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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.
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58 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 8th grade (Ages 13-14), Trade Paperback
Beggars' Bible
by Louise Vernon
from Herald Press
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.99
Bible Smuggler
by Louise Vernon
from Herald Press
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.99
Blind Girl's Song
from Christian Focus Publications
for 4th-8th grade
in TorchBearers & TrailBlazers (Location: BIO-TRAIL)
Book of Friendliness
from Seton Press
for 8th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Christmas With Grandma Elsie
Elsie Dinsmore Collection #14
by Martha Finley
from Sovereign Grace
for 3rd-8th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
Coronation of Glory
Reformation Trail Series #12
by Deborah Meroff
from Inheritance Publications
Biography for 8th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.95
Czar, The
by Deborah Alcock
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
$19.95
Done and Dared in Old France
Huguenot Inheritance Series #7
by Deborah Alcock
from Inheritance Publications
Historical fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Huguenot Inheritance Series (Location: FIC-WH02)
$14.95
Driven into Exile
Huguenot Inheritance Series #5
by Charlotte Maria Tucker
from Inheritance Publications
Historical fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Huguenot Inheritance Series (Location: FIC-WH02)
$9.95
Elsie and the Raymonds
Elsie Dinsmore Collection #15
by Martha Finley
from Sovereign Grace
for 3rd-8th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
Elsie on the Hudson
Elsie Dinsmore Collection #23
by Martha Finley
from Sovereign Grace
for 3rd-8th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
Elsie's Journey on Inland Waters
Elsie Dinsmore Collection #21
by Martha Finley
from Sovereign Grace
for 3rd-8th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
Escape
Huguenot Inheritance Series #1
by A. Van der Jagt
from Inheritance Publications
Historical fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Huguenot Inheritance Series (Location: FIC-WH02)
$10.95
Faerie Gold
Classics for Young Readers
by Kathryn Lindskoog & Ranelda Mack Hunsicker
from P&R Publishing
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Folklore for 4th-8th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
$17.99
Faithful, But Not Famous
Emma Leslie Church History Series
by Emma Leslie
from Salem Ridge Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Gytha's Message
Emma Leslie Church History Series
by Emma Leslie
from Salem Ridge Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Heart Strangely Warmed
by Louise A. Vernon
from Herald Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Hidden Treasure
Reformation Trail Series #21
by Lucy Ellen Geurnsey
from Inheritance Publications
for 8th-Adult
in Reformation Trail Series (Location: FIC-WH06)
$17.95
How They Kept the Faith
Huguenot Inheritance Series #3
by Grace Raymond
from Inheritance Publications
Historical fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Huguenot Inheritance Series (Location: FIC-WH02)
$19.90
In the City
Huguenot Inheritance Series #13
by Deborah Alcock
from Inheritance Publications
for 7th-10th grade
in Huguenot Inheritance Series (Location: FIC-WH02)
$13.95
In the Desert
Huguenot Inheritance Series #12
by Deborah Alcock
from Inheritance Publications
in Huguenot Inheritance Series (Location: FIC-WH02)
$13.95
Ink on His Fingers
by Louise Vernon
from Herald Press
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.99
James Chalmers
Torchbearers
by Irene Howat
from Christian Focus Publications
for 3rd-8th grade
in TorchBearers & TrailBlazers (Location: BIO-TRAIL)
John Calvin, Genius of Geneva
Reformation Trail Series #07
by Lawrence Penning
from Inheritance Publications
Biography for 6th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$19.95
Key to the Prison
by Louise A. Vernon
from Herald Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$11.99
King's Daughter
by Isabella Macdonald Alden
from Creation House
for 4th-8th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
King's Service
Reformation Trail Series #18
by Deborah Alcock
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Reformation Trail Series (Location: FIC-WH06)
Leofwine the Monk: Or, the Curse of the Ericsons
Emma Leslie Church History Series
by Emma Leslie
from Salem Ridge Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Lights in a Dark Place
Hidden Heroes #5
by Rebecca Davis
from Christian Focus Publications
for 3rd-8th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
Little White Farm House in Iowa
Precious Memories Book 1: The First 10 Years
by Carol Brands
from Inheritance Publications
for 4th-9th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
$9.00
Little Yellow Farm House in Iowa
Precious Memories Book 2: Years 11-17
by Carol Brands
from Inheritance Publications
for 4th-9th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
$9.00
Living Water in the Desert
Hidden Heroes #6
by Rebecca Davis
from Christian Focus Publications
for 3rd-8th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Loyal Huguenot Maid
Huguenot Inheritance Series #8
by Margaret S. Comrie
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Huguenot Inheritance Series (Location: FIC-WH02)
Luther the Leader
by Virgil Robinson
from A. B. Publishing, Inc.
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.95 $4.00 (4 in stock)
Magic Runes
Emma Leslie Church History Series
by Emma Leslie
from Salem Ridge Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Man Who Laid the Egg
by Louise Vernon
from Herald Press
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.99
Martyr of Kolin
Young Burning Hearts Series
by H. O. Ward
from Inheritance Publications
for 5th-10th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
Martyr's Victory
Emma Leslie Church History Series
by Emma Leslie
from Salem Ridge Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Nobody's Boy
by Hector Malot, translated by Florence Crewe Jones, illustrated by Thelma Gooch and Johnny Gruelle
from Inheritance Publications
for 6th-9th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
$14.95
Nobody's Girl
by Hector Malot, translated by Florence Crewe Jones
from Inheritance Publications
for 6th-9th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
Not for Crown or Sceptre
Reformation Trail Series #15
by Deborah Alcock
from Inheritance Publications
for 7th-10th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
$25.95
Of Skies and Seas
My Father's World
by Joanne E. De Jonge
from Eerdmans
for 7th-9th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Refugees
Huguenot Inheritance Series #6
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
from Inheritance Publications
Historical fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Huguenot Inheritance Series (Location: FIC-WH02)
$15.96
Rescue at the Eleventh Hour
by W. H. G. Kingston
Revised from Grace & Truth Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
$7.00
Return of the White Book
Hidden Heroes #4
by Rebecca Davis
from Christian Focus Publications
for 4th-8th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
Sabbath Readings for the Home Circle
by M. A. Vroman
from A. B. Publishing, Inc.
for 5th-Adult
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Secret Church
by Louise A. Vernon
from Herald Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$11.99
Secret Mission
Huguenot Inheritance Series #2
by A. Van der Jagt
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Huguenot Inheritance Series (Location: FIC-WH02)
$13.95 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow
Bethlehem Books Adventure Library
by Allen French
from Yesterday's Classics
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$10.95
Story of the World - M. B. Synge Collection
by Margaret Bertha Synge
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-8th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$59.30
Strangers in the Land
by Louise A. Vernon
from Review and Herald Publishing Association
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Thunderstorm in Church
by Louise Vernon
from Herald Press
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$10.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Trust God, Keep the Faith
by Bartha Hill
from Inheritance Publications
for 7th-10th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
Under Calvin's Spell
Reformation Trail Series #08
by Deborah Alcock
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Reformation Trail Series (Location: FIC-WH06)
$14.95
Well in the Orchard
Huguenot Inheritance Series #10
by Deborah Alcock
from Inheritance Publications
for 7th-10th grade
in Huguenot Inheritance Series (Location: FIC-WH02)
$8.95
With Two Hands
Hidden Heroes #1
by Rebecca Davis
from Christian Focus Publications
for 6th-10th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
Witness Men
Hidden Heroes #3
by Rebecca Davis
from Christian Focus Publications
for 4th-8th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
Young Huguenots
Huguenot Inheritance Series #4
by Edith Floyer
from Inheritance Publications
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Huguenot Inheritance Series (Location: FIC-WH02)
$11.95 $7.00 (1 in stock)
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