He connected with a character outside of himself and that is where he found words to define his own situation. He felt anger, but he never understood what it really meant until his imagination saw it. It brought a deep understanding none of our many conversations ever had. This story connected his imagination to the true meaning of anger and its effects. As we read aloud his heart was pierced so deeply that he broke down and wept. My son gave me permission to share the following story to illustrate what I mean.ĭuring the time of our first read through of The Green Ember, one of our boys was really struggling with anger. This is important because it keeps the book from being boring and because the boys get to see a flesh and blood character they love and admire struggle the way they themselves do. Q3: As a mom, what are your favorite things about The Green Ember series?ġ) The good guys have flaws. I t is this light in the midst of terrible darkness that draws children in and reminds them they have the power to penetrate the darkness with their own light. SD Smith delivers words with an honesty that is reassuring to children. In other words, this is a book that treats children with respect. I like that this book talked about that and not in a little kid way.” Parents dying and fires in houses and bad grown ups trying to ruin things outside before you have a chance to grow up. When bad stuff happens I can still do good things.”Īnother son echoed, “Yeah, bad stuff happens in real life and it happens to kids. Something about it makes me imagine that I can fight for good things and protect good things and make good things, even though I am just a kid right now. My eldest shared, “This book gives me a craving to be a hero. These books scare them well in the sense that they see something worth fighting, something definitely evil, and they are eager to imagine themselves in the battle against it. In fact, I go out of my way to find books willing to deal with darkness by brandishing truth, beauty and goodness in the face of evil. Whenever I open a book they always ask “Is there a bad guy? Who gets to fight him?” They want a story with a clear division between good and evil. They crave it because they know its real and they want someone to beat it. I have observed that my children crave danger and even darkness in their literature. Q2: Were your kids ever scared of any of the The Green Ember books? This scene has played out with each and every book released in the series. The next morning we skipped all our lessons so we could read together and by the end of the book my children were teary and cheering and so was I. I thought about that quote the moment I finished the last page and woke my husband to say, “THAT was a GREAT book.” Lewis has a famous quote about how a children’s story, only enjoyed by children, is not a good children’s story. The boys were finally sent to bed after page 205 and I snuck the book back to my bed and finished reading it by myself in the early morning hours. How could we? We were running away from wolves and being chased by raptors and standing in the middle of a beautiful guild hall with our eyes wide open and our hearts singing and our minds thinking, t his is a picture of what we’ve been longing for in this life. I put the other books back on the shelf and called the kids over for read aloud time.
There was something in it that I both recognized and yearned for at once. The very first page of The Green Ember grabbed my heart and never let go. I noticed a book with rabbits on the cover, a gift from a friend, and I reached for it. I looked through a few different books people had sent me, reading the first few pages of each to try and find something that would fit the bill. Based off the explanation of their book craving, I narrowed it down to a book that called forth courage and creativity. We had been reading aloud since they were tiny and they had developed a taste for a book they couldn’t quite name. Q1: How did you find Green Ember and did you like it right away?Ī couple of years ago my boys were getting hungrier and hungrier for a story they could really sink their teeth into. If you’re still wondering what all the fuss is about or if you’re in the group of people that messaged me asking all kinds of questions about this series, or if you just really really dig the Green Ember, then this post is just for you! I’m answering 5 of the most common questions sent in to us about this series. If you are a die hard Green Ember fan then you have probably heard by now that SD Smith’s new book, The Wreck and Rise of Whitson Mariner is now available for pre-order.
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