Are you an avid avoider of the library? If you’re a Charlotte Mason mom, bringing your child to the library is kind of like letting them have free reign in a candy store. At first glance, everything looks so colorful, so delicious. But then a closer look will tell you that it’s all junk. Your child will most definitely leave with their fair share of junk. I’ve written a lot about how to choose living books, (you can even download a free PDF here!) but this post focuses on WHY living books are important. Twaddle is junk food for the mind!
What is Twaddle?
Merriam-Webster defines the word twaddle as “a. Silly idle talk. b. Something insignificant or worthless.” When Charlotte Mason refers to twaddle in books, she means books that talk down to children, are poorly written, and lack any literary quality. Charlotte Mason says that children should never see twaddle, but they must have funny books. So, just because a book is silly doesn’t mean that it is not worthy of reading!
Why Living Books Are Important
They are “brain food.”
“Teachers, and even parents, who are careful enough about their children’s diet, are so reckless as to the sort of mental aliment (food) offered to them, that I am exceedingly anxious to secure consideration for this question, of the lessons and literature proper for the little people.” Home Education, pgs 176-177
When given the choice, a child might choose to eat candy at every meal of the day! But that doesn’t mean it’s good for him. In the same way, a child might enjoy twaddle, but it doesn’t nourish his mind. Living books introduce children to ideas that in turn shape their mental faculties and inspire them to grow in character and maturity.
They develop refined taste
(Referring “books of comicalities”)“When cultivated to excess, it is apt to show itself in a flippant habit.” Ibid, pg. 152
When children get into the habit of reading funny books or twaddle, they have a harder time enjoying books that are really worth their time. I want to make sure my children are reading living books early on. If I suddenly try to move away from “twaddle when they’re ten, it will be harder to convince them that it’s worthy.
Junk food makes us crave more junk food. It is so difficult to cut out unhealthy foods if we eat them regularly because our bodies crave them. In the same way, allowing children to read twaddle will make them want to read only twaddle.
“We wish the children to grow up to find joy and refreshment in the taste, the flavour of a book.” Charlotte Mason, Parents and Children
You might know that I’m not completely sold on the idea that developing taste is an important part of education. In the Victorian Age, taste was a sort of morality. It was important to like the “right” things. In this case, I see why the ability to appreciate writers of beautiful words and wisdom is important.
They experience better things
“By the way, it is a pity when the sense of the ludicrous is cultivated in children’s books at the expense of better things. Alice in Wonderland is a delicious feast of absurdities, which none of us, old or young, could afford to spare; but it is doubtful whether the child who reads it has the delightful imaginings, the realising of the unknown, with which he read The Swiss Family Robinson.” Home Education, page 152
Only exposing a child to a “feast of absurdities” constantly wastes their time. Her quote above makes me think of Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” NIV
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I think it’s worth repeating: living books and twaddle will be a matter of opinion. I recently heard a mom say that a certain book was most definitely twaddle. She said that this was not an opinion, this was a fact. This same book in question came recommended as a great living book for the early years from a very reputable Charlotte Mason website! Just like we make the best possible choices for our family’s nutrition, choosing the best books for our children is entirely up to us!