Ears to read

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, March 31st. Thanks for starting your day with WORLD Radio. Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Last month, our sister publication WORLD Magazine published its annual Kids’ Book Issue. It included a Kids’ Book of the Year and many more recommended books for young readers.

REICHARD: Today, reviewer Emily Whitten brings us part of a recent roundtable with three writers who worked on that magazine issue. They discuss a few books you shouldn’t miss—and how families can learn to love books together through reading fiction aloud. Here’s Emily.

EMILY WHITTEN: Reading a great book aloud or listening to the right audiobook can open new doors of imagination and excitement for families. But maybe, like me, you didn’t grow up reading books out loud. How can busy families get started?

First, you’ll need a few good books. You can find plenty of classics online or at your local library. You could also invest in one of WORLD’s 2022 top kids’ book recommendations. Last week I sat down with Janie Cheaney, Kristin Chapman, and Mary Jackson to talk about a few of our favorites.

If you could only buy one, we recommend Little Pilgrim’s Progress with illustrations by Joe Sutphin. Kristen Chapman starts us off, followed by Janie Cheaney here.

KRISTIN CHAPMAN: The illustrations are just so beautiful. They're going to completely capture younger children's attention, as well as the storyline.

WHITTEN: Janie, agree or disagree?

JANIE CHEANEY: Oh, yeah, I would definitely agree. I haven't read the whole thing. But I have read enough of it. I bought a copy to give to my daughter. And she reads it.

The text of Little Pilgrim’s Progress comes from Helen Taylor’s 1979 adaptation of John Bunyan’s novel. In this 2021 version, Joe Sutphin complements Taylor’s text with a portrayal of Pilgrim and other characters as cuddly woodland creatures. Helen Taylor aims at kids 8-12 years old, but read aloud, this illustrated version can entertain a much wider age range. Here’s reviewer Mary Jackson.

MARY JACKSON: My six year old just loved the fact that there were these furry animal creatures and so it was very rewarding for him but then my older son had read other adaptations of Pilgrim's Progress such as Dangerous Journey, and so he was familiar with the plotline. But just having the added bonus of some pictures to look at and the story retold with animals. He's 13 and that held his attention.

Great read alouds can also grab parents’ attention and enrich their lives. Mary says this book definitely struck a nerve with her.

JACKSON: And it's just one of those where it's a tearjerker and you as a mom have to pause and gather yourself, you know, just thinking of elements of your own walk and faith.

Multiracial churches and families will also note that the book will be just as welcoming for kids of any ethnic background. Janie summed this up to a T.

CHEANEY: That's a good point that the animals sort of create a common ground for everyone.

We also discussed many other books families might want to read aloud. For instance, boys and girls ages 10-14 might appreciate WORLD Kids’ Book of the Year, The Swallows’ Flight by Hilary McKay. It’s set in England and Germany in World War II. The book came out in 2021, but Janie says it has a classic feel. The story begins with two young boys in Hitler’s Germany.

CHEANEY: They become best friends. And even though they're very different, they're both very personable. We just love these boys. You know, we just got so involved with the characters. As Hitler comes to power and bad things start happening, both the boys are very uncomfortable about this. You know, they don't go along with the whole Third Reich ideology, but they both love flying. So they end up flying for the Luftwaffe…

These boys end up crashing their plane in England, eventually colliding with two British girls and a spunky dog.

CHEANEY: What we loved about it was the way that she ties in very commonplace situations. That's a family story. These families are interrelated in Germany and in England.

If you’ve got younger kids, you might check your public library for some of WORLD’s Picture Books of the Year. Kristin Chapman mentioned one called Mel Fell which features a blue bird on the cover taking an intriguing nosedive.

CHAPMAN: The way the author carefully merged the text with the illustrations, and then there's like this unique aspects where you have to turn the book to kind of follow Mel's adventure, it just adds this engaging dynamic to the story, which just makes it a delight to read.

Once you’ve collected good books, find a good time of day or week to make reading together a habit. When our family homeschooled, we often read during meals or snacks. Now I find that the car ride to school offers a captive audience. And occasionally, one of my teens reads to me as I bake cookies or prepare dinner. It can be tricky to find the right book and time that works for your family, but it’s worth some trial and error. Here’s Janie.

CHEANEY: I think I read somewhere that shared reading is shared life. You can talk about the characters. You can talk about what happens in the story and how, you know, how you were affected by it. It's just a great conversation starter. There's so many, so many. so many trends in culture that drive families apart. But reading aloud is something that draws families together. And just for that reason alone, it's worth pursuing even when your kids are teenagers.

One final encouragement—if you feel frustrated or guilty because you feel you’ve failed in this area, ask God for help. During one hard season for her family, Mary says the LORD met their need in a surprising way.

JACKSON: My father-in-law offered to start coming over one night a week, or, you know, in some cases, we would go to their house. And he offered to read aloud to them. And it just, it felt like such a gift and such a present from the Lord that He would offer to do that. And it’s still a precious memory for our kids that he read through several books aloud to them.

Reading fiction aloud enriches our families, and we hope these suggestions might open that door for you and your family, too.

I’m Emily Whitten.

BROWN: To read more about WORLD’s Children’s Books of the year, we’ve placed a link to that issue in today’s transcript. Plus, if you’d like to hear the full roundtable discussion, it’ll be available this weekend on our podcast feed.

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