My favorite families from books

(From my original Blogspot)

Three of my all time favorite families from great literature are: the Gilbreth's ("Cheaper By The Dozen" and "Bells on Their Toes"), the Ingall's ("Little House on the Prairie" series), and the Moody's (from the "Little Britches" series). The first two have been repeatedly adapted for screen with varying degrees of success. However, these adaptations fall short of the inspired writing from the original books.

Each of these three families portrays a totally different time and place in the development of our countries political/geographic history, family development, and social history. Each family encounters vastly differing challenges varying from affluence and fame to complete abject poverty. Two of the three families encounters the untimely death of their father. In each, the father is a strong and inspiring head; the mother a woman of courage, faith, and strength. In each, as well, the family story is written by children who grew to adulthood amazed by the wealth of their experiences and felt drawn to share.

I wish to draw your attention to the fact that these stories are not amazing merely from their place in history. True, these books portray historical vignettes spanning from the American frontier to the roaring 20's, but the real value in these books lie in the strong and faithful parents of the child writers: they lead their families through trials that faced them, set an example of courage, and ultimately inspired their offspring to spend their lifetime contemplating the lessons of childhood.