Replace the Menu for Kids’ Reading—They’ll Love It!
Sometimes the best way to stop kids from consuming garbage is to create something amazing in its place.
Kids are creative by nature. They gravitate to stories of wonder, beauty, goodness and truth. These are the things that satisfy the soul. Deep down, this is what kids crave. (Isn’t it what we all crave?) But our schools and culture keep trying to feed kids garbage.
How’s the summer reading list going? Do you like the choices? Do the books inspire your son or daughter to higher hopes and stronger character? Do they tell the true stories of the world? Do they challenge your child to think critically and ponder their own adventures?
We parents keep fighting the decay in our schools and in our media (really, everyone should), but at the same time let’s give them something better! Meet an author who’s created a 7-book series that could rival Harry Potter. His books, play, and upcoming movies are devoured by young readers as much as they’re desired by parents and schools. You’ve probably never heard of them, but you will.
C.R. (Chad) Stewart noticed the vacuum of good literature for kids. Walking down the aisles of a book store, he wondered, where are the good books that kids deserve to read? So, he decided to DO something about it. He wrote his first book for kids in schools, Britfield and The Lost Crown, but they quickly captured mainstream markets around the world.
He also started The Britfield Institute, “committed to bringing creativity into the classroom, promoting literacy, and fostering a child’s imagination. Impacting all demographics, we provide students, teachers, educators, and schools the opportunity to read and write with passion while inspiring critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. The Britfield Institute provides underprivileged schools and children resources, workshops, and opportunities.”
Here’s just part the Britfield story, and why you’ll want to ask your school librarian to buy these books for your school. (You can buy them online for home, also.)
This is from an article published in Quintessential Barrington:
Uplifting Children’s Literature
One of the surprises of “Britfield & the Lost Crown” is that while the orphanage conjures up a mid-1800s Charles Dickens era, the story of Tom and Sarah is set in modern times. Author C. R. (Chad) Stewart is a fan of Dickens’ works and was heavily influenced by him and several other British novelists. Influences not found in Britfield are today’s trending storylines that feature dark and post-apocalyptic worlds, sorcery and spells, witchcraft, the occult, and the illicit or other topics found in stories such as “The Hunger Games,” where children kill each other to earn food or for entertainment in their dystopian world.
“There is an 80% gap worldwide in the market for family-focused, clean, fun, and adventurous educational stories,” Stewart said. “There’s little-to-no competition for us. You cannot produce enough quality content right now for this market. Think of the Hardy Boys series that was first published in 1927. Or Nancy Drew. Go to the Young Adult section at Barnes & Noble and see what’s there. It’s mostly witchcraft, superheroes, occultism, and fantasy,” he said. Additionally, Stewart has researched and documented that children’s greatest thought influences today are 86% from media, 12% through school, and a marginal 2% at home, from family. He further documents the shocking statistics of what a child sees in media daily—excessively repeated amounts of explicit, violent, and other negative material.
Stewart wanted his characters to be relatable to middle-school readers, and for them to solve their problems using common sense and good judgment while placed in actual settings, such as London in “Britfield & the Lost Crown.” There is no hidden agenda, offensive content, or undermining principles in his books.
Britfield is often classified in the adventure fiction genre, and Stewart has realized the massive global potential for his work and the ability to fill the gap. His young readers tell him—face to face during school tours—that his one-of-a-kind book doesn’t remind them of anything else they’ve ever read. And they are right. The unique combination of adventure, history, geography, creativity, great characters, and masterful, layered storytelling is Stewart’s brand. As a professionally trained screenwriter, Stewart is often complimented on the fast, action-filled pace of his writing style, one that some say reads like the flowing scenes in a movie. Soon, fans can look forward to Britfield movies, based on the books, that are in development now.
About the author: Born in Newport Beach, California, Chad Robert Stewart is an international award-winning, bestselling author, global strategist, and creativity educator. Chad founded the prestigious Britfield Institute, dedicated to creativity and literacy; and Devonfield, a media empire committed to the highest quality in education, publishing, and film productions.
Thank you, Chad, for all you’re doing to put good books in our kids’ hands, and also for sharing your story with our readers! ~ Kim