Many parents want their children to embrace ideas such as cooperation, kindness, or honesty, but these may be the most challenging concepts for them to convey. In a flicker, youngsters spot a lecture coming and are quick to retreat mentally, leaving behind a black expression that nearly every parent recognizes with a sigh.

Fortunately, parents already have a strategy “in their backyard ” to deliver these messages to ready and open ears. I invite you to rediscover a secret weapon you have always had—and youngsters have always responded to—the Story.

Remember being a child? Everything was alive. Everything had a heart and soul, and books had pictures. Every adult is a former eight-year-old, wide open with yearning and possibility, understanding exactly how troubled the adults around you are, even if they think they are hiding it from you, almost unbearably alert to the wonders and dangers all at once. That is the reason you should listen to this conversation with Kate DiCamillo, even if you have never heard of her vast body of books, beloved by teachers, parents, and former children who grew up reading her. [1]

Take a listen, remember, be inspired, and share.

[1] https://onbeing.org/programs/kate-dicamillo-for-the-eight-year-old-in-you/

[1] https://storiestogrowby.org/the-power-of-storytelling-stories-hold-magic-and-values-for-dren/