Building the Future Through the Stories We Tell Our Children

Every book we open is more than just a story; it's an invitation into another world, an invitation to walk alongside characters, watch their choices, feel their struggles, and celebrate their triumphs. For children, whose imaginations are wide open and whose sense of the possible is still being shaped, the books they read help set the boundaries of what they believe the world can be.

That’s why it matters so deeply which stories we place into their hands.

Stories Shape the Heart Before the Mind

Long before children can fully understand abstract values, they can feel them. When they see a fictional hero who tells the truth even when it’s dangerous, they don’t just learn about honesty; they feel its weight and its cost. When they watch a character stand up to injustice, they taste courage. When they read about a knight who serves the weak with respect and self-control, they find a vision of chivalry that might, one day, take root in their own behavior.

If we want our children to be honest, courageous, and chivalrous, they need to encounter honesty, courage, and chivalry on the page, over and over again, until these virtues are not distant concepts, but familiar friends.

The Family in the Story Becomes the Family in the Home

The same is true for how our children see relationships. If we want a household where we cooperate, share burdens, and stand by one another, then we ought to hold up stories that show families doing just that. When a child reads about siblings who solve problems together, or parents who guide and protect with wisdom, they are quietly learning what “normal” can look like.

Too often, the norm in popular stories leans toward brokenness, constant conflict, or the glorification of selfishness. While it’s true that tension drives narrative, tension doesn’t have to mean bitterness or betrayal. We can choose stories where problems are solved not through cruelty or depravity, but through moral strength and goodness.

Choosing Stories on Purpose

Selecting the right books for our children (and for ourselves) takes effort. It means scanning past the flashy covers and trending titles, and asking: Does this story call us higher? Does it showcase the kind of people we want to become? Does it hold a mirror to the world we hope to create?

We cannot afford to be passive. If a child’s bookshelf is filled with stories that subtly normalize behaviors and values far from our ideals, we shouldn’t be surprised when those values are absorbed and mimicked. The stories our children consume are rehearsals for the lives they will live.

The Stories We Live By

The future we hope for (whether in our own hearts, our family, our community, or the world) starts with seeds planted in the imagination of children. Good books are some of the most powerful seed-sowers out there.

So let’s choose with intention. Let’s give our children tales worth imitating. Let’s fill their minds with heroes who are honest, courageous, and selfless. Let's provide them with friends who are loyal and kind. Let's show them families who work together through challenges. These are not just beautiful fictions; they are blueprints for a better reality.

If we want our children to live in a world marked by virtue, we must first let them dwell in it, in the pages of a book.