Bright Wings: Children’s Books to Make the Heart Soar

Wildwood, the first in a trilogy by Colin Meloy, is praised by Trenton Lee Stewart. It is also 541 pages! Could this book be the start of the next greatest series for your child?! It is long and has sequels...could this be just the thing for my voracious readers? Listen and discover along with Charity what this book is like--do it's characters have any character? Do they discover where they're from? Where they are going?

Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.
Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, has sold more than 2.5 million copies. What's not to love in this landmark survival story? Charity shares our pleasure for all the good parts of Hatchet and asks us to take a closer look at some of the larger claims the book makes--especially to our boys--about identity, competency, hope, and survival.
Check out:
The Young Man and the Sea by Rodman Philbrick
For Further Reading:
Torn Asunder: Children, the Myth of the Good Divorce, and the Recovery of Origins edited by Margaret Harper McCarthy

Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.
Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

Why do we read? Two views predominate! Some want children to read (classic works of) fiction because fiction is a useful tool. Fiction illustrates or instructs children in the moral life. Others want children to read because reading is pleasurable--and they resist any attempts to make fiction serve a purpose because reading fiction is not about utility. Yet, there is a third way! Charity leads us to Aristotle, Jesus, and Aquinas, to understand what integrated virtue is. We'll see HOW fiction works in the life of Ignatius of Loyola. And we'll dive into some aesthetics with Charity as she shows us how Beauty in fiction impacts desire and action. Charity shows us how Beauty is the cause of the greatest conversions--from the inside out.
This podcast is based on a breakout session Charity gave at ICLE's National Conference in July 2023.

Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.
Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

If you love historical fiction, Charity has found a rare gem for you! What was it like to live in a walled Medieval town? What was it like to live in the age of Gothic cathedral-building? How is family, work, worship, and community structured? What makes life meaningful and exciting? Meet Jean d'Orbais and his family whose life and work has been tied to the great cathedral of Reims for centuries!
To purchase The Boy Knight of Reims by Eloise Lownsbery, see the niche publisher Angelus Press.

Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.
Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

Leprechauns are fun, but is there more to Irish literature?! Diving into our Irish inheritance, Charity Hill offers insight into Irish literature. She suggests that what makes Irish literature distinctive is the way it navigates paradoxes. Charity uses Thomas Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role to identify characteristics of Irish literature. Because literature emerges from cultural context, Charity notices how the literature reflects the paradoxes of pagan and Christian Ireland: high/low, darkness/light.
Don't miss the radio theatre production of The Trials of St. Patrick. View this trailer with John Rhys-Davies...Pretty heart-stopping.
As promised, I am listing all the hard-to-find books!
(*These links do not pay me any percentage; but better to have them than not!)
The Prince of Ireland and the Three Magic Stallions by Bryce Milligan
The King of Ireland's Son by Brendan Behan (master oral storyteller!)
Flying Feet: A Story of Irish Dance by Anna Marlis Burgard and Dees McCloskey
The Names Upon the Harp: Irish Myths and Legends by Marie Heaney
The one and only...Prince Boghole by Erik Christian Haugaard or these copies
The Cottage at Bantry BayFrancie On the RunPegeen
You will find the rest of our suggested books HERE.
(*This link gives me a 10% commission. Thank you.)

Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.
Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!