Father, many of us were surprised to see Pinocchio on the list. As women who consider ourselves—or who aspire to be—well-read, we can be too quick to dismiss the value of children’s literature for ourselves. But the Well-Read Mom team knows that children’s literature has much to offer—and not just to children.
Pinocchio is the third children’s title I’ve read since I joined Well-Read Mom. I also read Little Women (Year of the Artist) and Anne of Green Gables (Year of the Family), neither of which I had read before. In all three cases, I read the books aloud to my children. And in all three cases, I got even more out of them than they did.
To dismiss a children’s book simply because it was written for those younger than us would be to make the mistake C.S. Lewis calls “chronological snobbery.” In An Experiment in Criticism, Lewis extols the gifts young readers possess more readily than their adult counterparts: “that tireless curiosity, that intensity of imagination, that facility of suspending disbelief, that unspoiled appetite, that readiness to wonder, to pity, and to admire.” Reading children’s books can, in fact, help us to regain these gifts.
In his introduction to Pinocchio, Franco Nembrini recounts how the author’s disappointment with public life led him to turn his attention to children: “Adults, he reasoned, were beyond saving, and if any good could be done in this world, it had to start with giving the still-pure hearts of children a more authentic perspective on life.”
This is exactly what good literature does: through its portrayal of reality, it reorients us to truth, goodness, and beauty. Being less cynical than Collodi, I believe that adults are not beyond saving. To allow ourselves to be changed, though, we must approach our reading with humility and docility. In other words, we must be childlike. Sometimes it is easier to take this approach when we read children’s literature because there is something about its form that can uniquely reach us.
Nembrini writes, “Pinocchio speaks in encrypted language—the language of fairytales and dreams—to relay the eternal truth that the Christian tradition has always proclaimed, and that people with simple hearts have always recognized and lived out. Since it speaks the truth about human beings, all human beings can recognize it.” Pinocchio did this beautifully, but it isn’t the only children’s book recommended by Well-Read Mom.
This summer, while we wait for the new year of Well-Read Mom to begin, I encourage you to look at the back of The Reading Companion to explore some of the titles in the Family Supplement. Whether you’re reading aloud to your children or grandchildren—or just reading them for yourself—there are many worthy titles to enjoy.
Find yourself transported to twelfth-century Korea with A Single Shard or thirteenth-century Switzerland with The Apple and the Arrow. Place yourself in the shoes of a motherless African-American boy in Chicago during the Great Migration in Finding Langston or a fatherless Mexican girl in a California migrant farm camp during the Great Depression in Esperanza Rising. Delight in the adventures of the strange and brilliant children in The Mysterious Benedict Society or of the five charming siblings in The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue. Laugh out loud at Roald Dahl’s Danny, the Champion of the World or marvel at the exquisite prose of Patricia MacLachlan in Sarah, Plain and Tall.
In “On Stories,” C.S. Lewis famously wrote, “No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally (and often far more) worth reading at the age of fifty—except, of course, books of information.” I have found this to be true time and time again. The children’s books I read with my boys—or even those I read on my own—have proven as meaningful to my intellectual and spiritual growth as the adult books I read. The books mentioned above helped me consider our theme of fatherhood, often in as meaningful a way as the books found on the list for us women.
This summer, I plan to read more from the Family Supplement (I’m particularly looking forward to Call it Courage and Back to the Bright Before), and I hope you’ll consider doing the same.
About Nicki Johnston
Nicki Johnston lives in Kansas with her husband, Graham, and their four sons. Together they homeschool, hike, camp, craft, square dance, and read many, many books.
About Well-Read Mom
In Well-Read Mom, women read more and read well. Our hope is to deepen the awareness of meaning hidden in each woman’s daily life, elevate the cultural conversation, and revitalize reading literature from books. If you would like to have us help you select worthy reading material, we invite you to join and read along with us. We are better together! For information on how to start or join a Well-Read Mom group visit our website wellreadmom.com
