Virtues and themes

Facing danger, fear, or loss to do what is right.

Giving up one's own comfort, safety, or life for the good of others.

Telling the truth and living truthfully, even when it costs something.

Recognizing a wrong, turning from it, and making it right.

Releasing a debt or wrong done to you, and seeking reconciliation.

Pressing on through hardship, failure, and long odds.

Faithfulness to family, friends, and people one has promised to stand by.

Owning one's duties and choices; honoring honest labor instead of a victim story.

Delight and gladness that flow from a well-ordered heart and a good world.

Seeing oneself rightly; pride brought low and the lowly lifted up.

Trust in God, and faithfulness that holds when sight fails.

Steadfast companionship that makes each friend better.

Kindness shown to the undeserving, including one's enemies.

Keeping one's word and fulfilling one's charge, whatever it costs.

Gratitude for the life and gifts one has rather than grasping for more.

Fathers (or father figures) who are responsible, present, and protective.

Mothers (or mother figures) who are wise, warm, and nurturing.

Marriage presented as a good, lasting, covenantal gift.

Children welcomed and treasured as a blessing, not a burden.

A whole, loving household as the place where people are formed and restored.

Men and women shown as different yet complementary, with ordered love between them.

Welcoming the stranger, the lonely, and the outsider into home and table.

Older generations as a source of counsel, memory, and guidance.

Right and wrong are real, and actions bear fruit for good or ill.

A world in which God is real and at work, whether his name is spoken or not.

Real good and real evil set clearly against each other.

A character who is changed, humbled, and matured by what he endures.

Wrongs set right; the weak defended and the corrupt exposed.

Care for animals, land, and the created world as a trust.

America, its history, and its people treated with gratitude rather than contempt.

Freedom joined to law, virtue, and self-government.

A score or songs that train a child's ear toward what is beautiful and enduring.

Images, art, and photography of real beauty and care.

Strong story structure and thoughtful dialogue; a story of real weight, not noise.

A story that kindles imagination and awe, so a child leaves eager to talk and play.