A LANDSCAPE WITH DRAGONS: THE BATTLE FOR YOUR CHILD'S MIND

Michael D. O’Brien is a Canadian author, artist, essayist, and lecturer on faith and culture.  He is also an iconographer and painter.  As a writer, he is the popular author of many best-selling novels including Father Elijah, Strangers and Sojourners, Elijah in Jerusalem, The Father's Tale, Eclipse of the Sun, Sophia House, The Lighthouse, and Island of the World. His novels have been translated into twelve languages and widely reviewed in both secular and religious media in North America and Europe.  

O'Brien, is a Harry Potter critic.  He examines contemporary children's literature and finds it spiritually and morally wanting. His analysis, written before the rise of the popular Potter books and films, anticipates many of the problems Harry Potter critics point to.

A Landscape with Dragons is a controversial, yet thoughtful study of what millions of young people are reading and the possible impact such reading may have on them.  In this study of the pagan invasion of children's culture, O'Brien, the father of six, describes his own coming to terms with the effect it has had on his family and on most families in Western society. His analysis of the degeneration of books, films, and videos for the young is incisive and detailed. Yet his approach is not simply critical, for he suggests a number of remedies, including several tools of discernment for parents and teachers in assessing the moral content and spiritual impact of this insidious revolution.

In doing so, he points the way to rediscovery of time-tested sources, and to new developments in Christian culture.  If you have ever wondered why a certain children's book or film made you feel uneasy, but you couldn't figure out why, this book is just what you need.  This book is a substantial recommended reading list of over 1,000 books for kindergarten through high school.