Open Your Hands and See With Your Eyes

Typically, I steer away from bluntness when writing these blogs. I don’t like to say, “Hey, you. Yes, you. I think you need this book in your life.” But, I think it is appropriate to say that here about Birds in the Sky Fish In the Sea, a collaboration by Matthew Dickerson and Matthew Clark.

So, if you would spare me some room for bluntness: Hey, you. Yes, you. I think you need this book in your life and it is because I am convinced after reading this that our eyes are poorly trained when it comes to attending to creation. Maybe that doesn’t sound like a case so bad that it requires immediate intervention to you, but I would bet all my chips that you’ll think otherwise when you realize the power and glory of that which your eyes have missed out on.

Matthew Dickerson has been clued in on it for years, though. He is a professor at Middlebury College, author of Aslan’s Breath, last year's keynote speaker at the Square Halo 24 conference, has served on the board of directors of the Outdoor Writers Association of America, and has been selected as artist-in-residence for Glacier National Park, Acadia National Park, and Alaska State Parks. The core of this book is attentiveness to creation, creation being the deliberate loving act of Creator who brought beauty into being. Dickerson writes and Clark illustrates, but there’s a bit more to it than that. This book is concerned with changing the way you interact or offer your attendance to creation, but in doing so, I also felt it asked me to interact and attend differently to the book itself. Clark’s illustrations (long-time fans of Square Halo will recognize Clark’s work from Revealed, Ordinary Saints, and other of our titles) are framed by Dickerson’s short theological essays and then narrative nonfiction and poetry. It is not a book to be rushed through. Each illustration, poem, and story within it was like a meditation in the wild that deserved a loving act of beholding.

I said you will realize that which you have missed out on. Dickerson writes on observing bears, the woods behind his home, salmon, thimbleberries, herons, walks with his dog, and rivers. He offers a theology of why bears go through the extra effort of searching for female salmon and their eggs rather than feasting on the males, but also a theology for scenes as common as crayfish in a lake and how one might see the gospel in that. I am certainly guilty of passing by creation too busy, too distracted, or honestly too bored by the scenes I perceive to have little for me to benefit or take from. I am amazed by the capacity of both Matthews to pay not just attention to creation, but pay loving attention to it. That is where I feel I have often gone wrong.

My attention to creation is not always loving attention. Alan Jacobs in his book, A Theology of Reading, The Hermaneutics of Love, says,

“The kind of pleasure we take in a well-crafted work of literary art is very like the pleasure we take in a well-cooked meal, in that it is something given to us by another person. It is a gift that we honor, and whose giver we honor, by receiving it with gratitude. It is not always appropriate, it is not always charitable, to take that which is offered to us in a spirit of pleasure and recreation and use it according to a rigid criterion of studious application.”

I am often consuming the world around me with a spirit of furious application, indifferent to the fact that it is a gift charitably given for me to be received. The creative works of both Matthews in this book are testaments to how the eyes of a man can see things differently and much more brilliantly when his hands learn to open up those clenched fists which were only good for squeezing the life out of that which he could grasp for his study and consumption to instead receive the world as a gift with open hands.

This is solace for me now.
You have conjured that for me,
like this place. You plucked
the celestial strings. The rest
will wait until the morning
 of the resurrection.

Heaven was conjured for you. It is essential to learn how to see it.

This post was written by Ian Mozaffarian

I’ve Heard of the Kiln and the Potter’s Wheel — Is There More?

I have been formed in a thousand and one ways already in my twenty two years of life and it’s certain I will keep being formed. The variety of oranges I like to eat with my toast, the barista who entertains me for a minute while making my coffee, and my family of origin with all its absurdities and beauties- they’re all constantly forming me. Formation is synonymous with living and essential for the fully alive and purpose driven vision of living that Christ describes. If formation is essential to living and creating then it is no surprise when formlessness becomes the partner to death and destruction. When artists like Picasso witnessed the violence of the early twentieth century, they often abandoned form in their pieces, feeling that the chaos of death had ripped life asunder. If the Christian is on a radical quest to reverse death and to still the chaos, then the question of our formation,what we are formed from and what we are formed for, must be on our minds. 

Clay in the Potter’s Hands is an exciting new release of Square Halo Books and the focus of our annual conference this year. Written by Diana Pavlac Glyer, it is structured in a way that reminds me of a friendly user’s guide or a passed down copy of an old fly fisherman’s field notes. The book outlines the ceramic process from sourcing clay to the final firing and then some  in case you break a pot or don’t know what to do with a jar you just made. 

As a Christian, I have heard it my whole life that God is a potter working me, his clay. I could connect the dots on being placed in a kiln or formed by his hands, but ceramics is so much more than that. The potter searches amongst the river and soil for his clay; he prepares it by cleansing it of its impurities; he centers it on the wheel; and he stoops down as close as he can to his wheel and clay in order that he might know it and move with it. Time in the hot kiln is only the tip of the iceberg. The age-old metaphor is charged with processes and layers of depth that gift the reader with knowledge of the intricacy of how the Father forms us. 

My favorite moment is where Glyer describes how a skilled potter will discern the quality of their work by touch. She says, “You might see a good potter stop from time to time and tap on the piece in different places. They can tell by the sound which areas are too thick and where it is safe to continue trimming away. (Glyer, 82)” God didn’t speak man into existence. He stooped down to the dirt and formed him by touching, tapping, and hearing the breath, blood, and skin of his body. 

This book gives the reader knowledge of the brilliance of how they have been formed, but goes the extra step to inspire what we are being formed for. In the day to day trenches of life, it is essential to remember that formation is a continual process. To ignore this is to blend into mediocrity and forego the charge Christ gives his followers to create life out of death. Dallas Willard says, “If we do not make formation in Christ the priority, then we’re just going to keep on producing Christians that are indistinguishable in their character from many non-Christians.” 

The world is burning with desire for deep formation and this book offers that. 

This post was written by Ian Mozaffarian

Jesus, not Kal-El

Jesus as God the Son, takes on flesh, bone, and blood in the incarnation. Think about all these words together—God, flesh, bone, blood—for long enough and you’ll find yourself wondering how they are all compatible. Leave some of them out and you’ll be missing out on the real picture of Jesus, the God-man. It is certainly true that on this side of resurrection, “we see things dimly”. The tendency is for us to emphasize Jesus’ divinity, protect His divinity, and through our efforts to minimize or miss the reality of Jesus’ humanity.

When I read A.D. Bauer’s recently published book, One of Us: Reflecting on the Radical Mystery of the Incarnation, I felt as if I were shown a more clear, true picture of the fully human Jesus. When Jesus became “one of us”, Bauer says he “did not access the incommunicable attributes in the incarnation, and yet He was truly fully divine.  He did not have the power of a ‘Superman’” (23). I know in my experience I have often asked for the “Superman” of a Christ and as I have searched for that man who doesn’t exist within the pages of my Bible, I have deprived myself of what it means that Christ identifies with my human experiences—my hunger, jealousy, anger, and sorrow.

Why do we so often search for this comic book version of a Christ? Our history, modern politics, and culture show us we value big displays of power and the accumulation of resources. All we must do is look—we like our leaders painted on horseback and we find our peace and rest only when we’ve gathered up enough treasure. The Bible promises man a savior and yet, when that savior comes, we place our expectations on him and are left with a Christ who is unlike us.  What is presented in this book is that perhaps we have missed that clear picture of the fully human Jesus as we protected his full divinity.

Jesus, the man of faith, calls on us to be people of faith. Do we not live a life full of faith because when He calls us to live like Him, we respond, Yeah, but He’s God? In his miracles and his teachings, Christ shows us it is not through his “Superman” divinity that he does what he does, but through his dependence on God, our Father, that he raises a man from death or turns water to wine. When our eyes look for a super human who performs miracles for the sake of proving divinity we miss out on Jesus who offers us an upside-down model of living which restores Eden not through our own efforts, but from a deep faith and dependance that God will do so through our humble bodies.

Thomas Hardy’s constable says, “he's the man we were in search of, that's true; and yet he's not the man we were in search of. For the man we were in search of was not the man we wanted.” Bauer’s book is a detailed dedication to baptizing our vision into the reality of Jesus, “The God Man”, who identifies with us in our dependence on God. We often feel far from Christ, but I fear it is more true that he is right before our faces. We fail to recognize who He truly is, for he was “not the man we were in search of.” The hope of this book is to see ourselves in Christ and thus know how he identifies with his people.

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This post was written by Ian Mozaffarian

The photo is Kirk Alyn as Superman in a publicity still from 1948.

KIDS BOOKS: Thanksgiving

“And you will say on that day: “Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.” —Isaiah 12:4

I know that technically this verse is not about Thanksgiving Day itself, but I’ve been reflecting on it as I prepare for the holiday. It has been my guide while I ready my heart for time with family, friends, and festivities.

I love Thanksgiving. I love the food. I have always been obsessed with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (which MUST be followed by the National Dog Show). I love the tradition and the little bit of pomp and circumstance. Although remembering the survival of the pilgrims is an important part of the holiday, I believe there is a little more “reason for the season” we can include in our Thanksgiving celebrations: 

Give thanks to the LORD. Every day leading up to Thanksgiving, I make note of what I’m thankful for specifically over the last 24 hours. It helps me slow down and really consider my day and all the ways––big and small––God has moved through. 

Call upon his name. It is not just gratefulness for the sake of being grateful, but gratefulness because of what God has done. Therefore, call upon his name! Name his glory in the things you are thankful for. 

Make known his deeds among the peoples. Last night, I went to a Friendsgiving with my church community group. We sat around tables pushed together, sharing the ways God has blessed us throughout the past year. We shared his faithfulness and kindness with one another. We made it known. God’s deeds in my friends’ lives gives an even larger picture of God’s deeds in my life. Hand in hand, all blessings walk together. 

Proclaim that his name is exalted. This active giving thanks exalts the LORD. Gathering together on Thanksgiving Day and proclaiming the LORD’s goodness in the land of the living truly exalts him. 

Here are some of my kids’ book recommendations to get into the spirit of all things Thanksgiving (see the gallery below for the book cover art):

Thanksgiving in the Woods
Thank You, Sarah
Thankful
Milly and the Macy’s Parade
Balloons Over Broadway
Cranberry Thanksgiving
Apple Cake: A Gratitude
Look and Be Grateful
The Very First Thanksgiving Day
Fry Bread
The Thank You Book
Little Prayers for Ordinary Days

That last book was co-written by our friend Katy Bowser Hutson, one of the speakers at our upcoming conference!

You can get these books anywhere good books are sold, but of course we would encourage you to support indie booksellers like Hearts & Minds Books, Landmark Booksellers, Eighth Day Books and Nooks Gallery and Bookstore.

Bless his holy name!

—
This post was written by Carey Bustard, one of the co-editors of Wild Things and Castles in the Sky.

KIDS BOOKS: Packing Lunch Boxes

I can’t believe we’re getting ready to go back to school already! Just this morning, I was thinking about classroom schedules and supply orders and books. Of course, books. I was reminded earlier this week of one of my favorite picture books, Pie is for Sharing. Whether it’s pie, a picnic, a tree, or friends, Stephanie Ledyard and Jason Chin gently hold our hands as we walk through the ups and downs of sharing with each other. I love starting the year with this book to help me guide the little hearts of my students towards loving their neighbor and toward learning my classroom expectations. As I was thinking about this book, my mind, naturally, wandered to food.

The Gospel is all about food. “I am the bread of life,” Jesus tells us. His first miracle was turning water into wine. He was constantly feeding his disciples and those who were following him. His parables involved food. The sacrament of communion is centered around a meal. Even the Old Testament points us all the way back to the garden, where humanity’s downfall was through the medium of food. 

There is a lot of emotion tied to food. When we’re sad, there are certain foods that comfort us. When we celebrate, many times a great meal is involved. There are particular meals that I will remember for the rest of my life! And not just for the times of delight or sorrow, food is, of course, needed to just survive day to day. Much of history is made on the hunt for food. 

What does this have to do with the beginning of school? There is a lot of anxiety around moments of food, especially at school. Who will you sit with? Will you like what is packed in your lunchbox? Will other people have an opinion about your meal? And if you’re at home, making lunch adds to the list of other tasks piling up. 

How do we ease some of this anxiety for our kiddos? By opening the door to conversations about food and enriching the imaginations of our children. As we prepare to go back to school, I encourage you to open the door by reading books about foods your child might not be accustomed to. Talk about language and what kind, uplifting words sound like. Instead of saying “Ew! I don’t like that,” encourage phrases like “I don’t care for that, but thank you for offering” or “I may not care for it, but thank you for showing me or sharing with me” are good places to start. Try a new food at home. Talk about Jesus sharing food with us and how that can model how we share kindness and openness to others. 

The books below are a diving board into those kinds of conversations. They are a mix of at school and at home books, books about meals from around the world, books about big feelings around school and food. 

Many blessings as you prepare for the school year! If you are looking for Start of School books, you can find my list here. 

We encourage you to order books through our friends at Hearts & Minds, Nooks, Landmark, Eighth Day, or your favorite local independent bookstores.

—
This post was written by Carey Bustard, one of the co-editors of Wild Things and Castles in the Sky.

Pie is for Sharing • Bread and Jam for Francis • Yoko • Fry Bread • Thank You, Omu • Cora Cooks Pancit • Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao • Tomatoes for Neela • The Whole World Inside Nan’s Soup • Ohana Means Family • Thunder Cake • I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato • Escargot • Felix Eats Up • Watercress

Looking back at SqHalo24

Some seven months ago I met the Square Halo team. Well, sort of. It was through emails. Since then, I’ve read several of the books and written some blogs, but in March I met them, and the broader Square Halo community, in person at the annual Square Halo Conference.

As a first time attendee and a stranger to the city of Lancaster, it felt something like stumbling into a warm tavern and being met by a hundred and one delightful conversations and sounds. How could I not see things this way? There was music, drinks, laughter, storytelling, food, and shelter from the rain. This is essentially the recipe for any tavern scene in a story.

Here is something I now know about Square Halo. The community they have created is composed of some of the most brilliant and loveable people I know. Writers will say something on the lecture stage that will astound you and then you will think how have I never thought of that and how beautiful that was. Then you will be stacking a chair or drinking a beer at pub night and a stranger (who has most likely not written a book, but perhaps has because you really don’t know with this community how many writers there are) will say one of the most profound and kingdom like things you’ve ever heard leaving you with a great smile and sense of inspiration.

I'll also say there was much cheerfulness, laughter, and excitement in the conference. Gathering people who share a love for good books and art should have that effect. There was a button-making station where I cut out a sentence from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader with a small drawing of a lamb and pressed it into a button. My button sits on my desks and reads, “ ‘Come have breakfast’, said the lamb.” There was an art gallery with Narnia-inspired art by a variety of artists (including Ned Bustard’s linocuts from the new book Aslan’s Breath ) where people stood before the prints for quite some time till they stared themselves in and out of the images. The songwriters shared the personal histories of their songs and encouraged the many hobbyist musicians to keep creating whether or not you are the only listener. Ned even hosted a live linocut pop-up printing studio which gave a lot of people (like myself) a first-hand experience with the process that was demonstrated.

I feel there was also a shared concern throughout the conference for how a follower of Christ lives in a sometimes harsh world that makes the acts of creation, laughter, and intimacy with the Father feel impossible. From David Bisgrove’s opening lecture to Sarah Sparks’ closing concert, there was a very honest admittance that we often live in what St. John of the Cross called the “dark night of the soul”. I’m thinking especially of a lyric from Sarah Sparks’ song, The Artist. She says to the artist,

Use the brightest of the pigments
The most beautiful of hues
But the first stroke a dark shade of blue.

It was special to be in a room where communally it could be admitted that this whole Christian thing is not easy. It was comforting to see a speaker share a tear with his audience. I think these moments made this year’s theme of the Holy Spirit in Narnia feel so real. The “dark night of the soul” that obscures hope like Eustace’s dragon skin can’t be escaped by our own efforts and we ought to look elsewhere. If we look close enough in Narnia we would see the Holy Spirit was there all along and with it moments of comfort, grace, laughter, and warmth.

This year's theme—and the conference itself—was to me, a great breath of fresh air and a great welcome into the warmest, most bookish, and creative community I have known.

—blog post by Iman Mozoffarian | photos by Drew Nyguist

(Not so ) Tiny Thoughts

This week marks the release of a new book, a passion project from Square Halo called Tiny Thoughts That I’ve Been Thinking: Selected Writings of Leslie Anne Bustard. In the forward Théa Rosenburg editor writes:

[Leslie Anne Bustard] wrote poems and essays with startling abundance—more of them and more beautiful than seemed reasonable for a woman fighting two kinds of cancer. Though she had published a few pieces before her diagnosis, she spent her last three years publishing consistently in the writing communities that encouraged and supported her work, in addition to editing a book of essays and publishing a collection of her poems. The warmth and welcome of her writing drew others toward her, as though she’d thrown back the curtains in a dim room and readers couldn’t help but turn toward the sunlight.

This is the heart and soul of this book, but also only the beginning of it. Leslie’s collected writing is bound for hearts, not just for the pages they are written in. Her words had the incredible capacity to take on a whole new form of truth in my heart as I read this wonderful collection of essays, poems, and recipes. All the “tiny thoughts”.

Many of Leslie’s writings in this book come from her time in what she called “cancer-land” and despite the barrenness and bleakness one might expect of such a land, she maintained the sight and expression of the “goodness of the Lord in the land of the living”. As I read her writings and of her battle with two kinds of cancer, stage IV melanoma and stage II breast cancer, I couldn’t stop thinking about the land of the living and all the questions I had about it as a Christian. Where is it? Where isn’t it? When is it? My humanity is bound to certain answers. Maybe it’s where things are easy and stress-free. Maybe it’s where money isn’t a concern and where good health is aplenty. Or maybe it’s where one feels accepted, loved, and relevant. Rarely have my answers been good.  

This book answers those questions of where and when the land of the living is the way Frederich Buechner does when he says the kingdom of God is “now and then” and “already and not yet”. The Gospel gives us the good news that the kingdom of God has come down to earth, but in the course of our human lives we experience some very bad news that dims this trust of the kingdom’s presence here. We see homelessness, teen depression, forest fires, and cancer diagnoses. Pets go missing, our favorite restaurants close, and our aging bodies ache after tying shoes. What do we make of the “goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” when we experience all these reminders, great and small, of our broken and dying world? What does it look like to live the abundance of the kingdom in a world that is often barren and bleak.

Here is a book written by a saint who daringly did just that. She did it in her poems which saw beauty in faded yellow curtains and in her recipes that were each a little feast, meant to be tasted and shared with others. She did it in her commitment to community and in her blog posts that called a day in “cancer-land” a good day because she noticed the ordinary beauty of a cheesy omelet. Scholars can write all the theologies they want to with some beautiful words and convincing translations, but I think my favorite theology of the goodness of God belongs to Leslie Bustard who summarized it in remembering a good cheesy omelet in the midst of battling two cancers.

So, now I understand what Frederich Buechner meant by saying “now and then” and “already and not yet”. The kingdom of God and the land of the living is right here and it is right now. It has been inaugurated on this side of resurrection, but not yet fully consummated. As Christians we are called to participate in the kingdom come. We participate in it by noticing the grand beauty of a child’s birth or the sun’s setting over the Sierra crest mountains, but also in noticing the smaller beauties of healthy wet dirt or a picnic table. And even then when we feel the especially painful moments of cancer, death, and loneliness, we participate in the kingdom by properly mourning with our brothers and sisters and holding onto the promise of resurrection.

I’m without a doubt convinced of the warmth and love of Leslie Bustard which I have heard and read of now and I attest that the pages of this book are teeming with it. It is a strange thing to feel the warmth of someone and be fully convinced of their love for others without having ever met them. My suspicion is that is what it means to be remembered as one of Christ’s saints.

—blog post by Iman Mozoffarian

Aslan's Breath and the Ruach of God

My favorite Johnny Cash song is a cover of a famous hymn. It goes:

. . . the voice I hear, falling on my ear,
the Son of God discloses.
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am his own

There is a deeply magical thing to breath. In the first act of creation, the spirit of Elohim or his breath, ruach in the Hebrew, tames the chaos waters ushering in the coming forth of all things. When God forms man, he breaths into him and calls him a living being and in Eden, the breath of God, his ruach, walks in the garden in search of man. In John’s gospel, he says of Jesus, “he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’”.

I think it is too often the case that we have grown accustomed to seizing things in our hectic world that demands a constant state of doing and producing. Like worn out runners we are panting for breath. I see myself there caught busy between the moments of college, tiring work in a kitchen, the chores of a roommate, and finding moments amidst it all to write and pray. I find myself in the space between a great exhale and a great inhale. In the moment between letting out a great gust of breath and waiting to draw a new one, there is a silent space to reflect on the very first breath that man drew into his lungs. It was the breath of God breathed into him which he only had to receive.

It’s a funny thought which I like to think that God made us to breathe in and out so there is that sacred and magical space between breaths. If we quiet ourselves and sit in the pause after an exhale, we may remember the God that gave the first breath as a gift, not a thing to be seized. Space and presence are perhaps one of the greatest needs in our humanity. Creating space in our lives and trusting God to be in the business of filling empty spaces with his presence is how I often think of the Holy Spirit. I think of God’s insistence on showing up in places where people said surely, not here. Nothing can come from this.

One of the great beauties of the triune God is that. Christ comes from Galilee, a region where people scoffed and thought, no good thing can come from there. Christ makes wine in a place where no ingredients of wine are. Salvation is breathed into men and women who have none of it together and the Holy Spirit enters empty homes. Where culture tells me, prove yourself and you bring it all to the table, Christ says, receive my body and blood and receive the Holy Spirit too.

Matthew Dickerson has written a wonderful new book called Aslan’s Breath concerning the question of where the Holy Spirit can be found in Narnia. The title offers an answer, but more than that an invitation to return to a land. Not so that you may go through Narnia and know it better through scholarship and research, but so that Narnia may go through you.

Historian Kevin Belmonte observes:"How seldom, these days, do we meet with books that are genuine friends for the journey. In the pages of Aslan's Breath, we find an author's voice that is conversational and winsome—a presence that comes alongside the reader. Matthew Dickerson knows the realm of Narnia very well indeed and shares many insights that bring richness to walking the paths of this good country. An air of discovering pervades this excellent book. What's more, and what is best—the gift of C.S. Lewis' writing about the Holy Spirit, amid scenes of comfort, reassurance, and peace, shines in this book. So, in these pages, we have a true gift: one that illumines the seven books of the Narnian Chronicles."

Dickerson walks one through the land of Narnia with the wisdom of a guide well acquainted with the terrain of his land, but also with the excitement and love of an explorer for that which may lie ahead. In some ways, the book feels like an introduction to a wonderful new friendship with Aslan who is full of all sorts of mysteries and complexities which you didn’t see in him before. Dickerson’s reflections on the imagery of Narnia shows the warmth and wildness of Aslan experienced by the characters of Lewis and calls the reader to go “further up and further in” in their own experience of the Holy Spirit.

—blog post by Iman Mozoffarian

Return to Narnia — The 2024 Square Halo Conference

It is with great joy and excitement that Square Halo invites you to join us in a “Return to Narnia” at our fifth annual conference held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. From the afternoon of March 8th till the evening of the 9th, we will experience creativity, collaboration, and community together.

Our keynote speaker is Matthew Dickerson, author of our newest published book, Aslan’s Breath. We have seen God the Father and the Son in Narnia, but perhaps we haven’t always been aware of the Holy Spirit in that land. Matthew Dickerson will be sharing reflections on finding the breath of the Spirit which fills us as we plunge into Narnia again.

The conference will also feature a songwriter workshop, a theatrical performance of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, a live recording of a Square Halo podcast, a book table with all Square Halo titles, and a concert by Sarah Sparks whose album Into the Lantern Waste was inspired by Narnia. The breakout sessions and collective lectures will consist of previous Square Halo writers and friends.

We believe the banquet hall to be just as important as the lecture hall so we will also have communal times like pub night and dinner at local restaurants.

Tickets and information on lodging can be found on the Square Halo website and will be available until they are sold out. We hope to see you there!

Photos above are from last year’s “Ordinary Saints” conference.

—blog post by Iman Mozoffarian

KIDS BOOKS: Back to School

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One of my favorite poems is by John Updike from his A Child’s Calendar. It goes,

The breezes taste 
Of apple peel.
The air is full
Of smells to feel––

Ripe fruit, old footballs, 
Drying grass, 
New books and blackboard
Chalk in class.

The bee, his hive
Well-honeyed, hums
While Mother cuts
Chrysanthemums.

Like plates washed clean
With suds, the days
Are polished with 
A morning haze.

Technically this poem, aptly titled “September,” is a bit more autumn feeling than the start of school in August or early September, when it feels as though the summer is still trying to beat up the other seasons. But as I have been readying my classroom for my fresh batch of Kindergarten students, I’ve been thinking about this poem. It feels like the beginning of school to me.

Plates-washed-cleaned is the feeling I have when the school year is starting, but there are many other smells to experience as we get ready: cleaner, fresh crayons, paints being opened, and new books!

Our God has gifted us seasons and renewal. He is a God of new beginnings. Just as the Creation story gives us the new beginnings of God’s grand story, just as Easter brings the new beginnings of the Resurrection, and just as Pentecost gives us the new beginnings of life with the Holy Spirit, the start of school gifts us the liturgy of new formation. Fresh starts, friendships, fond memories to come. The fact that autumn brings us the start of school every year is a visceral picture of Christ’s redemptive work in us, again and again. I pray for your start to school, the excitement, nervous anticipation, the joy and sorrows.

One of my favorite books I am bringing into the classroom this year is Little Prayers for Ordinary Days by Katy Bowser Hutson, Flo Paris Oakes, and Tish Harrison Warren. May this prayer, called For the Start of a School Day, ” and these beginning of school books be an encouragement to you as you start the year!

Dear God, 
Bless our school
and our teachers
and all of our helpers.
Give me courage to be a good friend,
especially to those who don’t yet have a friend.
It is a gift to learn new things about your world.
Let me be curious and kind.
And please keep everyone safe
all day long. 

—
This post was written by Carey Bustard, one of the co-editors of Wild Things and Castles in the Sky.

Tim Keller

A little over a year ago, I received a short email from Tim Keller. He had just returned to NYC after a moth of immuno-therapy. He wrote:

… the festshrift books we received the last day we were in Maryland—were particular moving to Kathy and I. It was something we had no idea was coming at all and so it was indeed an astonishing, joyful surprise.  After such a difficult June, the book just seemed like a kiss and an embrace, a gift of free grace. Many of the contributors are some of our dearest friends, but I don’t know every one of them and I don’t have all the email addresses. In fact, I’ve lost yours. (I know I used to have it!) And so could you simply pass on Kathy and my deepest thanks to all of the people involved in this and let them know how delightful this gift was to us?

What is this short email about? It is in response to me shipping the Kellers a box of our book, The City for God: Essays Honoring the Work of Timothy Keller.

The book was actually begun before Tim got cancer. The whole project was a secret, and we had been chipping away at it for a while before his diagnosis was revealed. As you can imagine, it was discouraging to think we might have worked so hard to honor and thank him only for Tim not to ever know. Therefore, we were quite relieved to be able to get it to him in time for him to enjoy it.

The City for God was a labor of love that was the result of a brainstorming session the Square Halo partners had one summer day. We were thinking about what books we’d like to publish. Rather than merely responding to book ideas as they were sent to us from folks, we asked ourselves: if we could do anything, what would we want to make? One idea was to write a festschrift in honor of Tim Keller. He had had a huge impact on the founding of my church, his preaching and planting in NYC had had a huge impact on our daughters, and his contribution to It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God was easily Square Halo’s most often quoted.

The City for God is divided into three parts and has a foreword by Russell Moore. The opening section is GOSPEL and it has essays about Character, Rhetoric, Apologetics, Accessibility, and Influence. The middle section is CITY and its topics are Presence, City of God, Prayer, Hope, Creativity, and Jazz. The final section is VOCATION with essays on Work, Both/And, Business, Counseling, Leadership, Mercy, and Legacy.

One of the things I particularly like about the book is that, although it has some “big names,” many of the people who wrote for it are not well known. They are simply people who were impacted by the ministry and vision of Keller, and have gone on to put his understanding of the Gospel into practice within their spheres. And at the end of the day, what could be better for a pastor than to know his flock was advancing the Kingdom of God?

Instead of endorsements like we’d usually collect for the front of the book, for this project I reached out to a number of folks to get “Thank Yous.” Here are a few:

“At strategic moments, God sometimes makes a surprising choice of human instruments (Gideon, David, Saul of Tarsus).  In our own time, I can’t imagine a more appropriate choice of a leader than Tim Keller to represent our faith in the fishbowl that is New York City.  By temperament, intellect, trustworthiness, and driving spirit, Tim is supremely qualified.”—Philip Yancey

“Tim was my pastor from 1999 until he retired from the pulpit in 2017. I came to Redeemer in New York City at a particularly lean time in my life. His ministry—following Jesus’ dictum to “feed my sheep”—deeply nourished my soul. He engaged my mind, softened my heart, and inspired my imagination. Tim was also God’s instrument for much of the C.S. Lewis work I have been a part of over the past twenty years. My debt to him remains to this day.”—Max McLean

“Tim and Kathy, your life and ministry have had an impact on mine in countless indirect ways, which, in being indirect, testify mightily to the power of your work and faithfulness over the years. Everywhere I go, I am blessed to work with, be edified by, and befriend those who have been shaped and formed by the Kellers. What greater legacy can there be than to influence those who go on to influence others, and so on, into eternity. I thank God for this kind of ministry. I thank God for you both.”—Karen Swallow Prior

We join with all of those who thank God for the Kellers. This book was one way to express that, and hopefully continue the impact of of Tim Keller’s vision and ministry in expanding the city for God.

KIDS BOOKS: Summer Reading

A dear friend recently gave me A House on Mango Street—a book she was reading while preparing for a new year of teaching 8th graders.  After she read parts aloud to me, I could understand her attachment to this book and her excitement to share it with her class. Written a couple decades ago by Sandra Cisneros, A House on Mango Street is a timeless, beautiful, and very human story (told in short vignettes), full of joy and sorrow. It is one of those books that you want to share sentence after sentence with someone and also write parts in your journal.  It was a hard-to-put- down book.

After reading Ms. Cisneros’s book, I remembered others that reminded me of it – books about home, laughter, struggles, growing up in hard times and places, and friendship.

A House on Mango Street, a good read for students in 8th grade and above, focuses on Esperanza, a Mexican-American twelve-year old girl, but also on her family and her neighbors. Her parents have bought their first house but it is not one she is glad for because it is small and run down and in the middle of a crowded Latino neighborhood in Chicago. The theme of how belonging, friendship, family, and community fold into a person’s becoming was both sweet and hard to witness.

Twig by Elizabeth Orten Jones is a perfect chapter book for new readers but also a wonderful read aloud for those in preschool and above. It’s a children’s fantasy novel about a girl named Twig and her backyard adventures, with a sweet spotlight on her affection for all her apartment neighbors.

You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins. I enjoyed this wonderful novel last month and invited several 8th and 9thgrade girls to join me in reading it. (We’ll meet later this summer at a local cupcake shop to talk about it.) This story focuses on five different women of one family with Bengali roots (from grandmother, to her two daughters, to her two granddaughters) and their individual experiences making their lives in America, but also how important family and community are to their formation as women and family . . . and their stories.

I Captured the Castle by Dodie Smith. Years ago, I was intrigued by this book when several women shared that they read it as teenagers and couldn’t forget it when they grew up. It is the story of seventeen-year old Cassandra and her family who live in a ramshackle castle. They are a quirky family and very poor. There are many fun, and awkwardly uncomfortable, exploits in this coming-of-age story.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. One of my daughters just recently read this for the first time and was overwhelmed by the sheer bittersweet - ness of it. The book is set in 1912 and centers on Francine and her family as they make their life in a tenement apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

And, of course, don’t forget classics like The Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett or Great Expectations by Charles Dickens or Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. They are full of young characters, hard hardship, friends, community, and growing up.

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Summer Picture Books

I wandered around the children’s section of Barnes and Noble and discovered these wonderful picture books that fit the “what a good summer read” category.

Wave by Suzy Lee

This wordless book about a young girl meeting and interacting with waves at a beach is a delight. The faces this cute little makes at the water, as well as how the waves are personified, will make you smile and laugh, and hopefully cause some fun conversations.

The World Belonged to Us by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by Leo Espinosa

The first book I’ve read in a long time that captures the freedom and delights of summer and also reminded me of my childhood in the 1970s (even though it is set in Brooklyn, and I grew up in Wilmington, DE). I loved the summer activities and how the writer captured them with such fun, poetic sentences and how the illustrator captured them through the colorful, happy illustrations.

Flip: How the Frisbee Took Flight by Margaret Muirhead and illustrated by Adam Gustavson 

I realized while reading this book that I never actually thought about how the Frisbee was invented! But this story, with its fabulous illustrations, piqued my interest and satisfied my history-loving heart. We meet a young Fred and Lu. They enjoyed tossing a tin popcorn lid around the backyard. Later, they get married and kept trying to figure out how to perfect the flying-disc (it takes them twenty years!). It’s a great history and science story.

There is a Flower at the Tip of My Nose Smelling Me by Alice Walker and illustrated by Queenbee Monyei

This is a newly illustrated version of this classic piece by Alice Walker. What a wonderful read to share with others with its focus on the natural world and us in it. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of how I smell the roses to how “a flower at the tip of my nose smelling me…” (and how this happens throughout the book with other natural elements).

The Honey Bee by Kristen Hall and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault

Summer is a good time to think about bees and what they are doing during the year. The words and rhymes are very fun (and informative) and the illustrations made me glad to be reading this book. I could picture myself with one of my daughters on my lap enjoying this fun book together.

One Smart Cookie: Bite-sized Lessons for School Years and Beyond by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Jane Dyer and Brooke Dyer (Illustrator)

I haven’t thought about this book (and its companions) in years, so I was glad to see it at B&N. I do remember being enchanted by how the author was able to take words like kindness and empathy (character traits we would want to help our children know and grow in) and teach them through focusing on cookies and baking them. Also, I have love love loved the illustrations of Jane Dyer over the years, so her work in collaboration with her daughter in this book made it even more wonderful.  This book is one to read and return to while getting your children ready for a new school year and thinking of how to be “others focused.”

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This post was written by Leslie Bustard, one of the co-editors of Wild Things and Castles in the Sky.

KIDS BOOKS: Owl's Nest

I’m in the middle of reading KB Hoyle’s new book Son of the Deep and delighting in how Karin puts words together – crafting a new story out of a well-loved one. It’s these type of stories that make me glad books exist!

Karin Hoyle is an author and professional writer. She has published 10 books for teens and has taught creative writing and publishing courses, spoken at a variety of venues, created her own writing curriculum, and written for a number of publications. . . and now she and her life-long friend Katie Stewart have started the journey of running a new book publishing company called Owl’s Nest Publishers.

Learn more about Owl’s Nest at https://www.owlsnestpublishers.com/#/

Learn more about Karin at http://www.kbhoyle.com

Below, Karin shares about her new book and Owl’s Nest, and in Wild Things fashion, offers several book recommendations.

Your new book Son of the Deep looks fabulous. What got you started on this? And what was it like to follow your own vision but also take on some ideas from the original story?

Of all my eleven published books, Son of the Deep was one of the easiest to plan and execute since I was working from established content. I got started on it because I was inspired to write a retelling of an original fairytale that felt very much like filmmaker Kenneth Branagh’s retelling of Disney’s Cinderella (my favorite Disney film, as a child). There was so much beauty in Branagh’s retelling in how he pulled apart what was a classic Disney story and filled in the spaces with his own vision—but stayed very true to the original.

I was filled with the desire to do the same—not with Disney’s The Little Mermaid, but with Hans Christian Andersen’s original tale, which is fraught with beauty and elegance (and frankly sometimes gets a bad rap for having a “sad ending”). It was very easy to pull apart the bones of Andersen’s original story, use those bones as the structure of my outline, and fill in the rest with enough material to make up and imagine an original story that still remains true to the source material.

Please tell me about your new publishing company Owl’s Nest. What a wonderful name, which I imagine has a great backstory.

Owl’s Nest Publishers was established this past year as a shared vision between myself and my lifelong bosom friend Katie Stewart. It is an independent publishing house that we created because we see the need to make space for authors who want to write books for adolescents—real adolescents, rather than what the market often mistakes for adolescents. Thus, our company motto is “Capturing the imagination of teen and middle grade readers.” We know that there are many readers out there between the ages of 8-18 who feel lost in the bookstores trying to find books that represent their coming-of-age experiences—or who simply can’t find the books they really want to read! We want to be a reliable source of books for them (and a reliable source for their parents).

The name for Owl’s Nest comes from the family camp Katie and I attended as children—for our entire lives, really. We came together every summer with the same families for one week in July, and we had this group of friends with whom we grew up, at this remote place in Upper Michigan—one of those rare places that was special and unique and felt like a truly “thin place.” Many of the buildings there were named for things from either The Chronicles of Narnia or Winnie the Pooh, and there was a camp library that was the upper room over the rec center—that library was called the Owl’s Nest (referencing Owl from Winnie the Pooh).

The Owl’s Nest had window seats with cushions where you could sit and overlook the fields and the beach and read a book, and I remember spending mornings up there with my class as a young kid, listening to one of the Narnia books read aloud to us. But as Katie and I and the rest of our friends grew older, the Owl’s Nest became a place we would hang out on rainy afternoons, or if we just needed a change of pace and place—without any adults or supervision involved. Lots of laughter and fun and memories and imagination were forged up there.

We had lots of motivations for starting Owl’s Nest! Katie and I are both parents ourselves and feel the lack of options when we search for books for our kids. As a former classical educator, I can also tell you that after many, many conversations with parents, there is a real lack of options for books for young teens. Also, Katie has been involved in the book-reviewing scene for many years and has seen the lack of books—particularly for the upper middle grade age group—herself. Previous to starting Owl’s Nest, I struggled for a decade to find representation and acceptance in the traditional publishing world for my books, which were written for ages 13-16, despite finding acceptance among readers. I’ve watched many authors go through the same struggles.

Our hope for Owl’s Nest is that we can make space for these needed books to be published. We want to become a reliable publisher of adolescent literature for young readers and their parents, to grow and bring on an increasing number of authors who share our vision each year, and to publish books that capture the imagination of teens and middle grade readers in true, beautiful, and good ways.

At Owl’s Nest, we only publish books for adolescents, and our books are broken down into three imprints: Owl’s Nest Middle Grade, Owl’s Nest Teen, and Owl’s Nest Classics. Middle Grade is for books with an audience ages 8-12, Teen is for books with an audience ages 13-18, and Classics is a line of public domain literary companions that we are very excited about! These are public domain books that we will be publishing as study guides with annotations, questions, and essays to help introduce adolescents of today to Bildungsroman classics of yesterday.

And we are open for submissions! All our submissions guidelines can be found here: https://www.owlsnestpublishers.com/submissions

This fall another book is coming out titled Orion and the Starborn. It looks really interesting! What is that about?

We are so very excited about Orion and the Starborn at Owl’s Nest—and I am of course excited about it on a personal level since it will be my 12th published novel and the first in another series!

Orion has been such a difficult novel for me to define for people because it falls in that tricky in-between space: it’s in between genres and also in between audiences. It’s neither fantasy nor science fiction—it’s a little of both. It’s crossover middle grade to teen (so we’ll call it upper middle grade). The characters will age up as the story progresses, so it is true coming-of-age. Orion and the Starborn is the story of a boy who must find his place in the universe, literally, and the implications of what happens when he does. It should feel, when you read it, both like an old story you’ve read before, and something entirely brand new.

What are five book recommendations that you can offer us?

This is such a hard question for me to answer because I don’t like recommending books (especially to children) without knowing what sort of reader I am dealing with. But here are a few go to books:

The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander is a lesser-known fantasy series that is an absolute favorite of mine, as is Goose Girl by Shannon Hale.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon is a light and lovely children’s fantasy read.

My non-fantasy reader (who struggled to read as a child) loved to read The Bad Guys books by Aaron Blabey, so I recommend those to parents of reluctant readers.

And if I have a chance to buy picture books for people, I almost always choose Doreen Cronin’s Click, Clack, Moo books.

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This post was written by Leslie Bustard, one of the co-editors of Wild Things and Castles in the Sky.

KIDS BOOKS: N00KB00KS

Local bookstore + excellent children’s book + Emma O’Brien = just the right shop for Carey and me in downtown Lancaster City, PA. What a delight to have Emma and her family move from Brooklyn, where she worked as consultant for startups and non-profits, to Lancaster, where she decided to open n00kb00ks.

Her story includes several different chapters, which came together for her family’s good, as well as for our community:  her mother’s love of books and Emma’s ongoing love for good books for children, having a baby during the pandemic, and finding a certain small quaint space, wondering where she can be creating, which all led to thinking “starting a bookstore seems rather natural.”

She and her husband love to bring people together, and as they were making plans to move here, they looked for places where they could place long tables with good food, and while on the hunt, they discovered this downtown space was for sale and the price was right. And from there, they bought the space and then a home with space to share meals with others. Then. . . their first child was born and a bookstore opened.

Emma’s desire is to stock n00kb00k’s shelves with hardback books that are long lasting, but also with books that are magical or offer empathy or highlight kindness. She enjoys finding stories that are the best quality—whether they are whimsical or thought provoking.  As other indie-bookstore owners have learned along the way, she has been paying attention to “how to stay in my lane” while also catering to what people want. Her favorites include older classics, translated works, self-published books, and also new pictures books from different cultural backgrounds. Most of her books come from smaller book publishing houses that offer a variety of aesthetics, such as Enchanted Lion Books.

Wandering around n00kb00ks is a sweet journey of delight. A large front window with happy colorful images framing the glass beckons one to enter, and the sunshine flooding the space welcomes you in. Hardback picture book fronts face out on one wall of shelves, helping you find just the right book to look through. More shelves on another wall offer books in categories such as Nature, Art Appreciation, Local Authors, and Young Adult. There are cozy spots where one can lean up against the wall with several books to look through and fun art on the walls.

Carey and I have enjoyed our trips to n00kb00ks and our times talking with Emma about books and children. We share the love of some of the same writers and illustrators, and she has introduced us to new ones to investigate. Emma hopes to share books with children and adults because “everyone’s inner child should be allowed to live.”

Here are some books she loves and books I discovered while perusing her shelves. If you find yourself in downtown Lancaster City, make n00kb00ks a place to checkout. Say hi to Emma and ask her for some good ideas to share with the little people in your life.

Follow her on Instagram .

A Few, New Emma Favorites:

Watercress by Andrea Wang —“Beautiful and bittersweet”

Little One by Kiyo Tanaka  (translated from Japanese by David Boyd) — “Happy find and about a little girl with an imaginary friend”

Pig and Horse and Something Scary by Zoey Abbot — “emotions, scary thoughts, friends, and tea”

What I found at n00kb00ks — Books for Inquisitive Minds and Perfect for Summer Time (or Books I Wish Had Been Around When My Girls were Younger)

Atlas of Adventures: A Collection of Natural Wonders, Exciting Experiences and Fun Festivities from the Four Corners of the Globe illustrated by Lucy Letherland — I’m just going to get this for myself because I love books about places with colorful little pictures and factoids spread around geographical maps. The companion book is

Curious about Crocodiles by Owen Davey with Flying Eye Books — This is part of a series such as Bonkers about Beetles and Passionate about Penguins and fun to look at and learn from. “Passionate about Penguins” just makes me smile!

The Big Book of Blooms by Yuval Zommer — This book has other companions like Big Book of Bugs, Big Book of Blue, and Big Book of Birds. It is another great one for looking at as well as reading. With titles like these I want to own every one.

Before spring ends officially and summer starts, be sure to check out And Then It’s Spring, written by Julie Fogliano and illustrated by Erin E. Stead — it’s a sweet story of a boy, his dog, and waiting for spring life. Carey love Erin E. Stead’s work and books.

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This post was written by Leslie Bustard, one of the co-editors of Wild Things and Castles in the Sky.

KIDS BOOKS: Poem in Your Pocket Day

Today is Poem in Your Pocket Day!

Ever since 2002, April 29 has been designated Poem in Your Pocket Day. I do wish I had known about this day earlier, but it is never too late to share poems. You could extend this pleasurable day into the weekend. 

Poets.org shared the following thoughts: “Every April, on Poem in Your Pocket Day, people celebrate by selecting a poem, carrying it with them, and sharing it with others, throughout the day at schools, bookstores, libraries, retirement homes, parks, workplaces, and on social media (using the hashtag #PocketPoem).”

Poem in Your Pocket Day takes place during National Poetry Month, which seems quite perfect since April feels like a living poem with all the flowers blooming, breezes blowing, and birds chirping. 

But why take time with poetry anyway? 

Says Missy Andrews in her essay about poetry in Wild Things and Castles in the Sky: Poetry “exercises in-sight. . . that inner vision is the stuff of imagination. . . While the modern mind associates the imaginative faculty with “unreality,” the Bible suggests that figured things are often more real than things material. The Apostle Paul argues: “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor.4:18 NIV). If this is so, how is one to perceive the unseen reality of the gospel but with the figurative faculty that is the imagination? How is one to perceive the invisible truths without poetics?” 

Not only does reading poetry help us move into the the deep beautiful mysteries of Scripture and life in Jesus, it helps us learn to pay attention, enjoy, lament, name, and move through our lives and places with open hearts and open eyes. Poetry can be a means of grace to help you and me and the children we know live our days well. 

Enjoy Poem in Your Pocket Day with a loved one or a beloved little one. Below are poems to recopy and illustrate, memorize or recite, or together share with others (maybe with a telephone call or facetime). 

I also suggest adding in pancakes or popcorn or ice cream to increase the fun. 

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This post was written by Leslie Bustard, one of the co-editors of Wild Things and Castles in the Sky.

The O in Hope | Luci Shaw
From the book The O in Hope

Hope holds one lovely vowel like a promise!
Think how we cry “Oh!” at the round sun rising.
O is the shape of a mouth singing, and in 
the color of a round red cherry.
“Oh!” say our open eyes at surprising beauty,
and then “Wow!”  
O is as complete as a wedding ring,
a round pool, and the shape of ripples 
spreading on the water.
O is the heart of love and joy.
O was in the invention of the wheel.
O multiplies in the zoo, in an open door,
and in a cool drink on a hot day.
O grows in the heart of a green woood.
O is like the moon, and the looping paths of planets.
You’ll find O in food and books,
and cotton socks, and useful tools, and knitting wool.
We love the double O in good,
and how O is in itself complete and whole.
Love forms a circle that holds us all together,
safe in the center of the loving heart of God.

Puppy and I  | A.A. Milne 
When We Were Very Young

I met a Man as I went walking:
We got talking,
Man and I.
"Where are you going to, Man?" I said
  (I said to the Man as he went by).
"Down to the village, to get some bread.
  Will you come with me?" "No, not I."

I met a horse as I went walking;
We got talking,
Horse and I.
"Where are you going to, Horse, today?"
  (I said to the Horse as he went by).
"Down to the village to get some hay.
  Will you come with me?" "No, not I."

I met a Woman as I went walking;
We got talking,
Woman and I.
"Where are you going to, Woman, so early?"
  (I said to the Woman as she went by).
"Down to the village to get some barley.
  Will you come with me?" "No, not I."

I met some Rabbits as I went walking;
We got talking,
Rabbits and I.
"Where are you going in your brown fur coats?"
  (I said to the Rabbits as they went by).
"Down to the village to get some oats.
  Will you come with us?" "No, not I."

I met a Puppy as I went walking;
We got talking,
Puppy and I.
"Where are you going this nice fine day?"
  (I said to the Puppy as he went by).
"Up to the hills to roll and play."
"I'll come with you, Puppy," said I.

Who has seen the Wind | Christina Rossetti

Who has seen the Wind?
Neither I nor you.
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.

 Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I.
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by. 

The Duck | Ogden Nash

Behold the duck.
It does not cluck.
A cluck it lacks.
It quacks.
It is especially fond
Of a Puddle or pond.
When it dines or sups,
It bottoms up.

A Popcorn Song | Nancy Byrd Turner

Sing a song of popcorn
When the snowstorms rage;
Fifty little round men
Put into a cage.
Shake them till they laugh and leap
Crowding to the top;
Watch them burst their little coats
Pop!! Pop!! Pop!!

from Firefly | Li Po

I think
If you flew
Up to the sky
Beside the moon,
You would
Twinkle
Like a star. 

The Swing | Robert Louis Stevenson 
(This one does need to be read or recited while swinging on a swing.)

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside—

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown—
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

KIDS BOOKS: Book Release Day!

Today is the official “Welcome to the world, Wild Things and Castles in the Sky!” 

This new Square Halo release, something I started dreaming up summer 2020, would not have turned into the book I am so thankful for and proud of without Carey Bustard and Théa Rosenburg as my partners. I loved how we collaborate(d) together, and also how each of us have different strengths and passions that were needed for this project. 

As Wild Things and Castles in the Sky: A Guide to Choosing the Best Books for Children is not just many essays about books, but also a plethora of recommendations, here is a list of books that are important to Théa and her daughters. Another place to check out Thea’s book thoughts and recommendations, follow her at Little Book, Big Story . Théa is one of the wisest people I know about books and a favorite Square Halo editor. Following are a few of her family’s favorites….

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When your children range in age from six to almost-fourteen, it can be tough to find read-alouds that engage and challenge everybody. A few on this list hit that sweet spot, and a few others are books that all four girls have loved when they were at the perfect age to love them.

The Complete Brambly Hedge, by Jill Barklem

I’ve never quite been able to decide if the magic in this book flows mostly from the illustrations or the stories. Probably, it’s the harmonious blend of the two: Barklem’s tales of the Brambly Hedge mice are delightful and sweetly told, and her watercolor illustrations (especially the cutaways of the homes!) have drawn our family into the world of Brambly Hedge over and over again.

The Misadventured Summer of Tumbleweed Thompson, by Glenn McCarty

When I started reading this book to my girls, I had a hunch they’d enjoy it. But this frontier story so quickly won us all over and became such a foundational part of our summer lunch read-alouds that we’ve since read every other Glenn McCarty book we can find. And how’s this for full circle: I bought this book after reading Carolyn Givens’s recommendation in Wild Things!

James Herriot’s books (all of them)

At some point, all four girls have discovered James Herriot’s Treasury for Children, and we’ve lingered together over his stories of life as a country vet in the 1930s. But as the older girls have outgrown that book (as much as it’s possible to outgrow it—I’m not sure you ever really can), we’ve discovered Herriot’s other memoirs. These books include a lot more details about birth and veterinary procedures and aren’t exactly meant for teens and tweens, but Herriot is such a fantastic storyteller, he makes even these details riveting and somehow warm and wholesome. I’m pretty sure we’ll all love these stories forever.

The Secret Life of Walter Kitty, by Barbara Jean Hicks

Barbara Jean Hicks and Caldecott-winning illustrator Dan Santat get the double life of the cat just right: they capture the inner life of Walter, a cat who answers to Fang and imagines himself as pirate, superhero, and explorer, and they set that alongside his everyday existence as a house cat—a sucker for catnip and chin-scratches, who is also willing to answer, in his weakest moments, to Snookums. We’ve loved so many picture books over the years, but this is one of those rare gems that still makes us all laugh.

The Wilderking Trilogy, by Jonathan Rogers

The summer we listened to the audiobooks of this trilogy over lunch was also the summer the girls ran along hiking trails barking like bog owls at top volume. (This was startling for other hikers and hilarious to me.) Rogers’s reimagining of King David’s story is set in a swamp filled with some of the most memorable characters you’ll meet, and it hits that sweet spot for readers who are ready for an adventure tale, but not quite ready for anything too scary or intense. But these books aren’t all fun and adventure: there are some deep, true moments in here that you’ll carry away with you and think back on for years.

KIDS BOOKS: Poetry for Easter

May this Holy Week, these days of walking with Jesus and seeing how he set his face toward his death on cross and “did not despise its shame,” find you meditating on Scripture and other good words — to enlarge your imagination concerning God’s love found in Jesus Christ and to unite your heart to praise his name.

Here are a few poems you and the children in your life can share together, as you enter in the story of the Cross.

Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe | CS Lewis 

“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.”

April | John Updike

April
It's Spring! Farewell
To chills and colds!
The blushing, girlish
World unfolds

Each flower, leaf,
And blade of turf--
Small love-notes sent
From air to earth.

The sky's a hard
Of prancing sheep,
The birds and fields
Abandon sleep,

And jonquils, tulips,
Daffodils
Bloom bright upon
The wide-eyed hills.

All things renew.
All things begin.
At church, they bring
The lilies in.

Royalty | Luci Shaw

He was a plain man
and learned no latin.

Having left all gold behind
he dealt out peace
to all us wild men
and the weather

He ate fish, bread,
country wine and God’s will

Dust sandalled his feet

He wore purple only once
and that was an irony

Quiet | Leslie Bustard 

…like a robin’s egg in a nest,

a row of yellow tulips, petals closed,

the last few shadowed moments

on the eastern horizon,

and Holy Saturday, 

as Christ was lying in the sealed tomb,

and the angels were waiting. 

The Lion, the Witch, the Wardrobe | CS Lewis 

The rising of the sun had made everything look so different – all the colours and shadows were changed – that for a moment they didn’t see the important thing.  Then they did.  The Stone Table was broken into two pieces by a great crack that ran down it from end to end; and there was no Aslan.

“Oh, oh, oh!” cried the two girls rushing back to the Table.

“Oh, it’s too bad,” sobbed Lucy; “they might have left the body alone.”

“Whose done it?” cried Susan.  “What does it mean? Is it more magic?”

“Yes!” said a great voice behind their backs.  “It is more magic.”  They looked round.  There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.

Emmaus 2 | Malcolm Guite

We thought that everything was lost and gone,

Disaster on disaster overtook us

The night we left our Jesus all alone

And we were scattered, and our faith forsook us.

But oh that foul Friday proved far worse,

For we had hoped that he had been the one,

Till crucifixion proved he was a curse,

And on the cross our hopes were all undone.

Oh foolish foolish heart why do you grieve?

Here is good news and comfort to your soul:

Open your mind to scripture and believe

He bore the curse for you to make you whole

The living God was numbered with the dead

That He might bring you Life in broken bread.

from The Jesus Storybook Bible | Sally Lloyd-Jones

And the King says, “Look!”

God and his children are together again.

No more running away. Or hiding.

Nor more crying or being lonely or afraid.

Nor more being sick or dying.

Because all these things are gone.

Yes, they’re gone forever.

Everything sad has come untrue.

And see — I have wiped away every tear from every eye!”

And then a deep, beautiful voice that sounded like thunder

In the sky says, “Look, I am making everything new!”  
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This post was written by Leslie Bustard, one of the co-editors of Wild Things and Castles in the Sky.

KIDS BOOKS: Easter Stories for Your Imagination

The other day someone on Facebook asked, “Which book would you like to reread for the first time?”

I didn’t check the other answers so I could come up with my own idea.

After a quick moment I knew I would want to relive many of those magical first moments in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S— like being with Lucy when she has tea with Mr. Tumnus, with the Peter, Susan, and Lucy when they come before the magnificent Aslan, and with Edmund as he trudges through the melting snow while spring musically makes its way into Narnia.  Rowen Wlliams in The Lion’s World: A Journey into the Heart of Narnia says Lewis was seeking to re-enchant us with the glories of the gospel. The Chronicles of Narnia are Great Supposal stories. Suppose there was another world, and Jesus acted in that world, what would it be like? And seeing Jesus and how he acts (Aslan) we might see him as if for the first time and our dullness to the Scriptures may be replaced with awe and gratefulness. I have experienced this. (spoiler) Reliving the death and then the resurrection of Aslan chokes me up often. I don’t remember how I felt when I first read it when I was 12, so I imagine rereading these scenes for the first time and experiencing the joy of Aslan, Susan, and Lucy romping around the broken Stone Table might enchant me even more to the glory of Christ’s resurrection. 

Epic stories like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter capture, like The Chronicles of Narnia, the sacrificial love of Jesus without actually be allegorical. Rereading these or even excerpts from them would be a way to assist the imaginations of our young people as we invite them into the true miracle of the gospel story.  The following are several more stories that can be read during Passion Week and can help us enter into the amazingness of this time of the year and church calenar.

1.     Bare Tree and Little Wind: A Story for Holy Week by Mitali Perkins and illustrated by Khoa Le. “A lyrical, captivating retelling of the Palm Sunday and Easter story…” I love how my imagination gets caught up in the Holy Land through the characters of a tree and wind. Through these characters I witness what happens to Jesus and then I’m given the hope of his return that will restore the whole earth – people and nature.  Mitali Perkins is a wonderful storyteller and the pictures by Khao Le are colorful and captivating. 

2.     Oscar Wilde Stories for Children by Oscar Wilde, illustrated by P.J. Lynch

“The Selfish Giant” and “The Nightingale and the Rose” are short stories which beautifully and achingly point us to Jesus and his sacrifice. P. J. Lynch’s illustrations in other books have been a favorite of mine for a longtime; these are a great addition to enjoying these stories. 

3.     “Maundy Thursday” by Walter Wangerin

I found this story in Stories for the Christian Year by The Chrysostom Society, but you can also find in online through Christianity Today. 

I read this story every Maundy Thursday to my family and anyone will listen. This story helps us remember how Jesus broke the bread and shared the wine with his disciples before he was arrested and then died. It is funny and endearing; it chokes me up every time I read the end.  

4.     The Light Princess by George MacDonald and illustrated by Ned Bustard

This novella, with all the trappings of a traditional fairy tale told with a nod and a wink and clever word play offers insight into what true sacrifice looks like. (Also, the illustrations are perfect, created by my husband Ned. He fills each picture with lots of fun things to look at . . . yes, I might be slightly biased).

5.     The Biggest Story Bible Storybook written by Kevin DeYoung and illustrated by Don Clark. 

When my daughters were younger, and if I remembered (!), I would read all the Bible stories starting with Palm Sunday and ending with Christ’s death. Then on Easter and a few days after we would read the rest of the glorious story. (Each day we would focus on the stories that happened on that day.) Reading straight from the Bible is always a very, very good idea; supplementing with a storybook Bible is good, too, especially if the illustrations can capture your imagination without replacing any images in one’s mind already. This new one published by Crossway has colorful and dramatic illustrations by Don Clark, are modern-vintage; they are clear enough to give you an idea of what is going on, but because they are so stylized you don’t think it is actually how everything looked.  
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This post was written by Leslie Bustard, one of the co-editors of Wild Things and Castles in the Sky.

KIDS BOOKS: Resources

Several recently published books have come into BookEnd (the name my husband gave to our house here in Lancaster) that just need to be shared. These are great resources for adults and teeangers. 

1.     Special Grace: Prayers and Reflections for Families with Special Needs by Elrena Evans. 

Joni Eareckson Tada shares in the forward the words of a mother with three special needs children. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve teetered on the edge, desperate and wholly overwhelmed, barely able to utter a mere “Jesus, help me.’ How wonderful to have a Christ-loving mom articulate much heartfelt, spot-on prayers for nearly every circumstance! I so appreciate her faithfulness, her honesty, and her humor. “ I know how much I have needed the prayers of Every Moment Holy to help me trust God in everyday ups and downs, so I am excited how this book can help families with special needs children pray (and also help me pray alongside my friends). Topics include Family Life, School, Public Life, Changes, Seasons of the Year, and Thanksgivings (and other prayers).  What a gift this book is to the Body of Christ. 

2.     Rembrandt is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art Through the Eyes of Faith by Russ Ramsey. 

Several years ago I heard Russ Ramsey give several talks that linked Scripture and gospel truths with stories of certain artists and their paintings. My heart and mind could not have been happier. I’ve been looking forward to this book. Russ Ramsey writes about nine artists, including such greats as  Michaelangelo, Rembrandt, Vermeer, van Gogh, Tanner, and Lillias Trotter. This book will be great for those who love art or would like to dig deeper into the importance of art and beauty in our lives, and even grow in their appreciation of it.  My husband got to write one of the endorsements in which he praised the book, saying: “Ramsey is a deep lover of art and a student of art history. In this book he takes the reader on an amazing guided tour through an art museum that doesn't exist. In this carefully curated collection of art from around the world, he offers you an experience that only someone who really loves art can. This book inspires the reader to engage art in an eye-opening way and understand how these famous works of art bring glory to God.”

3.     Steeped in Stories: Timeless Children Novels to Refresh our Tired Souls by Mitali Perkins. 

Recently I wrote that Mitali Perkins is the Literature professor I wish I had had. This book is memoir, “classroom instruction” on the ins and outs of each story, as well as discussions on the virtues and vices these stories point us to. At the same time, she, while in love for these stories and their authors, also speaks to those challenging parts that many classics contain. It’s such a very good read. I love how she doesn’t tell us to throw away these classics but to see their value by modeling what it looks to truly be refreshed by these books; but at the same time she helps us think seriously and discerningly about legitimately troublesome parts (usually how “the other” is portrayed). Mitali Perkins discusses Little Women, A Little Princess, The Hobbit, Anne of Green Gables, Heidi, and Chronicles of Narnia. This book would be wonderful for an adult to read so they can have solid and wise tools to interact with young people they know who are reading these books – tools that can help them highlight all the good and work through the hard parts. 

4.     The Scandal of Holiness: Renewing Your Imagination in the Company of Literary Saints by Jessica Hooten Wilson  

Do I need to make a disclaimer that I am on the launch team for this book? Probably not, except to say after I heard the author speak at a conference on renewing the imagination this past September, I knew I would love this book. Getting a jump-start on reading it has been a delight. Jessica Hooten Wilson says “Novels introduce us to ways of imagining God already at work in our hearts, present in the world, transforming and sanctifying his creation all the time.” She discusses eight contemporary classics, such as Kristen Lavransdatter, The Moviegoer, The Book of the Dun Cow, Moses, and Man of the Mountain. In each chapter she narrates and highlights the plot and the main characters, as well as instructs the reader in different aspects of holiness, as each book discusses one aspect of holy living. This book would make a solid read not just for adults who love books and the life of the mind and imagination but also upper-high school book-lovers and readers who desire to think deeply about what they are reading. 

5.     Literarily: How Understanding Bible Genre Transforms Bible Study by Kristie Anyabwile

I am also on the launch team for this book that was just recently released. Kristie Anyabwile is a Bible teacher I have enjoyed listening to. She is a wealth of Scriptural and theological knowledge, a love for the Church, and has a great ability to share truths in a way that is solid and accessible. Her book Literarily will help readers of Scripture dig in deeper (to sound like a cliché) by helping the them understand the importance of the authors use of certain genres, such as law, history, prophecy, and poetry, as well as literary themes and devices used within them.  This book is an important tool in helping adults and teenagers thoughtfully encounter God’s Word.

6.     A Guide to Reading and Thinking Series edited by Karen Swallow Prior

The novels in this series are books I read in high school (Scarlet Letter) or classics I sought out in my adult years (Jane Eyre and Sense and Sensibility), as well as books I have been planning on reading sometime (Frankenstein and Tess of the D’Urbervilles). And while each book truly looks wonderful on my bookshelf (the covers look classy and feel welcoming), I have been glad for how each book in the series enlarges my mind through Karen Swallow Prior’s introduction and guidance through the themes, characters, etc. Since reading her first book Booked: Literature for the Soul of Me and then Fierce Convictions: The Extraordinary Life of Hannah More—Poet, Reformer, Abolitionist, and On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books, I have sought her out to learn how to think more deeply about the classics.  Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the novels with her reader’s guide, have recently been released. These books and the other ones are perfect reads for high schoolers and adults. 
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This post was written by Leslie Bustard, one of the co-editors of Wild Things and Castles in the Sky.

KIDS BOOKS: Easter Books for Toddlers

When last year’s leaves have turned to mould in the flower beds and the vines of the clematis are black and brittle, that first glimpse of a golden crocus feels like a promise. Spring is coming! When my daughters were younger they’d wonder at each new spring flower, and I was never sure how well they remembered seeing the same flowers the previous year. Now, they are old enough to know: when we’re out walking, we’ll interrupt each other to cry, “Crocus!” and clap and maybe make fools of ourselves. And then we’ll go back to talking about middle school math, or a book they just finished. We delight in the changing season together, but we both know it happened last year and that it will (most likely) happen again next spring.

But when they were little: ah! Those crocuses were a burst of color where a second before everything had looked brown and sodden. The spring was brand new to them, and they marveled at each crocus (and then, at a certain age, most likely tried to eat it). The Easter story, nestled neatly into spring as it is, was new to them too. And over the years we found that the best Easter books for toddlers told the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection with color, promise, and joy. They gave our daughters something to wonder at, delight in, and remember. These Easter books for young readers became some of our very favorites.

Easter is Coming, by Tama Fortner

This lovely, large-format board book tells the littlest readers the story of Easter from Genesis onward. The illustrations in this one are particularly lovely.

The Garden, the Curtain, and the Cross, by Carl Laferton

This one, too, tells the whole story of Easter, from the garden of Eden to Jesus' return. But it's not as long as you'd think such a telling would be—better yet, it's now available as a board book! And while it’s not technically an Easter book, it does offer a companion Advent-style calendar for the two weeks leading up to Easter.

What is Easter?, by Michelle Medlock Adams

This sweet rhymed board book tells readers not just what happened on Easter but why we celebrate it the way we do. Where does the bunny come in? What's up with the new dresses? What is Easter? answers all those burning questions and more.

Holy Week, by Danielle Hitchen

This board book primer takes readers through the events of Holy Week, supporting each page with Scripture and emphasizing the different emotions Jesus and the disciples may have felt as the week went on. 

A Very Happy Easter, by Tim Thornborough

This one also focuses on emotions as it tells the Easter story (those toddlers and their emotions!), but it tells the story differently, in an interactive and delightful way.

Jesus Rose for Me, by Jared Kennedy

This exuberant telling of the Easter story looks forward, beyond Jesus' death and resurrection to this moment, today, and helps readers understand why Jesus died—and why his resurrection still matters so much to us. This is one of my favorites.
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This post was written by Théa Rosenburg, one of the co-editors of Wild Things and Castles in the Sky.