We are all about doing the things AGAIN and AGAIN that matter, and reading to our kids tops our list of educational, joyful, and impactful! Listen in as Jen and Steph respond to a listener question about whether or not we should encourage our children to read books from the fantasy genre. This thought-provoking question sparked a great discussion that is truly practical.

Books Recommended:

The Narnia Series

The Green Ember Series

Wingfeather Saga

Boxcar Children Books

They're the joyful agains our children shout on the swings, the

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exhausting agains of cooking and laundry,

and the difficult agains of discipline.

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So much of what we do

as mothers is on repeat.

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So what if we woke up with clarity,

knowing which agains we were called

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to, and went to bed believing we

are faithful in what matters most?

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We believe God's Word is

the key to untangle from the

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confusion and overwhelm we feel.

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Let's look up together to embrace a

motherhood full of freedom and joy.

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Welcome back to the again, podcast

brought to you by interested ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox and I'm joined by

Jen Frackman as we talk about why we

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love books so much and why we find it

so delightful to read to our children.

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It's truly time that we never regret and

we have some pretty convincing reasons.

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Of why we think you should be

incorporating reading into your

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motherhood, whether it's those tiny

little board books or you're at the

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point of chapter books with your teens.

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We wholeheartedly believe reading is

a blessing to you and your family.

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No surprise here, but we talked

so long about the benefits of

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reading and different books.

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We've delighted in that we are breaking

this up into two episodes today.

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You'll be hearing us respond

to a listener question.

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She asked, how do you feel about

letting your children read fairytales

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and things in the fantasy genre?

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Is it appropriate?

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Should we be encouraging this or not?

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Jen and I respond to this question,

and then we got into some other

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benefits that we see of reading.

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Next week in part two.

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I'm going to share some more benefits of

reading that you may not have expected.

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And just what is happening academically,

as you sit down and read your children.

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And then Jen and I will provide a whole

list of books that have been sweet and

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innocent and thought provoking and all

the things that we've loved with our kids.

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So the next time you are looking to buy

some books, maybe at Christmas time.

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Or you're heading to the library.

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These can tap your list.

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Let's get to part one of

that conversation now.

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Thanks for listening.

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Another question we had come in

was how we feel about letting

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our children read fairy tales.

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And things in that genre.

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We want to speak to that, but we

also just love reading with our kids.

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And we want to take this opportunity

to talk about why we think it's

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so important, why it's not just

for families at homeschool, but

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to talk about the blessings that

it's brought us with our children.

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Jen, I know you are always

faithfully prepared with a

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great list of recommendations.

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First let's answer that question about

what are your thoughts when you think

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about is it okay for children to read

fairy tales and pretend stories and to

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get wrapped up in the fantasy genre?

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Jen: would say as long as that's not

the only thing that they're reading,

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I think that it's harmless and it

plays to the child's imagination.

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Kids are amazing at imagining

things and imaginating.

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Stephanie: a good verb, yeah.

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Jen: Kids are amazing at imagining

things, and I think that it

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can help grow that imagination.

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And I think that's a wonderful thing,

as long as it is not something that

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is drawing their heart something like

demonic or something that is taking

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their hearts away from the Lord.

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I think it's totally fine for them to

read something about a sweet little

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fairy tale and how The imagination

can just run wild with that.

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And I don't see anything wrong with

that, but I also would make sure that's

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not the only thing that they're reading,

that they're also reading really good

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stories about true life stories and

even stories that just pull at your

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heartstrings because of the emotion in

it and just give them a whole bunch of

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different stories and different genres

and let them just feast on all of the

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really good literature that's out there.

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Stephanie: Yes.

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Oh, I so agree.

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The first thought that I had was, I

think reading fairy tales actually helps

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build a delight in and a desire for

the supernatural and the miraculous.

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I think that

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Jen: That's really cool.

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Stephanie: There's like something, God put

something in us because it's real, right?

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The supernatural is real.

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Miracles are real.

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And what is unseen is real often.

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And there's so much in God's word

that tells us that, we aren't to cling

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to what is seen, but what is unseen.

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And I think that there is a part of

fairy tales that preserves that in us.

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And builds up that hope

I think about Narnia,

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who doesn't want to open the wardrobe

and enter the land of Narnia?

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I

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Jen: I think Narnia and I think of Andrew

Peterson's The Winged Feather Saga.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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Such imaginations.

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Stephanie: And they're, the world

would say that's a childlike thing, but

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in, but we know he created that whole

series because he was trying to point

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to realities, spiritual realities.

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Steward that.

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Let's give our children a taste this

is pretend about this, but there's

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something wonderful about Jesus.

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And he is like this lion.

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Jen: I love that.

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Stephanie: We really love

the Green Ember series.

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SD Smith actually talks a lot about

this because people ask him a lot,

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is it okay for your books to be like

as gruesome as they are or for there

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to be evil that children are reading?

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And he says there's a reality

that we have an enemy.

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And if we stop showing our children

enemies, then we're going to stop

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producing heroes is his premise

like we want them to be kids that

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rise up and have a battle to fight.

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Jen: Mmm.

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And I think If you look.

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At the climate of the culture

that we're raising, we're taking

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away a lot of that battle.

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I think they're definitely fighting an

on scene battle, but we're taking away

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part of the opportunity to be heroic,

and for their character and their virtue

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to shine, in the name of self-esteem.

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And that's a whole nother episode.

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But for me, I think that desire for

the supernatural is real and we can

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cultivate it and steward it as long as

we're having those good conversations

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about, okay, what about this was real

and reflective of the Lord and what

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was just fun to pretend And those.

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Change as they get older.

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Yeah.

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When our family read the Narnia series,

we had a family study guide that

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went along with it and it was amazing

because some of the parts in the story

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we maybe didn't pick up on and he

would give the scripture as to what C.

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S.

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Lewis was talking about.

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Referring to in this little passage

that we had read and it just made

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the whole story come alive and

become so much more personal.

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And it's one of our favorite books.

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And it was just a really, it really does.

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It makes you hunger for God more.

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And I love that.

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Anything that's going to do that and

to spark that into your child's heart,

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I would say is a wonderful thing.

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Stephanie: The idea of God and that

he always has been and always will be.

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And it's such an incomprehensible topic.

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And it just, he's so incredible

to give them some of these little

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glimpses that make it more tangible

to them, is a gift and helpful.

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Even if it feels are we just

talking about pretend things here?

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This question, the the mom also

talked about like Lord of the Rings,

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what we think about books like that.

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And I think at the age where you're ready

to read Lord of the Rings, you probably

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have a pretty well developed understanding

of what reality is and are ready to

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engage in pretty deep conversations

when you're reading at that level.

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So that personally doesn't raise

any red flags for me, especially

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knowing that Tolkien was.

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basing these as an

allegorical picture of Christ.

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Jen: I agree.

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I agree with that.

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Stephanie: For me growing up, I

was a strong reader, but I desired

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such innocence I was in a public

school and I saw a lot of my peers

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having a desire for the world.

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And that was really hard for me.

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I was longing for Christian

friends I wanted, To have a

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pure spirit and a pure heart.

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A lot of those book characters became

my friends and a safe place for me.

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I read so much growing up and

that was really probably my

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favorite pastime growing up.

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And sometimes I knew I'm reading below my

level, but I just wanted that innocence.

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It is a great opportunity for our kids

to develop imagination, of course,

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but I also think that especially if

we're guiding them towards great books

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and classics and living books, that

there's a real opportunity for innocence

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in the midst of a world that would

love to push them out of childhood.

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Mm-Hmm.

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Jen: Totally.

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I also think even just as I'm remembering

the wing feather saga, there were

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a couple different parts in that,

that were like, Oh, is this okay?

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This is a little scary.

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But it was interesting because when

I would pause it and we did the audio

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book because Andrew Peterson does

an amazing job reading it himself.

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And so it's fabulous.

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But.

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Yeah.

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When I would pause it and be like,

okay, what did you imagine there?

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What did that look like?

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Was obviously different for each

kid, but I noticed that the older

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kids, the details were so much more

intricate and knowledgeable where

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for the younger ones, it was a

little bit more blurry, I would say.

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And so it just reminded me that.

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When reading the story, like their brains

take it to the level that they can handle

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and that their little minds paint a

little picture of what they can handle

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with the worldview and the knowledge

and the information that they have.

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And however, differently with a movie,

if you were to see something that

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scared them in a movie, it's showing

them and they're able to see things

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that their brain can't even comprehend.

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Where with reading the story.

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And there, there's nothing ridiculously

scary about this, but just a few

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couple other sensitive parts.

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But when we read the story, it was so

much more tender and so much more, I

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feel like softer for their imaginations

than watching something on a movie.

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I

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Stephanie: That's a great point

because something might be more

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developmentally appropriate.

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To hear the words and the situation, but

to see it might feel much more extreme.

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Yes.

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I totally agree with that.

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It takes me back to childhood

and a safety, there's a

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security of being read to.

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There's not much like it.

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I know my mom Love to read

children's books to us.

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And I'm so thankful that she did that.

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And it was pretty silly, but when

I was in college, there were six of

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us living together and four of us

were elementary education majors.

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And so sometimes, we'd be doing

a project and we'd have these fun

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picture books and we would read

them to each other, like we're not

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your typical college girls, but but.

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It was fun to enjoy together and there

are picture books that I still love and

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I, no matter how old I get, I delight

in and there's that shared experience.

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That is really special with books.

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Jen: Yep.

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It's so true.

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And the nostalgia that it can bring

up in your heart, the memories of it,

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the warmth, the coziness of it all.

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Oh, there's just nothing like it.

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I agree.

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Stephanie: I want to do things in my

day and in my life that I won't regret.

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And I have never, ever regretted

reading a single page to my kids.

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I always walk away from that time

that this was time well spent.

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This was time where we really connected.

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This was time where we learned something.

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This was time where my children

were near to me and I was present

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with them and everything We

ignored everything else around us.

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When so much is pulling for our

attention and you can ignore the dishes

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in the sink, ignore the texts and the

emails And just to know even that this

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is something that In a world where

people disagree about so much, few

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people would, I don't know really of

anyone that would say reading isn't a

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very valuable activity for children.

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When I look back at my time with my kids,

So many of our great memories are reading,

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and the seasons where I read to them

the most are the seasons I've delighted

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in my motherhood the most, probably.

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Jen: Yeah, for sure.

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I love that.

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Stephanie: Okay, Jen, if I may put

you on the spot with this one, I know

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you feel really passionately about

audiobooks and their validity and you're

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just so faithful in making sure that

your kids are listening to stories.

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And can you tell us a

little bit about why?

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Why you believe that and what you

think the value of audiobooks is.

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Jen: Yeah, for sure.

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I do absolutely love having the kids

sit on my lap and reading them a book.

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So I do love the audio book, but

Oftentimes as my kids are getting older, I

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will ask them like, do you want me to read

this book or do you want the audio book?

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And most often lately they're saying me,

which I just still, I can't believe this.

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I'm like, are you kidding me?

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These are paid actors like that are

reading this book professionally and

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you want me, which is really sweet.

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But anytime that they.

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Choose to have the audio book.

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I get super excited just

because it draws us in.

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And I love that when we listen to the

audio book, if we listen to it ever

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again, it takes me right back to where

we were the first time we heard it.

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I can listen to, and I do listen to

audio books and sometimes multiple times

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especially those ones that just really

are so great at touching those places

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in your heart that were no one else and

nothing else can touch and reach, and when

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I'm listening to them, I can think back

like, Oh, I was on, I was running while

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listening to this certain audio book.

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I was running and I remember

turning the corner and I was right

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there when this part happened.

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When we were listening to Narnia, we at

one of the books, they were going through

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this water canal in Narnia and we were

going Underneath a bridge in Utah, and

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it was this massive mountain bridge.

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And I was like, Oh my

goodness, this is amazing.

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And so I hear it and I'm like

brought right back there.

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And I think that is to

me the beauty of it.

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And also we have a couple of

dyslexic kids in our family.

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And so reading can come

hard and it's laborious.

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And Having an audio book read to them,

their comprehension is so much greater

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because they don't have to decode.

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They don't have to do

the work of the reading.

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They can just sit back and their

wonderful, brilliant minds can

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imagine what the story is saying.

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And it takes away the labor for them.

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And I love audio books for that.

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I love audio books cause

we can do it in the car.

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I can do it while folding laundry.

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I can do it while washing dishes.

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We can listen to it while we pick up.

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the home together.

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We can watch it while we have a a TV that

is able to have it screened to my phone.

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And so we'll put I will put it on

the TV so we can sit in front of

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the fire and have it playing on

the TV so everyone can hear it and

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we can have a blanket and snuggle.

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And it's just, it's the best.

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It's so wonderful.

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So I do like that.

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Also, I like it for Anytime I want to

get through a book quickly I will often,

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cause I just, I want to get as much

information into my mind as possible.

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And so there's all these books that

I want to read and I can't, I don't

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have time, but I can put a book in

and I can listen to it faster on

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an audio book than I can read it.

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And so I can put it on two speed

and get through it quicker,

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but I'm still comprehending and

I'm still writing notes down.

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My favorite is to buy the actual physical

book and then rent it from the library,

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listening to the audio so that I can

still underline and keep the quotes and

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things that I like because I like to make

them my own and I like to remember them.

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So that's how I typically end up doing

this, but Yeah, I, and you can re listen

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to books quicker because you've already

listened to it, but you might want to just

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be reminded wait, what was that one part?

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How did they say this?

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Or especially if it's a book about,

something educational or teaching

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myself something it's quick and

easy to just do it on a quick

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speed and get through it fast.

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Stephanie: Okay.

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Those are all really great reasons.

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I know you're very visual, but I'm

wondering, are you an auditory learner?

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Jen: I, Yeah, that's a good question.

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I have to, I am visual learner, but I

have to tell myself it, and then it comes.

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So I see it,

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Stephanie: Huh.

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Jen: but it doesn't register

to me until I say it to myself.

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So I am actually an audio

or an audible learner, but.

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Seeing it and hearing myself say

it is how I learn and I don't

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know, I have my own category.

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I don't know.

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I'm weird.

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Stephanie: No, that's,

we're all a blend of it.

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It's funny cause I remember.

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So much of what I hear very easily,

but for me to learn, I feel like I

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often have to see it and see the words.

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And I realized, but okay, I can listen

to podcasts and nonfiction books

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very easily, but I find when I put on

fiction books, I, my mind drifts a lot.

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And I think for me, It triggers

like, Oh, they're in a field.

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Once I was in a field and I just, it's

really it is harder for me to focus.

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I think I just feel Oh,

this is like free time.

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And I let, Go a little bit.

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And I, so I haven't pushed into

audio books as much for my kids.

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And I'm wondering if I'm adapting because

for me, I feel like, Oh I don't actually

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know what that chapter was about.

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So I bet they don't.

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No, it doesn't happen for like a

whole chapter, but sometimes I'll

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be like, wait, what just happened?

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And essentially if I'm

driving or something And,

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Jen: I can get wrapped up in the story

that I know more about what's happening

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than things happening around me.

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Like it is, I am all in,

what helps with this though?

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I do have to say.

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While you're training your kids

to understand audiobooks, this is

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what I did when they were really

little and it has helped so much.

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I make a storyboard.

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So I take a blank piece of paper

and I draw horizontal lines.

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I put it Portrait.

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No.

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Landscape.

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I put it landscape.

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And I draw horizontal lines across it

and then some vertical lines as well.

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And so I have these large squares

and I'll put the title of the book

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on the top and in each little square

it represents something in the story.

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And so the kids, when they

were little, I'd be like, draw

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something that you're hearing.

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And so maybe it was a little

horse that they were hearing.

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Maybe it was this little cottage of where

they lived in the wing feather saga.

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But we've done that.

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And then the beauty of it is then

I would take all of those papers at

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the end of the book and I would put

them together and we'd have this

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beautiful little Like picture book of

the audio book that they just read.

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And they could tell me exactly what

happened just by looking at that picture.

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So it keeps their mind focused on

what they're reading, but it's also a

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reminder of Oh yeah, we read that book.

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And I remember that part.

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I remember in the railroad,

what is the railroad?

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The

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Stephanie: The Boxcar Children.

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Jen: It's not railroad.

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The boxcar.

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Thank you.

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Stephanie: Yeah.

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Jen: Yes.

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Stephanie: They're railroad Rascals.

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. That's a new idea.

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Jen: The boxcar children.

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When Benny gets the little cup and

it's chipped and it's a little cup and

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that's his cup that he drinks out of.

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We have, I have a drawing of

one of my kids drawing that

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cup and It's just so sweet.

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So yeah, maybe if you sit down and you

just draw and let your mind think about

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what's going on if you get your hands

busy, sometimes you can listen better,

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but I think it is just a trained skill.

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Stephanie: Sure.

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Recently I was playing an audiobook for

them and we were all drawing, we weren't

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drawing what was in the story, we were

drawing animals and things Praxinger CC

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Fine Arts Skills, and it was helpful,

but it's interesting because I feel like,

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because I'm so used to reading to my kids,

And we've done that so much that I put on

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the audio book because I can't do it then.

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And I have to be like

doing something else.

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So then it yeah, it

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Jen: It takes the magic out

of it a little bit more.

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You know what?

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This is how I drew my kids in as well.

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So they would be coloring I would find

one of the most exciting audio books that

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I was just so ready to start with them.

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And I would make a big deal out

of it when they were little.

384

And I'd be like, okay.

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Okay.

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Tonight at 5 30 after dinner.

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I want you to go get your jammies on.

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I want you to grab your favorite blankie.

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I have a special snack for you and

we're going to either one, if it's

390

in the winter, we're going to snuggle

up by the fire and we're going to

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listen to this together and we're

going to have this snack by the fire.

392

If it's not in the winter and they don't

want to sit by the fire, we would sit

393

around the table and I'd make tea and

we would have all the paint supplies

394

out and I would We would listen to the

audiobook and we would have tea and a

395

snack of some sort and we would just

paint and I can't tell you how many

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times we would do this and we would

go for an hour and they'd be like, Oh

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my goodness we were here for an hour.

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It felt like 10 minutes.

399

No, mommy, don't shut it off.

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Don't shut it off.

401

And those are some of my most favorite

memories and it aches my heart to not have

402

the time now that they're in high school

and middle school to do that as often.

403

But I'm so grateful that I did it

when they were little like that.

404

And now, Actually, one of my sons is in

football, and one thing that we mentioned

405

just recently that we're excited to do

once football is done is to listen to

406

an audiobook in the evening as a family.

407

And I'm like, yes!

408

They still want it, they still want that

you better bet I'm going to make that

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one a super special awesome snack that

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Stephanie: Yeah,

411

Jen: yes, we're going to linger

here for a while and just enjoy

412

the presence and the beauty of the

story and the time together there.

413

Stephanie: that's funny because as I'm

like thinking about the times that I

414

did enjoy listening to an audiobook, it

was like we were painting together or,

415

it's like focused but it's not engaging

your mind quite as much I remember when

416

my son went on his first winter retreat

with the youth group and I just was like

417

determined like no matter what happens

I will give him a peaceful sendoff.

418

We are having the car packed at lunch

and then that afternoon like I just want

419

it to be peace and joy in our home so he

doesn't have any stress and so we painted

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together and we listened to an audiobook

and I just felt thank you lord like

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that was such a A protected way, right?

422

To have this send off because I feel like

if you get everybody's mouths going, you

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never know where the, where it's gonna

424

Jen: Yeah.

425

Exactly.

426

That's sweet.

427

Stephanie: So much research about

why reading is so beneficial, but you

428

could think about wanting to expose our

children to different cultures and to

429

take them to different points in history.

430

That's so important to teach our kids

that there was so much before you arrived

431

on the scene and there is so much going

on right now that is not about you.

432

We it's just, it's very easy to be self

centered and egocentric and if we can

433

teach our kids, there are, this many

countries in the world, there are so many

434

cultures, there are so many languages, And

the world has been going for thousands of

435

years and before you, and it's important

that we get an understanding of that.

436

So they realize they're

so loved by the Lord.

437

They're so loved by us, but

they are a tiny piece of the

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picture that God is doing.

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Yes.

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Jen: Yes.

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I think also the beauty of story is that

things come up that you really can't

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orchestrate in a day an ordinary day,

but when you can read the story about

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it and you can have the discussions

and be like What would you do if

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you were in a situation like that?

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How would you handle that, or how do you

think she felt when that happened to her?

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And having those discussions, the

kid doesn't have to experience it

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themselves to be able to build the

empathy and the sympathy and the

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knowledge and wisdom, and to glean from

that story, whatever they can in that.

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And so using stories as a teaching

tool along life is a beautiful way

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of exposing them to things without.

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Tormenting them by the exposure,

being able to watch someone else go

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through it and to talk about it with

your parent is a beautiful thing.

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Stephanie: Certainly.

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Yep.

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So many opportunities come up and

opportunities to talk about character

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and you have good choices for sure.

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And it's neat to be, neat to see the

connections that the Lord provides even

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sometimes, it's if we're reading scripture

and then we're reading a read aloud

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and to see a connection and It cements

it and you're like, that's so cool.

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Yeah, to see yeah, we had one of

them today and it was just, it wasn't

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planned by me and I love to see the

things woven together and you know

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that they're going to be such a

much more powerful lesson that way.

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Jen: I love it.

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Stephanie: We know you're busy,

Mama, so we are truly grateful you

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joined us for this episode of Again.

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If you're looking for more information

about building your home on the

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foundation of Jesus Christ, head to www.

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EntrustedMinistries.

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com to learn more about our study for

moms, Entrusted with a Child's Heart.

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This scripture saturated study

has blessed families around the

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world, and we want it for you, too.

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Before you go, I want to pray

this benediction over you

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from 2 Thessalonians 1, 11 12.

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We're rooting for you.

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To this end, we always pray for you,

that our God may make you worthy of His

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calling, and may fulfill every resolve

for good and every work of faith by

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His power, so that the name of our Lord

Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in

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Him, according to the grace of our God.

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And the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Amen.

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Until we meet again.