Ray Bradbury, Arthur Clarke, James Clavell, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, C.S. Forester, Ernst Hemingway, Stephen King, James Michener, John Steinbeck, Leon Uris and Herman Wouk.
What do they have in common? They all are good books found in used book stores that make excellent investments, and sometimes can be resold the same day for lots of cash. There is no mistake. Good books, bring big dollars. But, more important then cash, these books are collectible because first, and foremost, they are great reads.
These are the names of American Literature. These are the sure fire sellers in all bookstores. Everyday readers discovers these authors and is overwhelmed by the quality of their work and their individual gifts to captivate the reader in their world on wonder.
Pick up any book by Charles Dickens and read it. Give it a try. You will be overwhelmed and the power of this writer who worked with ink and a pen quill. Very little reference material if any. No spell checker. Nothing. Just beautiful words written with such a flowing grace that you are carried into a special world.
Why do people return to the classics?
Because the quality of their writing is of such elegance that it can’t be compared to some of the modern fiction writers of today.
An excerpt from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens:
I discovered afterwards that Miss Lavinia was an authority in affairs of the heart, by reason of there having anciently existed a certain Mr. Pidger, who played short whist, and was supposed to have been enamoured of her. My private opinion is, that this was entirely a gratuitous assumption, and that Pidger was altogether innocent of any such sentiments - to which he had never given any sort of expression that I could ever hear of. Both Miss Lavinia and Miss Clarissa had a superstition, however, that he would have declared his passion, if he had not been cut short in his youth (at about sixty) by over-drinking his constitution, and over-doing an attempt to set it right again by swilling Bath water. They had a lurking suspicion even, that he died of secret love; though I must say there was a picture of him in the house with a damask nose, which concealment did not appear to have ever preyed upon.
Wonderful!
Every parent would unanimously agree that love is the foundation of child rearing. A child’s well being is dependent on the love relationship between him and his parent. According to co-authors Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell of “The Five Love Languages of Children”, unless you speak the love language that communicates to your child of your love, he will not feel loved.
What are the five love languages? Each child (as well as adult) expresses and receives love best through one of five different communication styles:
Physical Touch
Words of Affirmation
Quality Time
Gifts
Acts of Service
It’s important to discover which one of the primary love language your child speaks because by “speaking” it, you can fill his “emotional tank” with love. When he feels loved, he would be much easier to discipline and train. If you have more than one child in the family, you will come to understand each may speak and hear a different love language.
Chapman and Campbell advocate that the best fuel for your child’s emotional tank is unconditional love; show love to a child no matter what the child looks like, regardless of his strengths, difficulties and how he acts. They believe no child can receive too much appropriate unconditional love and that a child may be “spoiled” by lack of training or by unsuitable love that gives or trains incorrectly.
Children need all five languages of love to keep their emotional tank full. To be effective in meeting his need for love, it is vital you learn of his primary love language, the one that speaks louder than the others. When your child is feeling discouraged or distant, you will be able to focus your love by expressing it in his primary language. You will find lots of practical ways to help you learn about your child’s primary love language in the book.
Just be forewarned that it might be challenging to try to figure out your child’s primary love language if he is under five years old. However, the authors reiterate that the foundation of love laid in the early years would not only increase a child’s ability to learn, it would set him up all through his adolescence. If a child enters the adolescence years with an empty emotional tank, he is particularly vulnerable to the problems of the teenage years.
The authors believe that by teaching our children to love others with all the love languages (through our examples) we will be helping them as they grow to become sensitive to the needs of others. To help an infant develop emotionally, you must express love in all the five languages. As your child grows, you will find that one of the five languages speaks far more deeply of your love than the others and when that one is used negatively, he will feel very hurt.
Discovering your child’s love language is a process and it takes time, particularly if your child is young as he is just learning to receive and express love in all the languages. By speaking your child’s primary love language, the authors maintain that it does not guarantee your child will not rebel later but he knows you love him and that can bring him security and hope.