December 29, 2009 5:52 PM
Children's stories on lying
Hi Barbara,
I was wondering if you had any recommendations for children's books that deal with lying. My 4 year old has just started telling lies and I know that at this stage they learn moral lessons best through stories. I can't think of any off the top of my head, but it seems like they must be out there! Feel free to post this to your blog to see if any of your readers have recommendations.
Thanks,
Lauren
Hi Lauren -
You are right - the best way to teach children is through stories - in fact, the best way to teach anyone is through stories - which is why Jesus taught in parables. Aesop's Fables are a great way to teach moral lessons and every family library should have a book/collection.
The fable that immediately comes to mind is The Boy Who Cried Wolf, which goes:
The Boy Who Cried WolfA shepherd-boy, who watched a flock of sheep near a village, brought out the villagers three or four times by crying out, "Wolf! Wolf!" and when his neighbors came to help him, laughed at them for their pains.
The Wolf, however, did truly come at last. The Shepherd-boy, now really alarmed, shouted in an agony of terror: "Pray, do come and help me; the Wolf is killing the sheep," but no one paid any heed to his cries, nor rendered any assistance. The Wolf, having no cause of fear, at his leisure lacerated or destroyed the whole flock.
There is no believing a liar, even when he speaks the truth.
You can look for a collection or maybe a picture book of this particular fable at your library or Paperbackswap or Amazon
.
Other more modern takes include:
Arthur and the True Francine
Franklin Fibs
The most proactive way to help your children avoid sin is through promoting the virtue. Defend against lying by promoting honesty.
A great series to help with character building through teaching specific virtues is Bill Gothard's Character Sketches
Also, any child over three who has a bad habit or continuing struggle with a specific sin can be helped through a plan I call the Five Steps to Freedom.
Hoping others will have more ideas!
Posted in Books, Mothering, Preschoolers, Spiritual education | Permalink
Comments
Acts 5:1-11, the story of Ananias & Sapphira is a good story of God's hate of lying from The Bible.
Posted by: Darleen | December 30, 2009 4:27 PM
One "story" that has helped our daughter immensely has been a Veggie Tales video - Larry Boy and the Fib from Outer Space. She did not understand the concept until she could see the characters going through a similar situation, and now when we discuss something and ask if it is a lie, she refers to the video and we can tell her yes.
Posted by: Sara | December 30, 2009 6:18 PM
