“But life has a way of serving up the unexpected.”
Soon many children will be entering new school buildings, classrooms, meeting new friends, and/or beginning a new year of study at home. That can all be intimidating and feel stressful for the whole family. Helping a child face challenges is an intense parenting struggle.
It can also be a time of recognizing one’s strengths and realizing that in the new uncomfortable situations, we are strong enough to make it through.
How do we teach our children to rely on faith and gain an understanding of their strength and capabilities?
Through our example, and through the information we present to them.
The Dragon King: Teaching Children to Rely on Faith
I recently had the opportunity to read the book The Dragon King after The Mom Blogs asked for volunteers to review and help promote it. I did receive a copy of the book in exchange for my review.
“What has seemed impossible before was now in fact a reality.”
The Dragon King is a story inspired by a young boy who was actually burned very badly in a fire. Vivian Slade, the author of the book, happened to meet him.
Ethan, the name of the boy and main character of the book, faced a daunting challenge much beyond his years. I can relate to that having been diagnosed with a chronic illness when I was ten years old.
Ethan, the character, is a young boy-a preteen-whose father (the king) dies. Ethan being the next in line takes over and has to adjust to being a child in an adult’s job.
He is challenged to face each day, and then gains the ultimate challenge of having to fight off a dragon that threatens his whole kingdom. He has to reach deep for his inner strength to put the needs of his kingdom over his own life.
His mother is his main source of motivation, and yet, he has to choose on his own whether to take on the task of fighting a dragon who has already defeated so many of his knights or preserve himself.
It is a great size for a child who may be overwhelmed by long chapter books. It is sold as both an ebook and an audio book which has accompanying music to add to the action of the story. The music is fairly theatrical and it does evoke images of a stage musical as I listened to a few samples.
I think children ages 7-12 would enjoy this story. I would encourage the parents of these children to read it first. It is important to talk to our children about the story.
While Ethan is a king and has to fight a fictional character in a fictional world, we all face difficult challenges that test our faith and our strength. Ultimately these life events teach us more than we could have known without facing them.
Many children have feelings of being alone and misunderstood. This story can reach them. It can give them a fictional world to deal with their pressing feelings, or a prompt for talking more with you about how they feel.
It’s a great read-aloud book for younger elementary kids as well. I read it to my 5 year old and he enjoyed the action and suspense.
The message is so important today as we see so many children lost in the world without a strong family connection to help them stay positive and strong.
“No task lies before you so dreadful that you shall not master it.”
A Values Curriculum for grades 1 through 6 will be available soon as well to teach the traits that Ethan dug deep to reveal in this story.
The Dragon King has a positive message, a worthwhile cause, and you can help!
For each copy purchased, a book will be donated.
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Enjoy your time at home!
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