Monday, June 13, 2005
Re-Read Worthy Children's Lit: The Light in the Forest
Headmistress, over at The Common Room, posted about children's books that she has read and re-read and shared frequently with her children. Several commenters added their favorites. I would suggest to anyone looking for a starting off point, in terms of Children's literature, to go and read that post and the comments (and I don't say that because I commented!). Click the headline above to go and read the post.
I started thinking about some of the things I am looking forward to sharing with Thomas, and one of the books is "The Light in the Forest" by Conrad Richter. It is about an white boy captured by Indians and, years later, returned to the white culture. He feels torn between the two cultures (which is putting it too mildly) and I won't tell you which one he chooses.
I read it as an adult and found it intensely engaging. I think the story is one that deserves to be rediscovered. I am sure that it has been forgotten because it is not politically correct (who says "Indians" anymore?), and yet if those kind of people could get beyond that silliness, it could be of such value to young people in this country. So many are in a position to feel torn between two cultures: maybe black versus white, maybe father's family versus mother's family, maybe their church versus popular culture.
Anyway, I recommend this book. It is valuable in and of itself and because of the conversations it could start.
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