No name
Catholic Prayer Book for Children
This is a very nice children's prayer book illustrated with full-color cartoon-like pictures. The book includes:
- Traditional prayers like the Hail Mary, Our Father and Morning Offering
- Prayers of the Saints, like Prayer of Saint Francis and Breastplate of St. Patrick
- Prayers and Mysteries of the Rosary (including the Luminous mysteries)
- Psalms from the Bible
- Some special prayers written just for children
- Gentle invitations for children to talk to God in their own words too.
- A segment on "Going to Confession" which includes instructions as well as prayers
- "Stuff Every Catholic Kid Should Know" like Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy and the Ten Commandments
- "Prayers from the Mass"
Also available in softcover
Catholic Prayer Book for Mothers
Catholic Saints Prayer Book
Catholic Stories for Boys and Girls
These charming readers, which are appropriate for a second grade reading level, contain "stories written and compiled in days long past by Catholic nuns in America and dedicated to Mary the Mother of God our dear Lady of the Miraculous Medal." My second grader (who is somewhat advanced in reading level) enjoyed these very much and polished off all four volumes in the first week of school - including one book which she read straight through without putting it down (she requested that I include that detail in the review). She really loves the small size and the beauty of the books themselves and has read them over and over.
I thought it was nice how the stories were so often inter-related as many of them were about the Sisters of Charity and some of their pupils, the founder St. Vincent de Paul, and other related saints, including St. Catherine Laboure and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. The books introduced my daughter to these saints and others (including St. Isaac Jogues and St. Edmund Campion) and she is now planning on working her way through the Vision Books and Mary Fabyan Windeatt titles about these saints.
The books would offer some good reading practice, a little more appealing than the older Catholic reading texts, while promoting Catholic virtues and tidbits from history. The numerous illustrations are black and white silhouette-like drawings.
Because the books were written for younger children many decades ago, they do display a slight amount of "twaddle" in a few places, along the lines of "'Tick, tock, tick, tock,' said the schoolroom clock as it looked down on the children reading and writing. It liked the French country children." Fortunately, most of the stories are not written in this style. Some parents don't like the way that souls are described as "black" or "white" instead of "in the state of sin" or "in the state of grace" because of the confusing connotations with regard to ethnic background (this also comes up in the Treasure Box Books). Also, although I don't think the authors intended it to come across this way, there is one story in the fourth book which appears to condone one boy beating up another for calling his brother a thief and for cursing. If I remember right, all of these possible objections are limited to the same story in the fourth book ("The Flowery Kingdom" starting on page 45).
4 volumes, 140 pages each
Catholic Talks for Children
Catholic Traditions in Crafts
This book was donated for review by St. Gabriel Gift and Book Nook
Catholic Woman's Daily Planner
Available from Family-Centered Press - www.family-centered.com
Catholic World Culture
When I first saw Catholic World Culture it appeared to be a rather dry and boring book, but after reading a few paragraphs I was convinced that it would hold my children's attention and excite them about the Faith and history. My oldest son told me that he found it interesting and inspiring, as well as a great source for trivia with which he could impress his friends (a humble child as you can imagine.)
Each of the 30 chapters in this 124 page full color book focus on a specific country, Catholic personality or event. Some of the topics covered include: "The Artist of Mysteries" (da Vinci/Italy), "God Alone Sufficeth" (St. Teresa of Avila/Spain), "Martyrs and Miracles (The Netherlands), "Conversions in the North" (Scandinavia). The chapters end with "Thinking Over" prompts which lead to several interesting discussions in our family.
We attempted to use this as part of a chronological history program and it just did not work, but as part of a geography or religion program or as a supplement to history it was ideal. Best suited for 8th-12th.
Catholic World History Timeline and Guide
The front of the book includes some rather extensive lists of recommended Catholic history texts, supplemental history reading and recommended websites.
The package is rather expensive, but many families are finding that, because it is a resource for the whole family that the investment was a worthwhile one. Personally, I very seldom purchase items in this price range (approximately $100). I have to admit that, in addition to using the images for our family's timeline (although we didn't do it exactly the way recommended in the book) I find myself using the reference timeline portion of the book very frequently. It's definitely not a book that will just get left on the shelf!