Nathan and I recently finished reading The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson. They are awesome books. Like the Chronicles of Narnia they are good enough to read as adults and fun enough to read as children.
From the website:
"It’s a series of four fantasy-adventure novels about the three Igiby children, Janner, Kalmar, and Leeli. At the beginning of the story Janner is twelve, Kalmar (whose nickname is Tink) is eleven, and their little sister Leeli is nine. They’re accompanied by Leeli’s dog Nugget, their mother Nia, and their ex-pirate grandfather Podo Helmer. They live in a world called Aerwiar, which is exactly like our world–except they don’t have electricity or gunpowder, and there are all sorts of creepy animals, like sea dragons and toothy cows. Janner, the eldest, is about to discover that the ordinary little town where they live is anything but ordinary. In fact, he and his family are at the center of a great mystery that will change their lives forever."
What I love is that the first book (On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness) starts out much more silly and lighthearted, but each book progresses and matures with the characters. Evil becomes more real, elusive darkness becomes the darkness within, sins have consequences, love leads to forgiveness, selfishness requires repentance, and sacrifices are made. The books deal with family, love, betrayal, forgiveness, evil, redemption, sin, temptation, the pain of this world, and the goodness of God. All wrapped up in a somewhat silly but wonderfully engaging adventure.
These books, like many fantasy stories, take the invisible spiritual battle and make it visible. They may change the names of things, place the story in a made up world, and add some strange animals, but when you strip that all away they say something about the human heart. They can say something that can't be said. They can use things that aren't real to make you feel things that are.
Some stories that are too happy and turn out too good bother me. They aren't realistic. It's not real life. When you take away a realistic evil and replace it with an easily conquered "bad guy" you loose the truth that evil (Satan, sin, death etc.) is far more complicated, far more appealing, and far more difficult to fight.
Anyway, these books have my highest of recommendations (since my opinion matters so much) and I would encourage reading them yourself and reading to your children.... and to your children's children....even unto the fourth generation. :)
In Christ
~Michelle
From the website:
"It’s a series of four fantasy-adventure novels about the three Igiby children, Janner, Kalmar, and Leeli. At the beginning of the story Janner is twelve, Kalmar (whose nickname is Tink) is eleven, and their little sister Leeli is nine. They’re accompanied by Leeli’s dog Nugget, their mother Nia, and their ex-pirate grandfather Podo Helmer. They live in a world called Aerwiar, which is exactly like our world–except they don’t have electricity or gunpowder, and there are all sorts of creepy animals, like sea dragons and toothy cows. Janner, the eldest, is about to discover that the ordinary little town where they live is anything but ordinary. In fact, he and his family are at the center of a great mystery that will change their lives forever."
What I love is that the first book (On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness) starts out much more silly and lighthearted, but each book progresses and matures with the characters. Evil becomes more real, elusive darkness becomes the darkness within, sins have consequences, love leads to forgiveness, selfishness requires repentance, and sacrifices are made. The books deal with family, love, betrayal, forgiveness, evil, redemption, sin, temptation, the pain of this world, and the goodness of God. All wrapped up in a somewhat silly but wonderfully engaging adventure.
These books, like many fantasy stories, take the invisible spiritual battle and make it visible. They may change the names of things, place the story in a made up world, and add some strange animals, but when you strip that all away they say something about the human heart. They can say something that can't be said. They can use things that aren't real to make you feel things that are.
Some stories that are too happy and turn out too good bother me. They aren't realistic. It's not real life. When you take away a realistic evil and replace it with an easily conquered "bad guy" you loose the truth that evil (Satan, sin, death etc.) is far more complicated, far more appealing, and far more difficult to fight.
Anyway, these books have my highest of recommendations (since my opinion matters so much) and I would encourage reading them yourself and reading to your children.... and to your children's children....even unto the fourth generation. :)
In Christ
~Michelle
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