“Live free, child of the mist – and with respect to knowledge we are all children of the mist. The man who takes the liberty to live is superior to all the laws, by virtue of his relation to the lawmaker.” -Henry David Thoreau, Walking

Live Free! Child of the Mist!

I love this quote! I love this book!

I haven’t found a book like this ever before!

There are more inspirational quotes about Nature, about God, about Creation in this book than I’ve ever heard before.

Why is it that I am just now finding this?!

It must have been for some reason. It is interesting how school mandates certain required reading to “culture” a child, but it is the discovering on their own, that a person falls in love with literature, reading, ideas that actually makes a difference in that person’s life.

I don’t have the answer for this… I like the idea of giving school-aged children a whole range of books to choose from by their teacher, someone in love with literature, and then allowing them the opportunity to “retell” the story to the class. Maybe that would give them a similar experience of love and excitement to share classic literature that they are hoping to instill.

Are there any English teachers out there of high school Literature? What have you done that “worked” for your classes?

I am not sure how I became a lifelong student of great literature. I have always been a reader. There were definitely some books forced on me in school that I hated. I might have a new perspective as an adult. But that would only come from the freedom to read. My free choice to say, “I want to read this book.” It is a completely different approach compared to a syllabus and reading list and the expectations that come from those items.

I get it that every approach will not work for every child.

I am interested to know… What do you think?

– Jason