Customer Reviews

The Book of Virtues for Young People: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A book of encouraging stories and poems for our young generation to teach them everything from self-discipline, responsibility, honesty, loyalty etc. Read when George Washington was 14 year's old he wrote 110 best ways to act around people, he called it the "Rules of Civility". Read Walt Whitman's ode to Abe Lincoln, and my favourite by Frank Crane, entittled "Boy Wanted". Though the tittle of this book refers "for Young People" I think adults can without a doubt learn as well. I certainly have and I am in my fifth decade of my life.

Although this book is aimed at "young people" and for ages "10 and up" it is a wonderful, interesting, uplifting, thought-provoking, and fantastic read for adults as well! I love this book - I'm 29 years old and I enjoy every fable, tidbit, short story, and examples from history that demonstrate virtues in this book. Easy to read, but not childlike at the same time. I am applying what I have learned from this book in my daily life and life feels so much better to me. I was taught honesty, responsibility, and other "virtues" as a child, but never was exposed to it via short stories and this route of learning. I love this book and highly recommend it to adult individuals of all ages, parents, teachers - EVERYONE. Get a copy for yourself and/or give as a gift. I can't say enough about positive things about this book! :)

This book is great for kids 9 and over. I got for my son who is 8 and for his school reading he likes to read those stories. Though he likes to hear the same stories from the younger kids version of the same book when I read to his brother.

Bill Bennett has done it again with The Book of Virtues For Young People. Reading the stories aloud to my children is an excellent way to talk about and open the discussion of the important virtues brought to light in this book. History, fantasy, poetry are all included in this marvelous book. The stories gently lead and guide young minds to WANT to do the right and to understand why. I highly recommend this to parents and children of all ages!

There are several editions of Bennett's Virtues books. If it helps you choose from among the editions, here's the deal.

This edition, The Book of Virtues for Young People, is intended for children 9-12 and is 384 pages long. It contains familiar childhood stories such as The Fox and The Crow, but also selections by beloved writers such as Walt Whitman, Tolstoy and Emily Dickinson.

The Book of Virtues for Boys and Girls: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories is also intended for children ages 9-12, but it is an abbreviated version of only 208 pages.

The Children's Book of Virtues is intended for children ages 4-8 and is only 112 pages. The stories are chosen for their appropriateness for this young audience (many reviewers mention their dislike of some of the stories in other versions) and include familiar childhood stories such as George Washington and the Cherry Tree and The Tortoise and the Hare.

I thought I was going to buy the one for Boys and Girls, because the cover shows children playing baseball and the introduction is by Doug Flutie and would appeal to my sports-mad son. But in the end, I wanted more choice of stories, and that version just didn't have enough variety. As in all the books, the stories are grouped by theme (Honesty, Loyalty, Faith, Responsibility, etc.), and the Boys and Girls book has only five themes to choose from, half as many as the adult version.

Ultimately, I chose the adult version, The Book of Virtues, because my son is aging out of the younger audiences.

If you want just inspiring stories of real and fictional heroes, Bennett has also collected such stories in The Children's Book of Heroes, which is a brief book as well, just 112 pages and containing 18 stories. And, The Children's Treasury of Virtues combines three of Bennett's books, The Children's Book of America (patriotic stories, songs and poems), The Children's Book of Virtues and The Children's Book of Heroes.

Hope this helps!

Everything was what I expected. The book is a great source of information as I teach these virtues to my children. The stories are fun and yet they help myself and my children to understand the virtue we are studying. I would recommend this to anyone with children of all ages.

This was a Christmas gift to a fourteen year old grand daughter. When I signed the book to her I wrote "don't let the title put you off. The stories are wonderful."
At last contact she was halfway thru the book and loved the stories. If nothing else it will give her another resource for decisions.

This is a collection of stories for children that are both entertaining and also introduces them to the world of ethics.

This review is to tell folks how simple, and easy it is to purchase from Amazon. I first looked up the subject, found very fast and easy and then was able to compete the sale very efficiently. My books were delivered in record time.. My purchase was for a project with my 7 jr. high and highschool grandchildren. Because of the ease of finding my materials and receiving them so fast, we are on our way to a fun summer project. Thaqnks Amazon..Lilly Mohan

The books were The Book of Virtues for Young People by William J. Bennett.

I love this book, and use it regularly as nighttime reading for my young girls. Beautiful lessons are taught through memorable stories.