Morality Tales

No one wants their kids reading complete trash. It's pretty widely understood that what goes in comes out, and if kids consume a steady diet of books with bad morals, chances are they're going to retain those attitudes, regardless of the instruction they get at home. Wouldn't it be better to have them read books with clear messages of Christian virtue and well-behaved main characters?

Yes and no—obviously, we want good examples set for our children, and character-building stories often provide them. At the same time, they have a tendency to portray their heroes and heroines as too good, so that kids see a completely unrealistic picture of childhood which they consequently reject, if not at home, then later in life when it matters even more.

In the Bible, of course, Jesus Himself is presented as our example for leading a godly life. The difference is that these books are supposed to be representations of ordinary people, not the Son of God. To suggest that human beings (especially children!) can attain a state of near-sinless perfection is dangerously close to heresy.

That said, even stories of this kind are better than a lot of the available reading material for youngsters. If the goal is to raise children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, giving them an unattainable standard is superior to giving them one far too easily achieved, or none at all. Stories about selfish kiddos, kiddos who get their way, kiddos who are more wise than adults—these aren't the kind of stories our impressionable tykes need to read.

With that in mind, we offer this collection of morality tales, or wholesome fiction. A lot of these books are Victorian-era novels highly influenced by the moralist tones of the period, but many are also more recent ventures (and also a little more realistic). We suggest you not make a steady diet of these sorts of books (they don't typically feature the best writing), but every now and then it's not a bad idea to refresh your children's pool of good examples.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
Did you find this review helpful?
88 Items found Print
Active Filters: 6th grade (Ages 11-12), Print-on-demand paperback
Aeneid for Boys and Girls
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
Roman Mythology for 5th-8th grade
$11.95
America Grows Up
A History for Peter #2
by Gerald W. Johnson
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-7th grade
in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
America Moves Forward
A History for Peter #3
by Gerald W. Johnson
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-7th grade
in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
American History Stories Volume 1
by Mara L. Pratt
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$11.95
American History Stories Volume 2
by Mara L. Pratt
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$11.95
American History Stories Volume 3
by Mara L. Pratt
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$11.95
American History Stories Volume 4
by Mara L. Pratt
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$11.95
Awakening of Europe
Story of the World Series #3
by M. B. Synge
from Yesterday's Classics
History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$13.95 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Basket of Flowers
by Christoph Von Schmid
from Delmarva Publications
for 3rd-6th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare
by Edith Nesbit
from Yesterday's Classics
Shakespeare/Drama for Children for 4th-8th grade
$13.95
Burning of Rome
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Chaucer for Children
by Mrs. H.R. (Mary) Haweis
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$21.95
Children of the New Forest
by Frederick Marryat
from Yesterday's Classics
Historical Fiction for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Children's Plutarch: Tales of the Greeks
by F. J. Gould
from Yesterday's Classics
Greek History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
$11.95
Children's Plutarch: Tales of the Romans
by F. J. Gould, Reteller
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-8th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
$11.95
Discovery of New Worlds
Story of the World Series #2
by M. B. Synge
from Yesterday's Classics
History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$13.95
Escape from the Slave Traders
TrailBlazer Books
by Dave and Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
$8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Famous Men of the Middle Ages
by John H. Haaren & A.B. Poland
from Yesterday's Classics
Historical Reference for 5th - 10th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$13.95
First Lessons in Nature Study
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$14.95
First Studies of Plant Life
by George F. Atkinson
from Yesterday's Classics
for 6th-9th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$14.95
Florence Nightingale
by Laura E. Richards
from Yesterday's Classics
Biography for 6th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.95
Four American Inventors
by Frances M. Perry
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-8th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$13.95
Gabriel and the Hour Book
by Evaleen Stein
from Yesterday's Classics
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.95 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Grammar Land
by M. L. Nesbitt
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
$10.95
Growth of the British Empire
Story of the World Series #5
by M. B. Synge
from Yesterday's Classics
British History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$13.95 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Heroes
by Charles Kingsley
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-7th grade
$12.95 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Heroes Every Child Should Know
by H. W. Mabie
from Yesterday's Classics
Biography for 5th-8th grade
$15.95
Heroes of the Middle Ages
by Eva March Tappan
from Yesterday's Classics
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$12.95
Hurlbut's Story of the Bible
by Rev. Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
from Yesterday's Classics
for Preschool-6th grade
in Bible Stories for Kids (Location: BIBR-STO)
Iliad for Boys and Girls
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
for 5th-8th grade
$11.95
In the Days of Alfred the Great
by Eva March Tappan
from Yesterday's Classics
for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.95
In the Days of Queen Elizabeth
by Eva March Tappan
from Yesterday's Classics
for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.95
In the Days of Queen Victoria
by Eva March Tappan
from Yesterday's Classics
for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.95 $7.50 (1 in stock)
In the Days of William the Conqueror
by Eva March Tappan
from Yesterday's Classics
for 6th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.95
Kidnapped by River Rats
by Dave & Neta Jackson
from Castle Rock Creative
for 3rd-7th grade
in Trailblazer Books (Location: SER-TRAIL)
$8.99
King Arthur and His Knights
by Maude Redford Warren
2nd edition from Yesterday's Classics
Arthurian Legends and Myths for
$11.95
King of Ireland's Son
by Padraic Colum
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-7th grade
$14.95
King of the Golden River
by John Ruskin
from Yesterday's Classics
for 2nd-6th grade
$9.95
Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
by Amelia C. Houghton, Illustrated by Hokie
from Yesterday's Classics
for k-5
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Little Brother to the Bear
by William J. Long
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$13.95
Little Brother to the Bear
by William J. Long
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
Madam How and Lady Why
by Charles Kingsley
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-8th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$14.95
Matter, Molecules, & Atoms
by Bertha Morris Parker
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-8th grade
in Chemistry (Location: SCI-CHEM)
$15.95
Odyssey for Boys and Girls
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
for 5th-8th grade
$11.95
On the Shores of the Great Sea
Story of the World Series #1
by M. B. Synge
from Yesterday's Classics
History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$13.95 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Our Empire Story
by H. E. Marshall
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-10th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$22.95
Our Island Story
by H. E. Marshall
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-7th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$22.95
Paper Modelling
by Mildred Swannell
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in Paper Crafts & Origami (Location: ELE-ORI)
$16.95
Parables from Nature
by Mrs. Alfred Gatty
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$17.95
Parables from Nature
by Mrs. Alfred Gatty
from Living Book Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$11.99
Parables from Nature
by Mrs. Alfred Gatty
from Feather Trail Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
Peeps at Many Lands: Ancient Egypt
by Constance N. Baikie, James Baikie
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$10.95
Pilgrim's Progress
by John Bunyan
Facsimile Ed from Yesterday's Classics
for 2nd-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$13.95
Plutarch's Lives for Boys and Girls
by W.H. Weston (reteller), Plutarch
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
Poems Every Child Should Know
by Mary E. Burt, ed.
from Yesterday's Classics
for Kindergarten-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$16.95
Saints and Heroes Since the Middle Ages
by George Hodges
from Yesterday's Classics
Biographies for 5th-8th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$11.95
Saints and Heroes to the End of the Middle Ages
by George Hodges
from Yesterday's Classics
Biography Anthology for 5th-8th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$11.95
Sampo
by James Baldwin
from Yesterday's Classics
for 5th-8th grade
$14.95 $9.00 (1 in stock)
School of the Woods
by William Long
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-8th grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$15.95
Scotland's Story
by H. E. Marshall
from Yesterday's Classics
for 5th-12th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$17.95
Secret of Everyday Things
by Jean Henri Fabre
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-8th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$16.95
Secrets of the Woods
by William J. Long
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-8th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$11.95
Stories from Ancient Rome
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4rd-6th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$9.95
Stories From Livy
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
History for 6th-9th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
$11.95
Stories From Livy
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
History for 6th-9th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
Stories from the Crusades
by Janet Harvey Kelman
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-8th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$9.95
Stories From the Greek Tragedians
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
for 6th-9th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
$11.95
Stories of Don Quixote
by James Baldwin, retold from Miguel de Cervantes
from Yesterday's Classics
for 5th-7th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
$12.95
Stories of Siegfried Told to the Children
by Mary MacGregor
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-7th grade
$9.95
Stories of the East from Herodotus
by Alfred J. Church
Ill from Yesterday's Classics
for 5th-8th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
$12.95
Story Book of Science
by Jean Henri Fabre, translated by Florence Constable Bicknell
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$16.95
Story of David Livingstone
by Vautier Golding
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.95
Story of Mankind
by Hendrik Willem Van Loon
from Yesterday's Classics
for 5th-8th grade
1922 Newbery Medal winner
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$19.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Napoleon
The Children's Heroes Series
by H. E. Marshall
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.95
Story of Roland
by James Baldwin
from Yesterday's Classics
for 6th-10th grade
Story of Sir Walter Raleigh
The Children's Heroes Series
by Margaret Duncan Kelly
from Yesterday's Classics
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.95
Story of the Middle Ages
by Samuel B. Harding
from Yesterday's Classics
History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$12.95 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Streams of History: Ancient Greece
by Ellwood W. Kemp
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-8th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$9.95 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Streams of History: Ancient Rome
by Ellwood W. Kemp
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$9.95
Struggle for Sea Power
Story of the World Series #4
by M. B. Synge
from Yesterday's Classics
History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$13.95 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Tanglewood Tales
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Ill from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
$13.95 $8.00 (1 in stock)
This Country of Ours
by H. E. Marshall
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-8th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$22.95
Three Greek Children
by Alfred J. Church
from Yesterday's Classics
for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$11.95
Tommy Smith's Animals
by Edmund Selous
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
West African Folk-Tales
by William H. Barker
from Yesterday's Classics
for 1st-6th grade
$10.95
Wild Animals I Have Known
by Ernest Thompson Seton
from Yesterday's Classics
for 5th-8th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$13.95
Wonder Book for Girls and Boys
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
from Yesterday's Classics
Myths for 5th-10th grade
$12.95 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Wonder Book of Chemistry
by Jean Henri Fabre
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-8th grade
in Chemistry (Location: SCI-CHEM)
$16.95