Like William Bennett's best-selling The Book of Virtues, A Call to Character by Colin Greer and Herbert Kohl presents a sampling from children's literature grouped according to specific values that each selection illustrates or suggests. The authors accept Bennett's basic premise--that reading together in families can have a tremendous impact on children's moral development--while disagreeing with many of his ideas about how such development occurs. Bennett writes of virtue nostalgically, as a fading glory of a sadly regretted past. Greer and Kohl, by contrast, use their commentary and selections to help families consider what it means to be a moral person now. They know that many families are working to reach that goal, and instead of losing themselves in a fog of Victorian sentimentality, they have sought out many contemporary writers who have something to say on the topic. Psychologist Vivian Dent reviews this important new book.
