What's Fair at a Book Fair?

"Mom, this time when I go to the book fair, I'll only get a book."

Thus said the boy who is known for coming home from book fairs in the past with erasers too wonderful to actually erase with, pens with flashing lights, wacky and colorful pencils, squishy hands both elastic and sticky, and miniature flashlights perfect for reading under the covers with if only he had come home with a book to read. 

But this time, this book fair would be different. 

"One book...", he said (in one, long run-on breathless sentence), "…I just want one this one book it's about animals I think it's called Animal Spirits or Spirit Animals or something like that and here's my paper can I get it and it's only $13.00 I think and there's a girl in my class who reads them." 

Okay. What did he just ask me? And was it a question or a statement? Spirit what?!?

He paused for air. I paused to think what I wanted to say. I want my 10 year old son to read. To like reading. But as I paused I realized that I don't even always know what he is reading or what is even out there to be read.  I was super cautious with my older kids, maybe not as much with the middle ones, and with my baby, I've gotten lazy.

Oh boy. 

I've always tried to be fair in allowing my kids to read books, watch movies, or play games that are currently popular. Fair in my mind, in my way of thinking, but not always in their minds. It's not always been easy to know what is "good" or "bad", appropriate or not, depending on age and maturity level. I want my children to read, watch or play whatever is going to build character and helps them to follow God. I didn't want them to become desensitized to the ugly things of the world by being exposed to it so many times that it became normal and no longer held a shock value. Maybe I went overboard and protected them too much. Maybe not. I don't know. 

Like I said, it's hard sometimes to place boundaries, hard to know where exactly to place them and when to remove them and let them make their own choices. 

Back to the book fair. 

Together we read a book review for Spirit Animals: Wild Born at http://www.thrivingfamily.com/Family/Media/book-reviews/w/wild-born.aspx. 

In brief, the plot summary is as follows: 

"In the world of Erdas, children participate in a sacred coming-of-age ritual at age 11. Each child drinks a sip of a special nectar and hopes to be able to summon his or her own spirit animal. The people of Erdas believe that when human and animal unite, the greatness of both is multiplied. People with strong bonds to their spirit animals are able to develop powers and significantly enhance skills they already possess."

It's just a book, right? Sounds innocent enough, right? But for me, it made all kinds of red flags wave. We talked about why someone would want to join their spirit with an animal. Why I didn't want him reading something that says that this is where "powers" come from. That skills we already have would be "significantly enhanced". I think he understood, at least a little, why I felt so strongly that our spirits belong to God and even though it is "just a book", how those ideas can be introduced so innocently and can start to change how we think. 

Kinda scary, really. It was a good reminder that as a parent, I need to stay vigilant. No more being lazy. 

So, how did the book fair end? 

He didn't get anything there, this time around. We went to the bookshelf instead and I introduced him to another Fantasy/Adventure series by Bryan Davis called Dragons In Our Midst. Check it out here: 

http://www.daviscrossing.com/raising_dragons.htm

He's reading it and so far, he gives it a thumbs-up. I think that's fair. 

Love,

Dianne