The Literary Nightstand

The Literary Nightstand: Our Professional Reading

The Literary Nightstand is a peek into what’s on our professional nightstands. Most of us here at Redeemed Reader have been reading and studying children’s literature for many years. This is our attempt to help sift the wheat from the chaff for our readers who want to learn more about children’s literature in particular and the field of literary criticism in general.

We are all professing Christians, and that means something in the literary criticism world. We do not embrace all critical philosophies, we believe in absolute truth, we believe the Bible is still relevant and inerrant, and we believe that our ultimate goal in reading books with and for children is to know God better. (For more about what we believe, see our About page.)

The picture above is a sampling of one of our staff’s collection–some of them have been heavily used over the years!

The Literary Nightstand List

The list below will be updated as we review books; it is only a sampling! Consider these books helpful guides when navigating the world of books. Books are alpha by title.

• Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson. B&H, 2019. [Peterson offers transparency in reflecting on his years of experience trying to being creative, often falling short of his aspirations, and yet being surprised by the grace of God accomplishing greater things than Peterson could ever have imagined.]
• Bequest of Wings by Annis Duff. Viking, 1944. [Celebration of the delights of reading together as a family.]
• Book Girl: A Journey Through the Treasures & Transforming Power of the Reading Life by Sarah Clarkson. Tyndale, 2018. [Exploration of 10 ways books influence our lives, particularly our emotional, mental, and spiritual lives.]
• The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. Jossey-Bass, 2009. [Importance of letting children and teens choose their books and how to foster a general love of reading]
• Books Children Love by Elizabeth Wilson. Crossway, 2002. [A great resource: essentially a giant annotated booklist of great books for children.]
• *Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies by Marilyn McEntyre. Eerdmans, 2021. [Makes readers think through how to be better stewards of words.]
• *Echoes of Eden by Jerram Barrs. English, 2013. [Christian examination of literature, how it reflects God’s own creative work, and a closer examination of 5 particular authors: Shakespeare, J. K. Rowling, Jane Austen, Tolkien, Lewis]
• The Enchanted Hour by Meghan Cox Gurdon. Harper, 2019. [Exploration of the benefits of reading aloud to any age!]
• *Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt. Zondervan, 2002 (orig. 1969) [Collection of essays regarding reading as a family in general and some specific genre reflections (such as fantasy) in particular. Second half of book is book lists!] Read our review of the 50th anniversary edition here.
• Honey for a Teen’s Heart by Gladys Hunt. Zondervan, 2002. [A continuation of Hunt’s original work, but with a focus on teen readers.]
• I’d Rather Be Reading by Anne Bogel. Baker Books, 2018. [Fun reading for bibliophiles.]
• Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books by Tony Reinke. Crossway, 2011. [Why should we as Christians read and what do we look for in books?]
• On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior. Brazos Press, 2018. [How to read well, as in closely, with an eye towards pursuing virtue.]
• Picture This: How Pictures Work by Molly Bang. Chronicle Books, 2016. [When you read a picture book, do you know how the pictures work? Can you “picture this”?]
• *The Pop-Culture Parent from New Growth Press, 2020. [Central to the three authors’ approach is parents’ responsibility to know the hearts of their children and teens as well as to know what cultural goods are surrounding their children and teens.]
• The Read-Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie. Zondervan, 2018. [How to build relationships with your children over books and how to create a book club culture in your home/classroom; lots of book lists!]
• The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. Penguin, 1994. [Has been a gold standard in books about children’s books for decades; we recommend older editions of this book.]
• *Reading Between the Lines by Gene Edward Veith, Jr. Crossway, 2013. [An excellent crash course in a Christian—and scholarly—understanding of literature.]
• Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller. Jossey-Bass, 2013. [A look at how Miller’s philosophy of reading and her recommendations in The Book Whisperer appear “in the wild.”]
• *Recovering the Lost Art of Reading by Leland Ryken and Glenda Faye Mathes. Crossway, 2021. [Invites readers to reconsider how and why they read; it offers ideas and suggestions for Christians who want to read for the true, the good, and the beautiful.]
• *Soul School by Amber O’Neal Johnston. Tarcher Perigree, 2025. [A well-researched, thoughtful, and joyful exploration of Black literature for children and teens.]
• Tending the Heart of Virtue by Vigen Guroian. Oxford UP, 1998. [Examines the ways in which classic children’s literature helps train a child’s moral imagination.]
• Welcome to Lizard Motel by Barbara Feinberg. Beacon Press, 2004. [A memoir of reading with an urge to give children hope in their reading in a sea of “heavy” books.]
• *Wild Things and Castles in the Sky from Square Halo Books, 2022. [40 different authors write eloquently about children’s literature, faith in Christ, and shepherding imaginations.]