10 Tales with Heart for Kids and Adults You Should Read on Wear Red for Women Day

 According to the American Heart Association and goredforwomen.org, heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women in America, striking more women than all forms of cancer combined.  You can do three things NOW to fight this disease:
     --> Move more
     --> Eat Smart
     --> Manage Blood Pressure
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Plus on 1 February, go through your closet and find something red to wear to raise awareness about cardiovascular disease and save lives.  Then take good care of your heart and YOU every day!
 
​You can also check out my list of 10 books below.  They have the heart to keep you in good literary shape. 

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Books With Heart for Kids

Non-Fiction
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​Hear Your Heart
by Paul Showers; illustrated by Holly Keller (2000)
 
This picture book helps children understand how their heart works and how to keep it healthy.

In My Heart: a Book of Feelings
by Jo Witik
​illustrated by Christine Roussey (2014)
 
A picture book for toddlers, In My Heart introduces emotional aspects of heart. Through rich language and rhymes, the book helps kids identify, accept, and express a range of feelings.

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Fiction
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Patch the Brave Heart Lion
by Natalie Halls-Jones and Karen Horsell (2012)
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From the National Association for Children’s Heart Disorders and Kidswithheart.org this picture book has found its way into the hearts of parents and children fighting heart disease.  According to Kidswitheart.org, "Patch doesn't think of himself as brave or strong. He gets upset when he can't keep up with everyone else. But is he really as weak and scared as he thinks he is?"

​The Wizard of Oz
by Frank Baum (1900)
100-year birthday edition illustrated by Charles Santore (2000)
 
What’s not to love about a Tin Man who is looking for a heart!   Baum’s book stands the test of time as a true kid lit classic.  

​Gotta love the film version, too!  Those scary flying monkeys and Evil Witch just about stopped my heart when I watched as a kid.

Books With Heart for Grown Ups

Heartless
by Marissa Meyer (2016)

I adore fantasy and fairy tales! Marissa Meyer’s The Lunar Chronicles series, a fairy tale/sy-fy mash-up, is one of my fave reads. (I just picked the first book in her series, Cinder, for my book group discussion.)  Heartless is an imaginative prequel about the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland.  

According to Macmillan Publishing, Long before she was the ​terror of Wonderland the maniacal Queen of Hearts was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Heart of Darkness
by Joseph Conrad (1899)

Do you remember reading Conrad’s novella in high school?  

​It tells of a voyage up the Congo River into the Congo Free State and the so-called heart of Africa, quite a feat in its 19th-century days.  Charles Marlow, the narrator, reveals his story to friends aboard a boat while anchored on the River Thames. 

​When Calls the Heart
By Janette Oke (1983)
 
Raise your hand if you watch this sweet series on the Hallmark Channel <raising my hand here -:D> What about that bombshell cliff hanger from last season! 
 
Cultured Easterner Elizabeth accepts a teaching position in the Canadian West, but nothing prepares her for this move.  Even though she cares for the children, she is determined not to open her heart to the local frontiersmen until she meets a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 

​The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
By Carson McCullers (1940)

Another book from my high school American Lit class

​This début novel was published when McCullers was just 23. She tells of  a deaf man,  John Singer, and the people he encounters in a 1930s mill town in the US segregated South.

​McCuller's book was selected in 2013 by the National Endowment for the Arts for its Big Read program to be read and discussed by everyone across America.

Change of Heart
By Jodi Picoult (2008)

I’ve read other riveting Picoult tales that tackle contemporary hot-button issues, but Change of Heart is on my to-read shelf.  

According to publisher Simon and Schuster, it's a ....tale of a mother's tragic loss and one man's last chance at gaining salvation. Can we save ourselves, or do we rely on others to do it? Is what we believe always the truth?

The Tell-Tale Heart
By Edgar Allen Poe (1843)
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Middle-schooler me devoured everything by Poe once my English teacher introduced me to him when we studied the American short story.  

Tell-Tale Heart is relayed by an unnamed narrator who describes a murder he committed.  At the same time, the narrator tries to convince readers of his sanity, although hallucinations and signs of paranoia tell the reader otherwise.  Classic scary treat for teens and adults!

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Your Turn
What books about heart have you read?  Which hearty tales are on your to-read list? We're always looking for our next great read, so please share in the comment section below.

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