Stories are powerful and incredibly influential.
Almost everyone can point to at least one story, if not more, that have deeply changed the way they think, act, or live. Even without meaning to, we tend to base our perception of reality around the stories we know, love, and tell.
One of my friends, who grew up reading British classics, now finds herself using British grammar without meaning to. Something my mom was trying to
teach me only clicked into place after I binge-read Anne of Green Gables. Jesus imparted much of His teaching through parables. There is something in human nature that relates to and softens around stories.
I’ve been homeschooled for most of my life, but I did attend a private Christian school through first grade. Despite the short time period and the fact that it was at least 15 years ago, I still have very clear and very fond memories of the Scholastic book fairs. They were so exciting! My mom would get a catalog from school that listed out all of the interesting books (and toys and really cool pens) offered. We would look through it and mark up what we wanted, eagerly awaiting book fair day.
Then the day would come, and we would get to browse the stacks of books piled high, begging Mom to buy the ones we thought looked interesting. To be totally honest, a huge part of the draw was that many of the books included toys, jewelry or other extras. I remember getting a story about horses that came with an actual necklace. I was so excited!
Unfortunately, the worldview divide in our culture has become so pronounced that the definition of “family-friendly” or “kid-friendly” simply isn’t cohesive anymore. One side believes everything should be allowed, no matter how harmful it may be, and the other believes that boundaries should be put in place to protect the health and well-being of children – and people in general.
Sadly, Scholastic has fallen into the former category, offering many of the same types of books that parents have been outraged to find in their kids’ school libraries. These books are, as I’m sure you’ve heard many times, wildly inappropriate (they are basically porn), and not suited for adults, much less kids.
Click here to see the LGBTQ+ section of Scholastic’s website. It stands to reason that many of the books sold on Scholastic’s website are also sold during their book fairs.
I know I saw some while browsing the book fair catalog. So, with Scholastic promoting this rubbish, are the childish and innocent days of school book fairs over?
Fortunately, there are alternatives.
Recently, actor and outspoken Christian Kirk Cameron partnered with SkyTree Book Fairs, a relatively new organization, to provide schools and parents with good books for students. SkyTree’s About Us page states,
“We believe that every child in school deserves access to the highest quality children’s books, which both entertain and enrich the mind of the child. All of our book fairs carry carefully selected and wholesome titles, free from explicit material, foul language, sexual content (including LGBTQ), pornography, critical race theory, and dark magic. We have a variety of titles from a wide range of authors and publishers.”
SkyTree recently hosted its first book fair in Virginia, and it seems to have been a success. When talking about the types of stories to tell children, C.S. Lewis once said,
“Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage.”
Hopefully, SkyTree will be instrumental in getting good stories into the hands of future generations, and parents will take this information to heart and work to protect their children from the evil they are frequently being handed.
