Lois Lowry

Prior to reading these three books by Lois Lowry, I had only read that her books dealt with more serious issues than most children’s books, and had read and forgotten Number the Stars. What I heard of her intrigued me, and I wanted to discover what worldview produced these controversial works. Lowry’s ability to write about universal truths amazed me.

Perhaps least impressive is her view of God, though only because it is so obscure. Theism is not even mentioned in The Giver. In Gooney Bird Greene and Number the Stars, religion is only a part of culture. Annemarie is Lutheran because she is an average Dane. Her friend Ellen is Jewish because she is Jewish. God and any interaction with Him are irrelevant to their lives or at least to the story. Gooney Bird mentions a town church in passing, but her plot is not very deep in general. I still have questions about Lowry’s theology.

Lowry’s characters, however, are well rounded. They do both good and evil, wrestling between them. Annemarie struggles with whether lying is acceptable in protecting her Jewish friend; Jonas admits to breaking rules or being rude to others and apologizes. They see others whom they respect or fear also doing both good and evil. Significantly, the Giver himself admits failure with a former pupil. And in Number the Stars, Germans soldiers are sometimes shown to be kind or happy. Protagonists also deal with a variety of emotions and react complexly to each situation. This both demonstrates Lowry’s skill as an author and shows her worldview of man’s nature.

Finally, Lowry’s proficiency most clearly shines in her treatment of reality and ethics. Her deeper stories, Number the Stars and The Giver, show her ability to raise and navigate deep questions about universal truths. The plots become well rounded, because Lowry does not ask merely the easy questions. She does not stop at asking whether Annemarie will risk her life to protect her friend, she wonders with the girl whether it is ethical for her to lie to do so. And Jonas faces difficult decisions, because while he longs to share his new memories and joys with others, doing so would destroy the peaceful life of the community. He struggles with the loneliness of responsibility and must come to terms with atrocities committed by his loved ones, who have chosen ignorance and painlessness over choice and joy.

Lowry impressed me with her well rounded characters, then her well rounded plots, both of which showed her solid, though not definitely Christian, worldview. As a result, I want to read some non-fiction about the German invasion of Denmark, and I want to read more works by this author.

Gooney Bird Greene

Elementary age. This would be a perfect book for a first, second, or third grade teacher doing a unit in class on story-writing. Otherwise, the book has neither the interest nor a theme impressive enough to render it recommendable.

Number the Stars

Elementary age. This is a terrific book about defending the helpless. The content is serious, discussing the deaths of close friends and relatives who stood up for what was right, as well as demonstrating the dangers of protecting the helpless and the enigma of lying to protect the innocent. Still, the issues are presented simply and carefully enough to be acceptable for children. Examples: Annemarie deals with her fear on her mission by telling herself the story of Little Red Riding Hood. And just as all of Denmark is the bodyguard of the Danish king, so Annemarie and her neighbors are the bodyguards of the Jews. This book would supplement a study of World War II very well.

The Giver

Intermediate age. While not very long, this excellent book deals with a more complex theme than Number the Stars (instead of a threat to the sanctity of life, there is a threat to human emotions). The evil, too, is more complex, because the very characters that Jonas and the Giver seek to rescue also willingly participate in euthanizing the elderly and unwanted. Furthermore, there are a few vague references to puberty changes and increased sexual awareness, which are presented well but may be too mature for elementary readers. For intermediate readers, however, this book would expertly evoke consideration of deep truths.

Several Mystery Series I Unreservedly Recommend

Nate the Great by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
For the early reader (no chapters), Nate solves crimes using logic children can understand (red and yellow paint mixes to make orange, licking a stamp makes it sticky, etc.). As he goes, he narrates his thoughts, causing the adult to hear mystery music in the background. He leaves notes for his mother, promising to wear his rubbers, and pancakes are his favorite payment.

Three Cousins Detective Club by Elspeth Campbell Murphy
For the elementary reader (early chapter book, slightly easier than American Girl series), each book is told from the perspective of one of three cousins: Sarah-Jane, Timothy, and Titus. The series is explicitly Christian, and there are sub-series themed around the ten commandments, the Beatitudes, etc. The cases and characters interest a young reader, but as an adult, I especially appreciated the emotions that the kids experience. For example, they deal with mixed emotions about younger siblings, they struggle with fixing a bad attitude, and they feel attachment to and embarrassment toward their stuffed animals.

Addie McCormick by Leanne Lucas
A Christian series for the elementary reader, Addie and her friend Nick discover secrets and have adventures in rural Illinois. The characters are well developed and frequently wrestle with how a Christian should respond in the situation.

Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The famous mystery series is generally appropriate for the intermediate reader, although the cases are often dark and the villains viciously evil. Also, the student should be able to appreciate the strength of intelligence and observation possessed by Holmes while not condoning his character flaws of pride and addiction. The worldview is humanist. That sounds like a reservation, but if I had confidence in the student's discernment, I would not hesitate to let him read any of the series.

Father Brown Mysteries by G. K. Chesterton
About the same reading difficulty as Doyle's mysteries, but far superior in worldview. The priest solves his mysteries not only by observation, but by an understanding of mankind. His detective thesis might be: every man is capable of great evil, but also can be redeemed from that evil through faith. Brown seeks not only to solve intellectual problems, but to minister to the souls of those involved.

For the advanced reader, I recommend anything by Agatha Christie or Dorothy Sayers.

Duty and Delight: A Half-Truth

Eleanor Porter wrote a half truth in Pollyanna. She remembered “Rejoice … always,” but forgot “in the Lord.” In the sequel, Pollyanna Grows Up, she tried to bolster her argument by saying it is not enough to seek joy in everything, you must serve others also. This is decently satisfying as a secular psychology answer, but poorly satisfying as a spiritual answer.

Humans should pursue joy; it brings God glory. Porter shows us one method of pursuing joy, but she leaves out the most important part: the gospel. Pollyanna tells the story of an orphaned missionary child who teaches a town to rejoice in spite of their circumstances by teaching them “the Glad game.” In the process she helps heal old wounds and quarrels, reveals hypocrisy, and endures difficult and painful situations. Pollyanna is contrasted with her Aunt Polly—a woman embittered by the past into covering all emotion and living according to the strictest Duty. Pollyanna, while (almost) always obedient, seeks to find joy in even the most unpleasant tasks. At one point, she poses for herself the problem: where is the joy in Duty?

The Glad game itself arises from the view that God is serious in commanding His followers to rejoice. When the local pastor is struggling with the hypocrisy and infighting of his parishioners, Pollyanna reminds him of God’s commands to rejoice. He, being devout and seeking God’s will, takes the exhortation from Pollyanna and an article that advocates the practical benefit of encouraging people into obedience rather than scolding them. Oddly, the characters never mention sin as our worst problem or the Cross as the remedy. Christ is the true spring of our joy, and joy in anything else is shallow and less enduring.

Perhaps the sequel was written in response to criticism about Pollyanna, which many have said lacks depth—the girl finds joy in circumstances, pulled from nowhere. In Pollyanna Grows Up, Pollyanna encounters several circumstances in which genuine gladness may not be appropriate: cases of poverty and illness, loneliness and temptation, and death of a relative, in all of which she is unable to help. Pollyanna is distressed by these, finding it difficult to play her game. Scripturally, this makes sense. We are commanded to weep with those who weep, while continuing to rejoice in the Lord. Our view of circumstances may be low, but our view and joy in God is high. Yet Pollyanna cannot discover this tension.

Porter’s answer to these problems seems to be Christian service. The Glad Girl convinces a rich woman to adopt the poor and ill boy and to support a lonely and tempted working girl. When Dr. Chilton dies, Aunt Polly is again cast into despair by her widowhood. Pollyanna’s service to her aunt eventually alleviates this burden of sorrow. By serving others or convincing others to serve, Pollyanna brings joy into these circumstances where the Glad game cannot go. The end of the series is a silly, but entertaining romantic carousel, not significantly contributing to the overall themes of the books.

Although Elementary in reading difficulty, children should not read this book unless they are secure in the Cross as their source of joy, or at least they should be guided in discerning where joy comes from. Porter clearly presents the thesis and antithesis of Delight and Duty, but does not clearly articulate the synthesis found in the gospel—that God changes our hearts, then in grateful love we seek to obey Him (Phil. 2:13-14). For those secure in joy’s source, Pollyanna will be a sweet encouragement to treat God’s commands for joy seriously—a truth we as Christians often overlook.

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

In the early 1960s, Americans were using newly developed chemical poisons (DDT and similar poisons) to control or eradicate insects, with only partial success and devastating side effects on other wildlife. Rachel Carson researched the various applications of poison and their effects, then wrote her book, explaining to the average citizen the science of the poisons and the importance of being cautious with ecology.

Reasons Not to Read Silent Spring

1. Silent Spring is repetitive, to the point of boredom. The middle chapters are all additional perspectives on the problems formerly introduced (e.g. secondary effects to insecticides), which drag on a little.
2. The science is old. DDT has long been banned in the U.S. and the FDA and EPA watch new products much more carefully than in the 1950s.
3. Carson is an evolutionist. This is a weak argument, but I present it for those to whom it matters.

Reasons to Read Silent Spring

1. In a very real sense, Carson is responsible for the EPA and environmentalism as a movement. Like Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, this book is relevant for its historical impact on our culture.
2. It pushes environmental issues into the public eye. Although the science is old, the principles she lays out for caring for the environment as a whole and seeking biologically responsible methods of control apply today.
3. Carson’s descriptions of various animals, cell functions, and biospheres are beautiful. Despite her evolutionary perspective, I found myself praising God for His beauty and order displayed in creation.

To anyone interested in the founding of the environmental movement, in the interrelations of biology and chemistry, or in working in a field where those sciences play a significant role, I would highly recommend Silent Spring. To anyone else, do not read it unless you are intrigued!

Adventures of the Northwoods series by Lois Walfrid Johnson

This series of ten children’s books kept me awake late many a night when I was younger. Recently rereading the series, I delighted to find that my childhood favorite was still worthy of praise. Each story weaves a mystery into the changing life of Kate O’Connor Nordstrom and her new step-family. She moves from the city to a farm in the Wisconsin northwoods when her mother remarries after her father’s death. While facing the challenges of a new family and community, hard work, and the dangers of the woods, she learns lessons about fear, trusting God, and choosing worthy friends. The author incorporates historical settings along with real people and towns, because the story is set around 1900. Bits of Swedish and Irish culture are shared as well, since Kate’s step-family, new community, and mother are Swedish, while her deceased father’s family, included in one book, is Irish. One drawback: these books may be more interesting for girls than boys.

Johnson surpasses other Christian fiction authors by far in explaining the gospel by using the story. I have read many works of Christian fiction, and nearly all seem preachy, because they do not integrate the truth well. Initially in the series, Kate, the main character, wonders whether to trust what Christian adults around her are saying, living, and reading from Scripture. In the second book, she realizes her own sinfulness when her successive disobedience, lying, and rebellion endangers her new step-sister. While extending forgiveness to Kate, her mother wisely points out that all are sinners and explains God’s forgiveness through Jesus. On her own, Kate ponders this and believes. Through the rest of the series, Kate still struggles with her sin, fear, and trusting God, but her faith remains. Meanwhile, she learns valuable lessons, such as giving friends a second chance, defending the innocent, and choosing life-long friends who are trustworthy and believe in the same God.

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield

Understood Betsy is designed for readers in the elementary stage; however, the worldview expressed in the book recommends it only for advanced readers who are exercising their worldview examination and analysis skills. The charming nature of the story makes this caution more emphatic, because the negative worldview is subtle. Readers should beware Dorothy Canfield’s progressive and humanist worldview.

The first chapter introduces Betsy, a girl smothered by her well-meaning, expert-reading aunt into complete dependency. Circumstances compel the aunt to send Betsy to the farm of her dreaded relatives, where in the ensuing chapters Betsy, after several shocking discoveries about life on the farm, develops beautifully into an independent, problem-solving, education-appreciating young girl. In the end, she realizes that she is now superior to her beloved aunt because of her abilities to conquer fear and endure various mishaps. The aunt who always “understood” her is now in turn understood.

Although many of these qualities may not seem particularly evil, others presented and correlated with them can be dangerous. Before describing those dangers, however, I will mention one of my favorite parts of the book. In fact, this scene made it particularly difficult to relegate the book as inappropriate for young children. When Betsy begins the local one-roomed schoolhouse, she is shocked and even upset to discover that children can be placed in whatever grade suits their skills (mastery learning). Instead of being in third grade, she advances to seventh grade reading, but moves back to second grade arithmetic. Because of my background in homeschooling, where that type of criterion for advancement can be usefully employed, I applaud the concept, specifically because it emphasizes content retention and accountability in achieving specific criteria before advancement. Mastery learning emphasizes the intrinsic value of knowledge, because no relevant skill or fact is brushed over. This method also protects children from the discouragement that comes when prerequisite skills are missing in the study of a new concept or skill. Nevertheless, Canfield demonstrates the negative side of mastery learning.

Despite the advantages of this method, Canfield’s commentary on it reveals her progressive leanings. “She had always thought she was there to pass from one grade to another, and she was ever so startled to get a little glimpse of the fact that she was there to learn how to read and write and cipher and generally use her mind, so she could take care of herself when she came to be grown up. Of course, she didn't really know that till she did come to be grown up, but she had her first dim notion of it in that moment” (Chapter 5: “What Grade is Betsy?”). Progressivism emphasizes problem-solving skills, real-world experiences, and learning by doing. The goal of this type of education is a properly functioning adult, productive in society. Here, Betsy begins to understand that her goal in learning is not to acquire skills that will please her teachers, but to learn how to become that productive adult. While adults should be productive and excellent problem solvers, progressivism relies on a humanist worldview, requiring man to be independent such that he needs neither other men nor God. Man is ultimately his own savior. (Similarly in mastery learning, any child can succeed if placed in the proper learning environment. The theory depends on a view of sinless man, where appropriate stimuli will encourage man to develop the proper skills to become independent.)

Independence is the theme of Understood Betsy. While increasing independence benefits a student by developing responsibility (self-government) and servant-hood, independence also can produce pride, a wrong attitude about our position of dependence on God. God has created humans dependent not only on Him for life (both earthly and eternal) and righteousness, but also on other humans. Primarily, man depends on his family and his church for both daily sustenance and continual growth in godliness through accountability. Betsy changes from an unhealthy over-dependence on her aunt to an unhealthy over-dependence on herself as her relatives applaud every attempt she makes to solve problems without requesting assistance. While children can learn from the wise decisions she makes in each situation, Canfield’s focus on independence may harm a child learning how to develop responsibility without relinquishing his dependence on the God from whom comes life, righteousness, and all wise decisions.

The Journal of Madame Royale by Elizabeth Powers

This chapter book fictionally describes the life of Louis XVI’s daughter Marie Thérèse, Madame Royale as the eldest daughter of the king and lone survivor of the French Revolution in the king’s immediate family. The events of the French Revolution are chronicled engagingly, drawing the reader into each occurrence and bringing the figures to life. As if the journal of the princess, the story follows the royal family from the marriage of Marie Antoinette to Louis XVI through Marie Thérèse’s marriage to her cousin after being traded to Austria for French prisoners of war. One of the primary sources for the account is the writings of the princess herself, as well as accounts by other relatives and royal servants. “Madame Royale’s” account educates the reader with all the major events of the revolution, including various political events and many results of the revolution. Powers also displays particular strength in portraying the horrors of the bloody revolt without unnecessary gore and in humanizing both the hated king and queen and the tricolor-bearing mob that deposed them.

Although the French Revolution was perhaps one of the most bloody regicides in history, Powers carefully avoided detail unnecessary to children. She does introduce the guillotine and occasionally reveals that the French people did not respect the bodies of the beheaded aristocrats. Yet this era could easily have turned into a horror story for children, and she avoids this danger, often by humanizing the characters.

Because the story is told from the perspective of a royal family member, not much allowance is given to the mob. Nevertheless, there is frequent mention of the crowd’s hunger, citing the nation’s bankruptcy, famine, and even the foreign wars and internal riots that all resulted in food shortages. Once, the people are stated to be following malicious leaders, rather than malicious themselves. This seems to be as much forgiveness as can be given to the murderers.

As for the king and queen, the princess describes their frivolous lifestyle, especially that of the queen, reminding the reader that the royals had been brought up for little else than luxury. Marie Antoinette speaks her repentance after their arrest, wishing too late that she had known and responded to the financial state of the kingdom. Apparently she had a small awareness of the state of the peasants, for the queen shows compassion for the poor and hungry long before the revolution begins. The king also seems willing to help the poor and needy of his countrymen, although completely powerless to do anything about it. He is portrayed as brave, but not wise. On one occasion, he attempts to speak reasonably with the mob, with no success. He is unable to develop a speech which will soothe the angry crowd, and his bodyguards pull him back before the mob attacks him. Powers also describes the piety of faith in the king, his sister, and eventually in Madame Royale.

Because of the excellent account of the French revolution in this book, I would recommend it as a well-written supplement to a study of that historical event for any child able to understand and stomach the dark time. Still, the reading level and content are definitely above beginner.