Rocky Point, Bribery, & the Peiffer Giveaway Winner

When I was a little girl, there was only one way to get to Rocky Point Amusement Park.

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Through reading 100 books.

From June 14th {the day after our school "let out" for summer vacation} until the last few days of August, my sisters and I added star stickers to our book charts.

Each star denoted one book read. We planned what books we'd each read, my sisters and I and my mom, carefully stacking them until the wobbly towers reached our waists. As a child of four or five, my books were usually just picture books with simple storylines, read about to me by my Mama-Bee. As we grew, the books grew with us: Caddie Woodlawn, Eight Cousins, Encyclopedia Brown, Charlotte's Web, The Little House Books, Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood, Stuart Little, Big Red ... Most books were new to us - fresh-as-watermelon reads for the sticky days - but Mama-Bee allowed a few repeats as well, as long as the books stayed within our reading level: The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler appeared multiple times for some very odd reason. :-)

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Oh, we did things other than read as well: swam and bicycled and played baseball and went to camps occasionally. But we knew one thing: Mom wouldn't budge on the 100 books. If we didn't read them, we weren't going to Rocky Point for that last summer hurrah before school began.

We each read 100 books. Without fail. Every summer. Until Rocky Point closed in what was a very mournful day for the Roque family.

Was that it? Did we stop reading since there was no longer any point? {Pun not intended. :-)}

Not at all. In fact, I think we picked up speed. :-) Which is why I believe in careful bribery to teach good habits, to help an immature one to see the good of something that - on the surface - seems tedious but bears great rewards.



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They say the teachers of Israel used to coat the school tablets with honey as a sharp, sweet reminder to their pupils of how delightful the Lord's Word is {Psalm 119:103}. As the pupils memorized the words on the tablets, they could lick off the honey.

So it was with us - my two sisters and I. We licked the "honey" of Rocky Point and learned to love the "tablet" of reading beneath. This summer, I won't be reading 100 books, but here are five that I will be getting to {Lord willing and the crick don't rise!}:

1. Keep a Quiet Heart, by Elisabeth Elliot - I admit, a re-read. My sister introduced this book to me, and Elliot's quiet words of deep wisdom are so helpful as I walk toward Jerusalem.
2. Robert Falconer, by George MacDonald - I've been wanting to read this one for years! Sir Gibbie, Donal Grant, and others by MacDonald have been mind-baptizing books for me. I can't wait.
3. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis - I've read Out of the Silent Planet, but I've not gotten around to the other to yet.
4. The Faerie Queene, by Edmund Spenser - A partial re-read, this is one of those books I love reading but somehow never manage to finish.
5. Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography, by Iain H. Murray

And we have our winner for a signed copy of one of Caleb Peiffer's novels! :-) Thanks to everyone who entered. Kristen, I will be putting you in touch with Caleb shortly via e-mail so that you can let him know which novel you would like to receive! :-)

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