The Children’s Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett. New York: Simon and Shuster. 1995. 111pp. $20.
Teaching children values for life is a tricky prospect, perhaps in part because it brings us face to face with our personal shortcomings. Taking on this critical task quickly shines a light on our double standards. We may feel hypocritical tackling values when we fail to live up to our own codes. Life’s many gray areas make it difficult enough for us to navigate the moral high road, let alone lay out a map for our children in their own moral journey. How many of us can hold our heads high as examples for our children?
And what better way to introduce morality to young children than in story form? William Bennett has created two books that draw on time-honored short stories and poems to cultivate and reinforce ethical principles. In his original eight-hundred page anthology, The Book of Virtues, Bennett collected examples from classic literature and stories from history to illustrate moral concepts. Compiled as a sequel, The Children’s Book of Virtues, targets a younger audience with a limited, illustrated selection of these stories.
Like its larger companion, the children’s edition features grouped material that highlights courage and perseverance; responsibility, work and self-discipline; compassion and faith; honesty, loyalty and friendship. An ambitious undertaking, and one that is apparently difficult to achieve. When a colleague recommended the book, I was excited at the prospect of having a ready-made literary tool that might help me to present ethics to my kids — without being heavy-handed. The wonderful thing about stories is that they stay with you— creating an indelible memory that goes beyond just the dictation of a principle or concept. Yet many of the stories failed to grip or captivate me in the way I had hoped. I just didn’t get that “aha!” experience. And then it struck me that what I wanted was a quick fix: an easy way to impart these lessons to my children.
On the other hand, my children were not as disappointed as I was. While it’s hard to say how much they actually grasped of the book’s ethical lessons, they enjoyed many of the stories, especially “St. George and the Dragon” and “Please”. “Saint George and the Dragon,” is the saga of a prince who dedicated his life to the service of others, rescuing a princess from a dragon along the way. And “Please” is a story about manners, where one boy finds the word please comes easily and the other finds it literally gets stuck in his mouth. Certainly, Michael Hague’s dramatic illustrations add to the book’s lure. Ironically, while the kids’ version is more visually appealing, its uninspired collection of stories had the unintentional effect of making me want to revisit the original for its expanded scope and variety.
This book is a tough call. While I didn’t particularly like it, I liked what it did for me: it re-introduced me to the idea of using books as a source of moral authority. It made me respectful of the breadth of morality and the need to find stories tailored to the particular values I want my kids to learn. Finally, it motivated me to keep my eyes open for any gems which come my way.
William J. Bennett served as Secretary of Education under President Reagan. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from Willams College, a doctorate in political philosophy from the University of Texas, and a law degree from Harvard. Dr. Bennett is currently a co-director of Empower America, and the John M. Olin Distinguished Fellow in Cultural Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation. He, his wife Elayne, and their two sons live in Maryland.