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My Daily Catholic Bible

20-Minute Daily Readings
Book cover: 'My Daily Catholic Bible: 20-Minute Daily Readings'
Author(s): 
Paul Thigpen
Number of pages: 
1530 pages
Copyright: 
2004
Publisher: 
Our Sunday Visitor
Binding: 
Softcover
Subject(s): 
Review: 

This is an idea whose time has certainly come. Over the past few years a resurgence in Bible reading seems to have swept across the United States. You can hardly walk through a Walmart or an average bookstore without coming across all sorts of Bibles for all sorts of people. One big problem - it's difficult to find these user-friendly Bibles in Catholic editions.

This is no longer the case as Paul Thigpen has thoughtfully assembled this Daily Catholic Bible, broken down into 20 minute segments to read each day. The Bible is organized according to the calendar and also offers the Saint of the day and a short quote for each day as well. The Bible is a manageable size (and price) because of the special thin paper commonly used in Bibles. But the best news is that the translation is the excellent "Revised Standard Version: Catholic Edition." No feminized language or politically correct interpretations here!

This is probably best suited for adults or fairly ambitious teens. It would make a great New Year's resolution to read the entire Bible next year by getting through just a little bit each day. I'm going to try. Won't you join me?

Updated by webmaster, March 2024: Sadly, since this review, My Catholic Daily Bible has switched to using the NABRE — see our review here, so we can no longer recommend it.

Perspective: 
Catholic
Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
12-11-04

My First Body Book

Book cover: My First Body Book
Author(s): 
Melanie Rice
Christopher Rice
Number of pages: 
32 pages
Copyright: 
1995
ISBN: 
9781564588937
Publisher: 
Dorling Kindersley
Binding: 
Sewn Hardcover
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 

This is a fun and very kid-friendly introduction to the body and its various functions and capabilities. It begins with a set of transparent overlays which portray the skeleton (skeletal system), the heart, lungs and blood (cardiovascular system), and the brain and nerves and digestive system. When I first got this book (back in the days when I was a DK representative for a short time) I worried that this book wouldn't hold up very well. After more than three years of use by little hands, I have to admit it's done quite well.

The rest of the book provides simple text, funny illustrations and the trademark DK photos covering the following topics: faces, skin and hair, muscles and bones, blood and heart, lungs and breathing, digestion, brain and nerves, eyes and seeing, ears and hearing, taste and smell, touch, growing up and "all about you."

The digestion is handled quite politely (no graphic pictures) and I was pleasantly surprised at how well the "growing up" section was handled. It begins with a very sweet and simple explanation of conception "A baby starts when a tiny sperm from the father joins with an egg inside the mother. The egg attaches itself to a part of the mother called the womb..." (pg. 29) and goes on to descriptions of the various stages of development of an unborn baby. Although the term fetus is mentioned, the baby is called a baby throughout the text!!! Again – no yucky pictures but not twaddly or dumbed-down either.

Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
3-17-01

My First Christmas Sticker Book

Author(s): 
Sally Ann Wright
Illustrator(s): 
Moira Maclean
Number of pages: 
16 pages
Copyright: 
2005
ISBN: 
1841014699
Publisher: 
Pauline Kids
Binding: 
Stapled Softcover
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 
I have always loved sticker books-- especially when the drawings are cute as in the case of this booklet. Sticker "scenes" are 2 page- spreads following the story of the birth of Our Lord, and the last page had a suggested scheme of each scene.
Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
11-21-2009

My First Number Book

Book cover: 'My First Number Book'
Author(s): 
Marie Heinst
Number of pages: 
48 pages
Copyright: 
1999
Publisher: 
DK Publishing
Binding: 
Sewn Hardcover
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 
This delightful picture book introduces many math concepts to preschoolers. We have enjoyed working through concepts such as counting, matching, sorting, sets, and sequencing. The illustrated pages make it fun for my son to discover more, less, and equal, addition and subtraction, geometric solids, and more. For example, matching begins with familiar matching pairs such as handprints, shoes, and earrings. Ideas of more or less begin to take shape as the child ponders such questions as, "Are there enough collars for the puppies?" Sometimes your child may surprise you with an unexpected answer; for example, on a page showing five puppies and three doghouses, my son confidently assured me that "each puppy can have its own house." When I asked him how, he said, "The puppies that are brothers share a house." To him, sharing was not incompatible with the idea of being its "own" house. The book also includes a few games. My son's favorite is a simple game involving counting backward or forward according to the roll of the die and directions on specific spaces. Numbers are incorporated into the book in other clever ways; for example, each page number is illustrated by a string of the appropriate number of items. See if your child notices. Near the end is a section of BIG numbers, which all my children have enjoyed. This book does an unusually good job of combining attractive photographs with questions designed to lead the child to discover math concepts.
Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
5-5-2009

My Five Senses

Book cover: My Five Senses
Author(s): 
Aliki
Number of pages: 
32 pages
Copyright: 
1989
ISBN: 
9780690047943
Publisher: 
Harper Collins
Binding: 
Softcover
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 

Aliki, in her classic - simple and charming - style, explains each of the five senses for preschoolers. Text and pictures explain what each of the senses is used for - "When I drink my milk and eat my food, I use my sense of taste. I am tasting." My children ask for this book over and over.

Additional notes: 

Copyrights 1962/1989. Many later printings / editions.

Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
3-17-01

My Hands

Book cover: My Hands
Author(s): 
Aliki
Number of pages: 
32 pages
Copyright: 
1990
ISBN: 
9780064450966
Publisher: 
Harper Collins
Binding: 
Softcover
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 

This is a nicely illustrated book for very young children on everything having to do with hands. The very simple text covers the names of the fingers (index, middle, etc.), the sense of touch, right or left-handed, the importance of thumbs and how different hands can be ("Daddy's hands are different from mine. They are big and rough and bony. Mother's hands are soft...") This is a charming little book for helping children appreciate how wonderfully they are made.

Additional notes: 

Copyrights 1962/1990

Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
1998-99

My Heart Lies South

The Story of My Mexican Marriage (Young People's Edition)
Book cover: 'My Heart Lies South: The Story of My Mexican Marriage (Young People's Edition)'
Author(s): 
Elizabeth Borton de Trevino
Number of pages: 
228 pages
Copyright: 
1953
Publisher: 
Bethlehem Books
Binding: 
Softcover
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 
Elizabeth Borton de Trevino is best known as the author of children's stories, especially I, Juan de Pareja which won the Newbery Award in 1966). Long before all that, in the 1930s, she was simply Elizabeth Borton, a modern American lady, living in Boston and working as a journalist, when she was given an assignment in Monterrey, Mexico. There she met, was courted by and eventually married a native by the name of Luis Trevino. In this book she recounts the adventures her courtship and marriage and most particularly her adjustments to life in a completely different culture from her own. She paints a charming pictures of Mexican culture and faith and some of the stories about her mistakes and embarassments are hysterically funny. In moving to Mexico not only does she give up her old way of life (modern America of the 1930s was a significant contrast to life in Mexico), but she wholeheartedly embraced the Catholic faith and learned to truly love the hallmark of Mexican culture - the strength of the family and the essential role of mothers in the home and family.

This story is delightful for its own sake, but also gives tidbits of history (Mexican and Spanish), religion, and culture. It is also the sort of book that is useful and delightful for teenage girls to read as they begin to consider their future roles as mothers, wives and influences on their community. (The humorous incidents will probably keep it interesting enough for the guys as well.) There are some references to dating and courtship, the consequences of drinking too much and other subjects which would not be suitable for young children (although they are handled in a reasonable manner). Don't be turned off by the word "seduction" that shows up in the first few pages. It comes up in a fairly harmless context and is not an indication of shocking material to come.

I also found her discussions of parenting interesting because she was raising her children at a time when American doctors advocated bottle feeding and a sort of detached parenting . When she wrote the story, however, the doctors had begun to come around to a healthier and more natural parenting philosophy and the author expresses some of her regrets and frustrations at following the conventional wisdom which really went against her instincts.

Her arguments in favor of the Mexican view of the role of women is quite compelling. The Mexican role is, in many ways, very Catholic. Women are not inferior or subservient (as in the "Leave it to Beaver" American model of the 1950s) nor do they feel the need to fight for "equality" as in the American feminist model of today. The Mexican women have (or perhaps had) a very strong and dominant role within the family which was the center of society. They liked to make their husbands feel manly by allowing them to help them because it made them better husbands and companions. Although the author does not fully embrace every particular of the Mexican customs in this regard, she sees them generally as the women's way of cunningly "allowing" the men to feel superior in order to keep them happy while almost always having the final word.

Perspective: 
Catholic
Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
10-04-2000

My Librarian is a Camel

How Books Are Brought to Children Around the World
Author(s): 
Margriet Ruurs
Number of pages: 
32 pages
Copyright: 
2005
ISBN: 
9781590780930
Publisher: 
Boyds Mills Press
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Resource Type: 
Review: 

The libraries I grew up with did not even resemble what we have available today... truly. I am not able to go to my weekly visits to the library without being amazed at how fortunate we are. This friendly book will help your children appreciate what some other children in the world go through to be able to borrow a book!

Going beyond that, the book has information and maps on each country discussed and lots of fun photographs!

Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
March 12, 2009

My Mass Kit

Copyright: 
2008
Publisher: 
Wee Believers
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 
This is a sweet Mass Kit designed for little fingers (ideal for toddlers and preschoolers). It's made of fabric with cleverly weighted bases and includes a chalice, paten (with a hidden pouch that holds little foam "hosts"), cruets, "candles", a censer, crucifix and two cloths (corporal and purificator) all packaged rather nicely in a zip-up case (with a long carrying strap) that doubles as an altar. While it's not as beautiful as the Montessori-style Mass kits available from Our Father's House (which look like miniature versions of the real thing) this kit has the advantages of being quiet and unbreakable; it would probably be nice for young children to hold during daily Mass, where there tends to be plenty of space to spread things out and compare them with what the priest is doing. I brought this around to some homeschool activities our family was involved with over the past few months, to see how different families and children liked it. It was a big hit and I noticed that two to four year olds were especially drawn to it. The sturdy little booklet that comes with the set is helpful, reverent and interesting. It teaches children the real names for each item and speaks lovingly of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
Perspective: 
Catholic
Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
6-27-2009

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