Chad’s List
Wednesday, January 9th, 2008As librarian at San Francisco Friends School, Chad Stephenson naturally thinks a lot about spiritual books for children. In addition to Becoming Buddha, which he earlier recommended to us, and his suggestions of books about Diwali for our November website update, Chad also offers the following annotations on favorite books to inspire and nurture spiritual development in young readers:
- Wolf Brother (fantasy/adventure) by Michelle Paver – The tale of a boy discovering his connection to the natural world through a spiritually demonic bear who he must confront
- Lafcadio, The Lion Who Shot Back by Shel Silverstein – A great laugh-out-loud story about power and consumerism with a non-moral ending. (1963)
- The Golden Compass [known in the U.K. as Northern Lights] by Philip Pullman – Meant for the older, advanced readers from 9 and up, this first book in the trilogy brings a fantasy twist to the Christian story of Adam and Eve, though cloaked in an exceptionally creative fantasy world. (Now out as a film as well)
- Stories from the Bible by Lisbeth Zwerger – Meant for older kids (ages 9-11), who are familiar with the Bible and enjoy longer, more elaborate versions. Zwerger’s exquisite illustrations accompany the King James version text.
We look forward to more of Chad’s suggestions and contributions to PaperTigers. His outlook and perspective are much appreciated!
