It’s that time of year again—back to school, pumpkins, autumn leaves, and a day when people dress in a most unusual manner. Halloween isn’t my favorite holiday for a number of reasons (for one, spooky stuff is definitely not my thing), but I love dressing up in costume. I’ll take any excuse to dress up—costume ball, themed charity event, or festival.

Kids love costumes, too. Why? There’s something so fun about dressing up as someone else. In those special clothes, we can feel what’s like to be the character we choose: beautiful, brave, strong, powerful, meaningful, special.

We get a similar experience with reading. When we turn those pages, we immerse ourselves in what it’s like to be the characters we’re reading about. Experiencing what the characters do creates an opportunity for empathy. Like slipping into their shoes (or costumes), we can see a new perspective and understand why people react the way do and value what they value. These are great questions to ask kids as they read: Why did the character do or feel this? What’s most important to them? Would you react the same way and prioritize the same things?

We can learn from characters’ good (and bad) examples how to handle big emotions, deep questions, tough relationships, and difficult problems. We can explore heart-deep truths like faith, love, and hope by viewing them through the eyes of storybook heroes and applying them to our own lives. A straightforward lesson on these topics might make some impact, but stories even more deeply touch the heart. That’s why the Bible is full of stories—God knows how best to communicate with us!

One of these days, I’d like to dress up as the main character from my middle grade novel, On Hidden Wings. Since she’s a winged Centaur, that costume is going to take quite some engineering! But with far less sewing and construction, we can read her story and understand what it’s like to be someone who doesn’t fit in. We can see how she learns to take her identity not from what people say about her, but what her Creator says.

Books are incredibly powerful teachers about humanity and life—and that’s why I’m grateful for organizations like New Classics Study Guides that curate wholesome books with Biblical worldviews. And then they provide study guides with discussion questions (and answers!) to foster discussion and deeper learning. As an example, you can find the study guide for On Hidden Wingshere. You can also get an exclusive prequel story, The Best Gift, here.

 This fall, let’s encourage our kids to “get into character” not just with costumes, but also through good books!

. . . . . . writes middle grade and young adult fantasy and science fiction novels when she isn’t busy dressing in medieval costume, contriving puns with her clever husband, or singing showtunes to her little Shireling. Her work has earned multiple awards, including a Realm Award, and is featured in various publications. You can check out her newsletter freebies, latest books, and blog at adare-elyse.com.

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