A Value Tales Treasury: Stories for Growing Good People, fuses character traits with historical figures who possessed them. Author Spencer Johnson, M.D. gives children real-life illustrations of the values parents and others try to instill in them. The five “stories with a moral” include the following:

Believing in Yourself – Louis Pasteur
Helping – Harriet Tubman
Honesty – Confucius
Determination – Helen Keller
Humor – Will Rogers

Each story includes approximately 12 pages of a story with illustrations that show the historical figures in the situations that proved their mettle, with questions to pose the listener throughout the story. Each chapter ends with a one-page full biography of the historical figure, outlining the contributions he or she made to society in life.

My 11-year-old son liked the book because he knows these are characteristics we’ve talked about with him, and he liked learning about real people. He generally likes to read non-fiction books, so it was a good fit for him.

I plan to use parts of this book as I teach character education in my elementary school. Great resource!

Just in time for Christmas!

Gifts from the Heart, by Victoria Osteen, is the next picture book in her inspirational series. It tells the story of a brother and sister who take an imaginary journey into a medieval world of kings and castles. They find themselves in a bustling town that’s preparing a party for their kind. Others are busy looking for fancy gifts to buy, but the brother and sister have no money. With the help of their new friend, they remind everyone that the talents they are given are the mot precious gifts of all.

The book relates to God and describes the gifts as given by Him, so I can’t use the book in my public school counseling curriculum without changing a few of the words. I hope I can work this out, though, because it is a perfect lesson for my elementary-aged students.

It is the perfect book to share with children as you reinforce with them how the greatest gifts involve sharing your talents.

I love pop-up books and the creative genius that goes into the making of them, so I was pleased to receive a review copy of Robert Sabuda’s Beauty and the Beast. It retells the fairy tale we all know, with five large-scale pop-ups that illustrate the story.

Smaller interactive pop-outs are also found on each page, and help to engage a young reader as an adult reads the lengthy text on each page. The delicate artwork beautifully illustrates for the reader the scenes and characters in the story — the details keeping a young listener’s attention as
the story is read.

Beautiful book!

Check out my Positively Speaking column this month, about raising caring kids. There are lots of simple ways to “get your good on” this holiday season.

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