In these posts I hope to share a little about what I am reading with my two children. Not exactly a review but a look at a book we’ve read together and how it worked for us. For context, my daughters are currently 7- and 9-years old. They are both excellent independent readers but we choose to continue our family habit of reading a chapter together before bedtime.
I’ve read A Wrinkle in Time several times, probably since I was first about Pearl’s age. I’ve read the whole series more than once (my favourite is A Swiftly Tilting Planet) but it had been several years since I’d last read this book. So it was fun to read together and for me to remember scenes that had slipped my mind. For example, I had completely forgotten the other form that Mrs. Whatsit takes with the children on Uriel.
While I didn’t think either of my girls were quite ready to read this book on their own, it worked well as a read-aloud. I think some of the language and certainly a lot of the scientific and mathematical ideas would be beyond them. They didn’t have a lot of questions as we read together, choosing instead, I think, to accept the unknown along with the fantasy. I had forgotten that there are several overt references to Christianity (this wouldn’t have stood out to me as a kid) but it makes sense as I also read this in class when I went to a Christian school. These were probably also some of the easiest references for my own kids to understand and Rose easily guessed how the story would end as we entered the last chapter.
As an adult reader now, I found the book reminded me of 1984. I didn’t completely love how focused Meg was on her own looks and not being as attractive as her mother (though it’s an honest portrayal of being a 13-year-old girl). But I did appreciate that Meg was an awkward young character who nevertheless has her strengths and wins through in the end.
I don’t know that we’ll rush on to read the next book in the series but Pearl and Rose were engaged and eager to read together each evening.
Karissa Reads Books 
My dad and I used to read a chapter of a book aloud together each night, swapping off pages—we did it until I was fourteen and it’s one of the greatest recurring memories of my childhood. How lovely that you and your daughters do that too! A Wrinkle in Time is so interesting to return to as an adult; there’s a lot about it that I query now (like the focus of Meg on being pretty) but there’s something oddly refreshing about L’Engle’s insistence that the day can be saved by a perfectly ordinary child, one who isn’t intrinsically heroic but loves her little brother so fiercely that she triumphs anyway.
That’s such a sweet memory with our dad! I plan on doing this with my girls for as long as they’ll let me! This was an interesting book to reread now. I’m not sure I would have chosen it with my girls if I had remembered it better since I think they are a little young. But I do think the final message of it resonated with them.
I never read the Wrinkle in Time books, but didn’t a movie come out about one of the books in the series? Did it star Oprah? I could be making this up but I seem to recall something like that…
Yes, I think you’re right! I’ve never seen it though.
How does your family decide which book to read next? Is Peter involved, too?
I usually come up with a few suggestions and then the girls decide. Sometimes they make requests. Peter’s there too but I’m usually the one who reads.
Aww, that’s so nice that it’s a total family moment. I’m so glad things have progressed, because if this were 30-40 years ago, Peter would be sitting in the living room watching TV.
That’s sadly true. I’m glad we get to share it.
[…] A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1981) […]
[…] and influence and are influenced by this land over a few hundred years. (Having recently read A Wrinkle in Time, it reminded me a bit of L’Engle’s A Swiftly Tilting Planet where characters move […]