Looking for a new read to inspire your children to virtuous living? You can’t go wrong with William Bennett, who served as Secretary of Education and Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities under President Reagan.

Bennett has collected hundreds of works from well-known authors and recounted stories of famous historical and Biblical people that will help children understand and develop character. They are contained in the two volumes above: The Book of Virtues and The Moral Compass.

We read them daily as a part of our devotional time during the home school years.

Divided in to chapter headings (below), the reader can choose specific traits to focus on from The Book of Virtues.

In The Moral Compass, Bennett has organized the readings by the stages along life’s journey, as seen in the table of contents below:

As the jacket flap states, The Moral Compass offers well-known examples from Western History and mythology, with a large selection of tales and folklore from Asia, Africa and Latin America. As in the first volume, The Book of Virtues, Bennett has complied collections of familiar and classic authors, such as Hans Christian Anderson, Tolstoy and Irving along with tales from centuries past. The index in both volumes Is an alphabetical list of all the works listed in the book.

I can’t recommend these volumes highly enough. You can find The Moral Compass and The Book of Virtues on Amazon, and a full review of his other book in Publisher’s Weekly.

These volumes offer much food for thought and discussion – you might consider bringing them into the dinner conversation each night when Dad comes home. They will be remembered for years to come – and what a stellar way to enter 2021 – with a strong moral compass to guide your children!

I trust you will have a happy, healthy and hope-filled New Year as you instill Christian principles into the young minds God has blessed you with. Emmanuel!