The book reviews and brief author and illustrator biographies are broken up into these four categories. There are also a number of brief essays which elaborate on how some of the individual books teach us about God, even if indirectly. Although Catholic Authors was designed for students, I think it should be required reading for homeschooling parents. Reviewed by A.V.H. Available from Neumann Press . Mr. O'Brien explains how fiction, fantasy and fairy tales help children understand the real world - both what we can see and what we can't see.
Stories help teach children the difference between right and wrong, good and evil.
Unfortunately, many fiction stories give the wrong messages about good and bad. Mr. O'Brien gives parents the tools to tell good from bad and includes his own analysis of some popular stories and several Disney movies. The problem with this is that some materials that appear non-offensive have problems of a more subtle nature. Conversely, there are some really fine books and movies that have some unfortunate scenes or even some scenes that seem offensive but are important to the story. A Landscape Wtih Dragons really helps sort out what's good and what's bad in a meaningful, rather than superficial way.