It Takes a Pirate to Raise a Child

National Review Online ^ | NOVEMBER 23, 2013 | Daniel B. Coupland

[stanne]

Delightful.

“...and it is reassuring to know that anarchists and polygamists are so pure and good that the police have only to ask them questions and they are certain to tell no lies.”

Chesterton did foresee Islamic proliferation in the West.

[Joe 6-pack]

"...Chesterton did foresee Islamic proliferation in the West."

GKC referred to them as "Mohamedans" and his works make numerous references to their head-chopping behavior :-)

[kalee]

Bookmark

[mikrofon]

It Takes a Pirate to Raise a Child

They'd certainly learn the three "ARRRRH's" ....

[AnAmericanMother]

"The Hobbit", "Smith of Wooton Major" and "Farmer Giles of Ham" are suitable for young'uns - LOTR is a little heavy going unless you're an exceptionally well-read middle schooler.

It doesn't seem to me that Lewis overtly "preaches" in his children's books (of course he does in his apologetics, and to a degree in "That Hideous Strength") - can you cite some examples? At least it's not obvious to kids. When (at age 7 or so) I read at the end of The Last Battle "then he no longer looked to them like a Lion," I was very surprised!

[AnAmericanMother]

OK, that made me spill my drink.

[Sherman Logan]

You may very well be right about most kids.

However, since I first read LOTR in 2nd grade, I don’t seem to have been most kids. I noticed the overt, to me, preachiness of Lewis as a child. It mostly didn’t bother me, since I in general agreed with what he was preaching.

But I greatly preferred Tolkien, then and now, although I enjoyed Lewis’ Space Trilogy a lot.

[marron]

I’ve crossed the border many times and never been searched or challenged.

But a too-friendly greeting to the border guy once cost me half a day while I was searched and re-searched by people from about 5 different agencies. I’m lucky they didn’t start dismantling my car.

So, keep it correct. Friendly trips one of their buttons.

[AnAmericanMother]

I wasn't "most kids" either, since my mom was a teacher and experimented on me with early-reading methods - stuck labels on everything, etc. I got hooked on Nancy Drew mysteries at age 4 . . . but I got better, really, :-D and started reading some decent stuff.

But most kids aren't ready for LOTR at age 7 or 8; aside from the pure reading comprehension issues, there are also theme comprehension issues. Just like your young divas can't sing the meaty tragedy roles with depth, young readers miss a lot.

But they can always go back to their old friends with a little age and experience under their belts. I did. (But not Nancy Drew.)

[AnAmericanMother]

By the way, I'm not counting his hilarious asides that are not religion-oriented . . . e.g. "it was what used to be known as a 'mixed' school, but some said it was not nearly so mixed as the minds of the people who ran it" or "then they made her an Inspector to interfere with other Heads, but since she was no good at that either, they got her into Parliament where she lived happily ever after" in The Silver Chair or "Calormene children learn storytelling as English children learn essay-writing - but everyone wants to hear the stories, while I have never heard of anyone who wanted to read the essays" in The Horse and His Boy. My all time favorite is from that last book - Prince Edmund speaking, "These last stands in houses make good stories, but sooner or later somebody just sets the house on fire."

[Sherman Logan]

That last one is pretty good.

[AnAmericanMother]

True, too.

People forget that Lewis' day job was a professor of medieval and Renaissance literature, and that as a student he pulled off the 'hat trick' of Firsts in Honor Mods, Greats AND English. He read all those accounts of sieges and battles in the original.