My Review: The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut

In reading Conservative Catholic blogs over the years, I've learned that G.K. Chesterton was one of the good guys; but I've never really known anything about him. Since I'm reviewing a book about him, I thought I ought to know a little, so like any normal computer-literate individual, I headed for Wikipedia. It says: Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was one of the most influential English writers of the 20th century. His prolific and diverse output included journalism, philosophy, poetry, biography, Christian apologetics, fantasy and detective fiction.
Chesterton has been called the "prince of paradox".[1] Time magazine, in a review of a biography of Chesterton, observed of his writing style: "Whenever possible Chesterton made his points with popular sayings, proverbs, allegories—first carefully turning them inside out.

With that in mind, I'd like to introduce you to a book titled The Inconvenient Adventures of Uncle Chestnut by Paul Nowak. This 55 page booklet attempts to introduce Chesterton to young people. I'd say it is aimed at the 10-15 year old age group. The narrator, "Jack" is remembering things he and his "Uncle Chestnut" did when he was a child. Each story has a lesson attached, and is related to a quote from Chesterton. The quotes, along with the name of the work from which they came are listed at the back of the book. The stories are short and amusing, but make good points. Those of you who are moms, especially those of you who don't work outside the home, will appreciate the story in which a girl learns that being a mom is an important job that requires a lot of different skills.

Nowak plans to make this the first of a series of books. For Chesterton fans wanting to intoduce him to others in a gentle way, this book could be just the ticket. Check out the author's website.