What someone reads is a window into how they think. These are the books that have shaped Cristina's approach to education, family, and life.

On Cristina's Shelf

Books that have shaped how she thinks about childhood, education, and the good life.

The Anxious Generation
Jonathan Haidt
How the great rewiring of childhood is causing an epidemic of mental illness.
Free to Learn
Peter Gray
Why unleashing the instinct to play will make our children happier, more self-reliant, and better students for life.
The Unsettling of America
Wendell Berry
A quietly radical argument for rootedness, stewardship, and the kind of life that asks something real of you.
The Opt-Out Family
Erin Loechner
How to give your kids what technology can't.
Mere Christianity
C.S. Lewis
A clear, generous, and enduring case for the Christian faith — one of the most influential books of the last century.
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
John Mark Comer
How to stay emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world.
The Creative Act
Rick Rubin
A way of being — on creativity, attention, and showing up fully to the work of living.

Favorite Children's Chapter Books

Books Cristina loves to read aloud and put in the hands of kids.

Charlotte's Web
E.B. White
Friendship, loyalty, and what it means to live a life that matters. A perfect book at any age.
A Place to Hang the Moon
Kate Albus
Three siblings evacuated to the English countryside during WWII, searching for a place — and a family — to call home.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
C.S. Lewis
Courage, sacrifice, and the power of a story that knows children can handle the weight of real things.
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street
Karina Yan Glaser
A warm, funny, big-hearted story about a family that fights for what it loves. Community at its best.