If there isn’t already enough concerns for today’s parents in safely raising their children in our secular and often perverted society, one more caution is in regard to choosing reading books.
Parents have had to learn the importance of making sure their kids are not getting online and viewing pornography that is so extensive and easy for youngsters to find. This doesn’t mean to disregard “old-fashioned,” tangible books. They too must be considered as potential transmitters of inappropriate content to youngsters.
It is evident when visiting most public libraries and numerous school libraries that there are some librarians who love to promote children’s books with progressive, godless themes. The book titles of these three examples of actual kids’ books – pushed by librarians on students in primary and elementary grade levels – tell you all you need to know: Heather Has Two Mommies; Daddy’s Roommate; A Day of Pride.
Chances are good that your local librarian will want to keep any book from being censored that the secular culture embraces. He/she often will even highlight it with a prominent display in the library’s showcase. And before one argues that librarians do this simply because they don’t want to censor books, when was the last time a librarian displayed a book promoting slavery? They do indeed censor…just not books with themes focusing on perverse sexuality, witchcraft, and other secular immorality.
It should be easy for parents to quickly and thoroughly review picture books and lower reading level books before letting their kids read them. The book lengths are minimal and their illustrations take up half the pages. But what about when parents have children who read at reading levels much higher than typical for their age? Sizeably-paged, maturely-themed novels are often the types to which these kids are drawn. These books can be most daunting for parents to review since most books as they get more challenging also increase in their maturity content.
Children who are advanced readers are constantly searching for intellectually challenging books. For example, high school level books will attract a 5th grader who reads at a 10th grade reading level. Disturbingly, these books contain content and ideologies that present life experiences and influences too mature for an unprepared ten-year-old’s mind. A young reader should be reading about soccer, tree forts, and fighting with his siblings. Unfortunately, high school reading level books present mature topics such as sex, drugs, and running away from home.
There are some fundamental guidelines to help parents make informed decisions about whether a book is age appropriate for their sons and daughters. One guideline is for parents to consider the book’s frightful themes and passages.
Even if the child’s reading skills can comprehend higher level books, the books’ themes might be frightening or cause anxiety for their age. Parents need to verify the book doesn’t have too much suspense or violence. The Harry Potter series of novels offer a prime example. Too many parents have purchased this series for their youngish kids. Immature readers are exposed to terrifying, mature images in Harry Potter. For instance, one character has a bloodlust affinity for young girls, and a main character gets tortured by carving into her skin.
Parents must also consider the book’s descriptions of and outlook on romance and sex. It might be wonderful that a parent’s prepubescent kid can read at a pubescent level, but books originally written for high school level youths often contain suggestive or downright lewd plots.
For example, in the popular Percy Jackson & the Olympians series of novels, many characters are allegedly “gay,” “lesbian,” or “bisexual,” and two men are apparently able to have a child. The trendy A Court of Thorns and Roses franchise of books, written for “young adults,” is similarly concerning. Regrettably, younger age kids with high reading levels are being exposed to these sexually explicit novels.
It is vital that parents personally review books before buying them or letting their kids check them out from the library. The best review is for parents to read the entire book first. If that isn’t possible, mom or dad should at least read the entire first chapter and skim all the other chapters. The primary search should be for passages that are too frightful or themes that are too mature. But parents of youngers readers should also verify there aren’t swear words or secular-culture propaganda, such as normalizing homosexuality or treating so-called transgenderism as an accepted reality.
Using a valid resource to verify a book’s appropriate age level, while not as reliable as reading oneself, still can be helpful. The reason it is not as reliable is because so many reading resources are so woke that they actually champion inappropriate themes for kids, especially in regard to so-called LGBTQIA2S+ characters and subject matter. Most reading resources found on the internet are not as conservative as the parents who use them. Thus, the resource’s idea of “family friendly” and “appropriateness” doesn’t match the family’s values.
Nationally-used references that wise parents should not rely on for book reviews include: The American Library Association, School Library Journal, The Children’s Book Review, and The Horn Book. All of these sources follow immoral principles and/or frequently endorse heathenish reading.
Conversely, some book review sources that Catholic parents should be able to rely on include: CatholicReads.com, ReedemedReader.com, GoodBookMom.com, PluggedIn.com, and ACatholicGirlReads.com. They endorse those books which expose kids to moral principles and not to temporal depravity.
Finally, don’t forget the classics of children’s literature – from Anne of Green Gables to The Railway Children to Johnny Tremain. Classics like these are full of the moral virtues connected with faith, friendships, and families. Parents would be wise to make sure their sons and daughters do not miss out on exposure to these time-tested reads which discuss positive messages in a much gentler environment than 21st Century books.
Parents of kids who read at a higher grade level than their age should be cautious on what is in their children’s backpacks and on the bedroom nightstands. Additionally, parents should still encourage their extraordinary readers to enjoy books below their high reading level – simply so they can still be kids.
A PRINCIPAL'S PRINCIPLES FOR PARENTING 
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