The perfect companion to William J. Bennett's number-one bestseller The Book of Virtues, The Children's Book of Virtues is the ideal storybook for parents and children to enjoy together. With selections from The Book of Virtues, from Aesop and Robert Frost to George Washington's life as well as Native American and African folklore, The Children's Book of Virtues brings together timeless stories and poems from around the world.
The stories have been chosen especially for a young audience to help parents introduce to their children the essentials of good character: Courage, Perseverance, Responsibility, Work, Self-discipline, Compassion, Faith, Honesty, Loyalty, and Friendship.
Lavishly illustrated by the well-known artist Michael Hague, these wonderful stories and the virtues they illustrate come to life on these pages.
The Children's Book of Virtues is an enduring treasury of literature and art that will help lead young minds toward what is noble and gentle and fine.
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Ages 4-8. Using portions of his best-selling adult work Book of Virtues, former secretary of education William Bennett teams up with artist Michael Hague to create a collection of stories, poems, and fables in a format more suitable for children. Noting in his introduction that his goal is to further the "moral education of the young," Bennett has chosen selections to illustrate 10 virtues, which he further divides into four groups, among them, courage/perseverance and compassion/faith. Many selections, such as the Aesop fables, are easily found elsewhere, but Bennett has also included some full-length versions of poems and tales known only vaguely today. A few selections seem badly dated or unbearably heavy-handed (for example, the story of the boy whose "please" didn't get enough fresh air so it ran away to another boy's mouth), and the apocryphal tale of George Washington and the cherry tree should have been labeled as such. Hague's plentiful artwork adds enormously to the charm of the collection. In keeping with each selection, his style ranges widely, from the comical to the lushly romantic and sweetly old-fashioned. --Susan Dove Lempke
