I love to read Living Books to children.
Charlotte Mason gave us some clues about how to identify Living Books. If you want to ascertain if a book is a Living Book or not, ask these questions about it.
1. Is the writing of excellent quality?
2. Does it contain living ideas and knowledge suitable for the child?
3. Does the child react with delight caused by the spark of ideas?
4. Does it make an impact on the reader’s mind (shown by his narrations)?
I have read so many books that I feel meet these requirements.
Below is a list that I put together of some of my favorites, along with authors that have written excellent stories that have stood the test of time. I consider most of the books they have written Living Books. I suppose you could call them Living Authors!
"Oh that God would give every mother a vision of the glory and splendor of the work that is given to her when a babe is placed in her bosom to be nursed and trained! Could she have but one glimpse in to the future of that life as it reaches on into eternity; could she look into its soul to see its possibilities; could she be made to understand her own personal responsibility for the training of this child, for the development of its life, and for its destiny,--she would see that in all God's world there is no other work so noble and so worthy of her best powers, and she would commit to no other's hands the sacred and holy trust given to her." -JR Miller
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