Using the clues below, discover the mystery word, which is the topic of today’s article.
1. More valuable than deep-blue sapphires.
2. Created the need for a “protected childhood.”
3. Stops bullets.
4. Many have strong backs.
5. Like friends, they should be few, but good.
6. “The purest essence of a human soul.”
7. If you spend too much time with them, watch out — you could turn into a worm.
8. Makes great furniture.
9. Immortal.
10. Can be used as a weapon, or to ignite a revolution .
11. “A good one is the precious lifeblood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.”
12. “The reading of them is like a conversation with the finest minds of the past centuries.”
Did you figure it out? The mystery word is books. Today’s column, following a brief history of books, will give you seven ways to improve the minds of your children, or your own, by sampling new flavors from new recipes found in new forms of books.
The ancient Egyptians processed the papyrus plant, making the first paper medium, upon which books, documents and sacred scriptures were painstakingly hand-written, and stored in libraries as rolled up scrolls.
Since books were rare, and only a select handful of people — clergy, rulers, medical — could read and write, it made no sense to have schools for children. Prior to 1455, when the German printer, Johann Gutenberg invented movable type — the precursor to the modern printing press — children were mini-adults. By day, children toiled in the fields with their fathers by night they did what their parents did -— smoked pipes, drank ale and helped with chores.
Childhood, and the concept that children needed to be viewed as a separate or “protected class,” did not exist. What altered children and childhood forever was when the world became awash in a flood of books. Books, printed upon a printing press, found their way into the hands of village ministers and leaders, and what they read altered history forever.
For inside the leather-bound covers of these early books were world-wide facts. For the first time, the evils of the world — wars, plagues, famines — as well as the good — new inventions like the microscope — were known to all. Schools were set up, and the revolutionary new concept called, “childhood,” was put in place, so that children could be both educated in reading and writing and kept pure and protected from the evils in the world.
So, what does the history of books have to do with you or your children? In the same way that the flooding of books throughout the world created a “protected childhood,” today, a second cultural revolution is occurring: the rise of instant, electronic communication. By simply touching a screen, your child can connect with anyone throughout the globe. This means they can be exposed, in their own home, to damaging media.
Once again, children and childhood need protection. Come mothers and fathers, and grandparents too, set up new walls to keep children safe from toxic cultural residues. How? Books.
Seven Book Ideas:
1. Embrace E-books. Electronic books are used by 25% of Americans. Children love them.
2. Create your own home library. A library is 10 or more books, placed together. A home library is your statement that books are essential for growing the mind of a child. (Kids also like big libraries)
3. Children read if they see their parents read.
4. Reading is reading. Comic books, cereal boxes, baseball cards, novels, bibles, cookbooks, it doesn’t matter. Show your children the world of reading.
5. Read what your children are reading and ask them questions. “What happened after Black Beauty swam to the island?”
6. Have your kids read the book before they see the movie, and ask, “Why was the book so much better?”
7. Shop for prices. Recreational reading costs $1-2 per hour, unless you buy used books, then it’s a dime an hour.
The rise and domination of electronic media means that the very best, as well as the very worst of life is now instantly available to our children. Our job, as protectors, is to make sure strong walls keep out the bad, so that the minds of our children can safely open and see the wonder and magnificence of this world.
The content of this article is for educational purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for treatment by a professional.
References:
1. The ideas about cultural change — “protected class” for children — originated in Mary Pipher’s book, “The Shelter of Each Other,” 1996.
2. “The Handy Science Answer Book,” Bobick, 2003.
3. “The Macmillan Dictionary of Quotations,” 2000.
Dr. Richard Elghammer contributes his column each week to the Journal Review.