The Children of Greene Knowe

I've decided to try to write up a little review of the books that I've finished reading. I think it will be helpful for me to try to remember the content of what I've read (yeah, go ahead and laugh), and I can attempt to improve my writing skills. Ha ha. So, at the risk of offending the person who loaned me the book and my children's favorite non-grandparent babysitter, I'm going to start with The Children of Greene Knowe, by LM Boston.

The book starts with a sad young boy named Toseland sitting on a train, off to visit his great-grandmother for the Christmas holiday. Upon arrival at his grandmother's castle, she promptly rechristens him "Tolly," and they become good friends. Soon it becoms apparent that the castle is magical, inhabited by the spirits of his ancestors; in particular, a set of 3 siblings about his age. As the story unfolds, Tolly is led into their magical world and won over by their personalities. The book climaxes on Christmas Eve, when Tolly triumphs over an evil curse laid on the castle centuries ago, aided by his 3 friends.

The book was beautiful. The language was so much fun to read, and would be so easy to read aloud. Carver is probably a bit young, but in just a few years, I think he would be able to follow the story line and not be scared by the evil curse at the end. The descriptions were amazing, and the story-telling superb. And, I am always amazed at the imaginations of those who can concoct such stories. I love reading them, but I will never have the creative genius to be able to do it.

Here is the reason I will not read aloud to Carver in a few years (sorry!): there are two looming issues of gender and gender roles that bother me.

First, Tolly has no male role-model to look up to. He is living with his grandmother, who is a distinctly feminine, though adventerous, character. His own father is far away and married to a woman that Tolly does not like (his own mother is dead). There is a male gardener in the story, but he bears no shaping influence on Tolly, though Tolly is allowed to tag along with him on several errands. The children that he loves are his own age, and although the boys are boy-ish, they are not father figures. Their own father, who is mentioned a few times, is a Captain, and away frequently. In my fiction choices at this young age, I would like to present Carver with stories of bravery and adventure that include a Dad (or some such figure) who is brave and Christ-like.

Second, Tolly could very easily be switched to "Tally," all the pronouns switched to "she" and the story would read the same. There is nothing that makes him distinctly a boy. In my short experiences with children, this is unrealistic. The spirits of the young girl and her brothers that Tolly is forever chasing are always playing together--there is never any separation, and all the activities that they do are completely androgenous. The boys carry swords, but it is only because they are perfect gentlemen, not because they ever play-fight with them. All the children sit quietly and feed the woodland animals, naming them and petting them. In fact, when the encounter with the evil Green Noah spirit occurs, it is the little girl that gives Tolly the courage to stand up to him, while her brothers tell her to "shhh!" While I am not going to discourage my girls from showing courage, I want them to understand that God has arranged our world in such a way that men (and boys, in this case) are there to protect them, not the other way around.

There is one other aspect of the book that makes it not an ideal read for small children: the complete absence of true faith. The children are mentioned believing that saints are real (a statue of St. Christopher lives in the garden), and they attend mass a few times, but that is the extent of the religious instruction. Christmas is viewed as a magical time, not a time to think about God's plan for redeeming His people through His Son. I do not think that all books must have some obviously Christian aspects. There are many books that I read to the kids, like Corduroy, or Winnie-the-Pooh, that are completely absent of any religion whatsoever. What worries me about this book is the presence of common religious items, like saints and mass, that have magical powers. And, in this particular case, this is a very Catholic (as in Roman Catholic) depiction. Saints, mass, nothing deeper than that. No understanding of the gospel.

And, there is another issue that I am not even going to touch: the issue of magic in children's literature. I don't know what I think, and I don't know where this book fits on the continuum from Narnia to Harry Potter. But, there is a lot of magic here. So there you have it.

Now, just in case you are worried that these will be my criteria for literature for my children until they reach college, let me reassure you. I would not read this to Carver right now. What I would do is give it to him as a 10- or 12- year old with perhaps a worksheet of questions, or a note in my own mind to discuss these issues with him as he reads the book. He would still get exposed to the beautiful language and fascinating story, but at an age where he would be better able to evaluate some of these important issues in light of what he knows about the Gospel and what the Bible says about the way the world is.