E is for Ethics: 26 Read-Aloud Stories to share with your kids

eisforethicsbkcover Being a parent brings with it a lot of responsibility. There are the obvious things, like feeding and clothing my kids, but then there’s the not so obvious. Setting an example for my kids to follow and raising them to be polite and respectful and all those great moral values I want them to possess, sometimes gets lost in the daily shuffle.

The folks at Simon and Schuster Canada think they may have a solution or at least a book that might make dealing with this area easier. The book E Is for Ethics, written by Ian James Corlett, contains 26 read-aloud stories dealing with topics like courage and empathy and more; values I want my kids to learn, understand and be examples of.

According to the books forward, the author doesn’t have a PhD, he’s simply a parent like you and me. And as a parent he tries to educate his children by sharing stories about two kids, Elliot and Lucy. This book represents some of those stories.

At first I was expecting a thick, lecture like book, but it’s actually quite small. The stories are no more than two pages in length. But the big test is how my kids would react to them. Reading is big in our house and my kids are pretty quick at picking out preaching and in-your-face moral lessons, but all three of my kids really enjoy the stories. Usually they ask to read two or three of them.

R.A. Holt includes some wonderful illustrations in the book. At the end of each story you’ll find a few questions and famous quote dealing with the value being discussed. These are great for getting a conversation going with my kids. Giving my own example on the topic also helped my kids to open up with their own stories. The questions and discussion also help to gauge if my kids really understand the values in question, like what empathy is or how to show willingness at school.

The author recommends picking one night a week to read and discuss a story which would have you cover each topic twice in the year. Although a great idea, I didn’t have a regular routine for reading the stories. Sometimes if we were running into an issue with helping or telling the truth, stopping what we were doing and sitting to read a related story really helped to talk about the problem. The stories cover most of the values I want my kids to learn and they help start a discussion or create an understanding without sounding to much like a school lesson.

GIVEAWAY!

Simon and Schuster Canada understands how hard it is to be a parent so they’re offering three (3)of our Everything Mom readers their own copy of E is for Ethics to share with their own kids. To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment letting us know the one value you hope your kids learn from you. Enter your comment before January 13, 2009, after which we will randomly choose three names. Contest is open to Canadian residents only.

* Product provided for review.

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About the Author

Managing Partner and Editor-in-Chief at one of the best social networking and lifestyle sites for moms, EverythingMom.com. Trying to balance life at home with my 3 kids (all under 8), while building my business, working at EverythingMom.com and developing my writing. Oh and throw a load of laundry in and a dinner that isn't burnt. Wasn't working from home suppose to be easier?

Posted by Carrie Anne in book reviews on December 29, 2009

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