62 episodes

How do you know a good book when you see it? What books are really worth reading? The purpose of this conversation is to help mothers and fathers identify books that will liberate their children to embrace truth, goodness, and beauty. We’ll be pondering questions of life and lifestyle as we seek to become people who live deeply and read deeply, drawing our children into the adventure of reading and living.

Bright Wings: Children’s Books to Make the Heart Soar Charity Hill

    • Kids & Family
    • 5.0 • 32 Ratings

How do you know a good book when you see it? What books are really worth reading? The purpose of this conversation is to help mothers and fathers identify books that will liberate their children to embrace truth, goodness, and beauty. We’ll be pondering questions of life and lifestyle as we seek to become people who live deeply and read deeply, drawing our children into the adventure of reading and living.

    Read Fantasy?

    Read Fantasy?

    Do your kids read fantasy? What do you think of magic? Is magic good? Bad? Join Charity as she considers why fantasy is such an important category of fiction to read! Perhaps, like Aslan, fantasy is "not safe, but good."

    Discover great fantasy books for your child: The Great Fantasy Book List (pdf)

    Purchase The Great Fantasy Book List through Bright Wings' Bookshop
    Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.

    Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

    • 39 min
    Reading Man's Search for Meaning

    Reading Man's Search for Meaning

    Charity and her 11th grade students read Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl along with Robert Spaemann's address "Education as an Introduction to Reality" as part of Texas Holocaust remembrance week. Charity shares a speech she gave to the high school, generated from reading these texts together.

    Read Robert Spaemann's article "Education as an Introduction to Reality" You can print it as a pdf if you like. Underline and annotate it. ;)

    Purchase a copy of Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.
    Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.

    Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

    • 13 min
    What ARE Truth, Beauty, and Goodness...and How Do I Find Them In Books?!

    What ARE Truth, Beauty, and Goodness...and How Do I Find Them In Books?!

    We love the words truth, goodness, and beauty...but if someone asked us to explain what these are, maybe we'd be flummoxed? In this episode, Charity puts flesh into these concepts: Charity helps us see truth, identify beauty, and recognize goodness in children's books and gives us concrete examples of these concepts from books we know. After she walks us through her own book discernment process, Charity dispels two common myths that prevent us from being responsible literary guardians.

    You can print this amazing LITERATURE DISCERNMENT WORKSHEET
    Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.

    Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

    • 43 min
    HOW Fiction Educates for a Life of Virtue

    HOW Fiction Educates for a Life of Virtue

    Why do we read? Two views predominate! Some want children to read (classic works of) fiction because fiction is a useful tool. Fiction illustrates or instructs  children in the moral life. Others want children to read because reading is pleasurable--and they resist any attempts to make fiction serve a purpose because reading fiction is not about utility. Yet, there is a third way! Charity leads us to Aristotle, Jesus, and Aquinas, to understand what integrated virtue is. We'll see HOW fiction works in the life of Ignatius of Loyola. And we'll dive into some aesthetics with Charity as she shows us how Beauty in fiction impacts desire and action. Charity shows us how Beauty is the cause of the greatest conversions--from the inside out.

    This podcast is based on a breakout session Charity gave at ICLE's National Conference in July 2023.
    Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.

    Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

    • 42 min
    How I Spent My Summer Vacation

    How I Spent My Summer Vacation

    Charity updates us on how she spent her summer: Where she traveled with her family,  what work she's done for Well-Read Mom, and the two talks Charity presented at the national conference for the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education. Then, Charity shares some Big News that may impact Bright Wings: Children's Books.
    Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.

    Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

    • 16 min
    Back to the Bright Before, Interview with Author Katherin Nolte

    Back to the Bright Before, Interview with Author Katherin Nolte

    What do you do when your life comes crashing down around you? Join Charity and author Katherin Nolte, author of Back to Bright Before, as they dig into this and other  beautiful questions posed by Katherin's first novel. In this chiaroscuro book, sweetness and tradgedy contend in the life of one young family. Katherin also shares about how to write a book as a homeschooling mother. What is it like to craft a realistic-mystical story that shows that hope is stronger than despair? Discover a new favorite book for your 8-12 year old in Back to the Bright Before! Happy summer reading!


    Find quick book recommendations by following Charity on Instagram.

    Enjoy essays on the Bright Wings' blog OR find great book lists personally crafted with you in mind!

    • 35 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
32 Ratings

32 Ratings

Ruli family ,

📚wonderful podcast for busy parents.

These podcasts are so helpful. I enjoy the adult reflections she gives when she reviews a topic or book. The length of her podcasts are also perfect! Her brevity soaks to her ability to be clear and concise. I appreciate this as a busy mom who is often catching a podcast between activities.

I also have enjoyed the interviews. She picks the right topics and is able to pull out questions we all want to know. I appreciate that too!

Picking out books was easy but as my kids have aged i feel I’m playing catch-up. I appreciate the feedback and variety Charity offers. I’m always holding my library app open during her podcasts ready to reserve my next set of books!

KateMEMM ,

So helpful!

My children are voracious readers, and we’re always looking for high quality books for them to read. Its not easy to find the best of the best, especially with books that have come out since I was a child decades ago! Charity’s podcast is helping us find excellent materials to nourish their hearts and souls, things we wouldn’t have been able to find otherwise. Thank you Bright Wings and Charity Hill!

SarahKathrynK ,

Truth, Beauty, and Goodness

Charity’s insights are peaceful and thought-provoking. Thank you!

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