Are you looking for a children’s book that helps build character? The first thing to recognize is how important it is that you are searching for this topic in the first place. This means that you understand the importance of your child reading and learning about character. This is your first step in the right direction.
Why is this more important now than ever before? In today’s world, the actions we see often on the news are a display of a lack of character. All you have to do is look at the news in any city on any given day. You see stories about riots, shootings, murders, theft, fighting, and so on… We often do not see the heartwarming stories about those who are doing good things for mankind and who show good character. Our children are being bombarded with what bad character looks like – and then given the impression that this is okay. We need to show them what good character looks like.
But this is not an easy task for adults today. Whether you are a parent, grandparent, teacher or organization leader, there are so many negative influences that you face. Here are a few of the hindrances that keep our children from learning about good character.
- Fast moving information. Information is coming so fast. This includes news stories on social media. It updates minute by minute and this is a worldwide trend. Many of our youth have cell phones, which are really computers that also make phone calls. These computers are so full of negativity that they can access. They are not just to call you or text their friends. They may be seeing things that are beyond your control to review and provide guidance on first. You may not even be aware of some of the things they are seeing on their phones.
- Undeveloped life experiences for our youth. Information is not always accurate. Our youth do not have the life experiences to filter out what is true and what is not. What they hear and see, they often believe. They may not have the internal skills to know the difference.
- Unclear and rapidly developing situations. Things are happening faster than ever before. Grasping what is fully happening can be unclear, especially for our youth in negative situations. This is because of the abnormal stimuli and lack of time to process the events that are occurring around them. They may accept something negative that they would not otherwise if it had occurred in a normal timeframe.
- Much of information on good character and good values is at risk of being lost. There was a time when good character and values were taught in schools. It is now up to the parents, grandparents, teachers, and children’s organization leaders to teach this. It is very important that we ensure our children know these things in order to provide them better success in their future.
- In decades past good character was generally exemplified in everyday life. At least it was more than today. Sure, there are many people of good character around us, but in society as a whole it is not as prevalent as it was in the past. We need to search it out and show our youth what good character really looks like.
Your children need to understand what good character really is and how to develop it. The end goal is that we want our youth to become better persons of character. It will bring them better success in their lives – both now and in the future.
How we prepare our children for this is to teach them the foundational values that they need to know in advance. We want them to make the best decisions from their heart and not based upon peer pressure or spur of the moment thoughts. It is up to us to guide them properly and give them what they need when they are younger, in advance of needing this information in real world situations.
Even if your children currently display good character and you teach it to them, they need to enhance it in their lives to be the best that they can be. We need to teach them how to make excellent character choices and know the difference when they recognize others are taking actions that are not of good character. Getting your children interested in learning about character is an important start for them. A great way for your children to learn about good character is to read about it and have interesting reading to catch their attention.
Let me introduce you to a great option for the entire family. I have taught character to children and realized the importance of having a wholesome option for reading about character. I created a modern-day superhero that captures the imagination of children. After all, they like characters like Spider-Man, Batman, Captain America, and the list goes on. I created Captain Character® as a chapter book series for older children and for family reading time. It will teach them good character traits and values. Let me tell you about Captain Character®.
CAPTAIN CHARACTER®
In everyday life, Captain Character is Dr. Matthew Meleg, a physicist who works in research. He got zapped by a machine in his experimental laboratory, and it changed his life forever. He now has supernatural powers to know when someone is in need and get to them quickly. He has the power to capture people’s attention, cause them to freeze in their tracks with his focus, and teach them the lessons they need to learn so they can change their actions and attitudes to turn from their negative ways. Captain Character comes on the scene when his powers and abilities are needed. He teaches them lessons in character and makes real differences in their lives. The stories will capture the attention of everyone. The storylines are interesting, current, and based around a super-hero. There are two books in the series so far. “Captain Character® – The Adventure Begins” and “Captain Character® – The Legend.”
Both of these books are available through my main website (www.drchris.co) as well as (www.captain-character.com) at the “Books” page. The books can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Westbow Press (the publisher) with the links within both websites. Captain Character® merchandise is now available through the “Shop” page on the Captain Character® website. We are selling t-shirts (adult and youth sizes), sunglasses (like he wears) and gym bags. Now you can read his books and have official Captain Character® products to enjoy, once your children start reading Captain Character®.
FAMILY RESOURCES
You may find other character books for your older children, but Captain Character® is a unique resource for you. I have added something to the Captain Character® website that is a great benefit to adults and is not available with any other superhero. It is a Family Reading Plan that can be found on the “Resources” page. There is an “Introduction” document that explains the family reading process. Then, there is a document for each book, with background information and discussion questions. You can have a family or group discussion after reading the character sections of the book.
The national PTA website reports, “Creating a daily family reading habit gives children a boost over their peers. … Time spent reading together as a family is a long-term investment in vocabulary exposure. Family reading experiences give children the chance to ask questions about words they don’t understand, which leads to more effective reading.”
At this time when families are spending more and more time together, reading together is increasingly important. It shows how parents, grandparents and other adults can lead discussions around the character traits within the story. Captain Character® brings to life real-world situations that young people and adults face today. Reading together and discussing the story, and topics within the story, allows sharing time in which family members can speak to one another from the heart. This allows a forum to discuss similar situations each has faced and receive parental guidance on how to handle them in the future. Think of sitting together in the evening and taking turns reading. Teens may want to help explain the story with you and help the younger children understand. Being able to read about character in a family setting is a great idea for you and your children. This format could also work for a children’s organization leader to lead discussion with a group of children.
What Character Traits are discussed in each book? Book #1 “The Adventure Begins” has stories centered around the character traits of respect and self-control. Book #2 “The Legend” has stories centered around the character traits of generosity, trustworthiness, and kindness.
YOUR CHILDREN NEED YOU
Your children need your wisdom and direction. There is so much that you know and have experienced already that needs to be imparted to them. They may not know it yet and you may not understand the full importance of doing this – but it is very needed. Think of all of your life experiences and how “if you knew then what you know now!” You can give a glimpse of that to your children and in a great way. Guiding our children to make good decisions is rewarding. You will see successes in their lives and know you had a hand in it. We want our children to be successful and every little bit of your wisdom imparted to them is key. When you see them make wise decisions and display character, you know their lives will be more meaningful and that they will be able to be a better example to others.
We must provide our children the best options for teaching character and Captain Character® is one of them. Once again, these books can be found on both my main website (www.drchris.co) or the Captain Character® website (www.captain-character.com).
You can help spread the vital message of character! If you enjoyed this article would you think of 5 friends you could forward it to? Many more exciting character messages are coming your way.
Happy reading and family discussions!