Could I read America a bed-time story?

[mom31257]

I hope this doesn't count as a political thread, because it isn't about sides. It's about our country. :patriot:

 

I just read a picture book to my 5 year old ds, and was about to cry for concern for our country. It is "Castaway Cats" by Lisa Wheeler. Fifteen cats are shipwrecked and end up on a deserted island. They start trying to build a boat to leave the island. Each one wants to do it "their way". They end up all fighting and getting hurt. They realize how foolish they are and they have to work together. They sit around the fire and organize a plan. The next day they are thoughtful, helpful, each one doing his share, each one working until the boat is finished. Then they are sad to leave each other because some have been strays and now love the kittens. They all decide to stay on the island, making it home. Now they are a family.

 

So how do we get all of America to read one book?:grouphug:

[beansprouts]

Someone on this board said that America needs a frontier, and I think she was right. In your story also, it was the challenge, the common goal that brought them together and motivated them.

[magistramom]

I love your idea, and think of it often. You are on the right track with getting everyone to read a book, and this one sounds like a conversation starter.

 

Those that follow TJEd (and CM and WTM) realize that our nation (any nation) needs a national book. Most American's woudl react with choosing the Bible as a national book, but that doesn't fit everyone in our nation. So, to suggest a book that we all read, we should start with the documents of our nation, for example, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Those "books" are our anchor.

 

Fairy tales, fables, and cultural stories are another form of a "national book". They help anchor us to the virtues shared by the world. As you read these you realize that these stories are told over and over across the world, to fit the culture. The Bible is a collection of many stories of the past, retold as they are relived (creation myths/Genesis; Gilgamesh/Noah; Sargon/Moses; Hammurabi's Code/Ten Commandments). Your book suggestion fits in the fable/fairy tale part of this - we need more of these stories, and we need them to be common to all.