Like many parents our age, I grew up with Jacques Cousteau, the Frenchman who brought the life below the water level to everyone's homes via TV and films. Here is a colorful, friendly picture book about his life and accomplishments. Curious episodes of his life and his conservation efforts are explained in simple language. Also, beautiful, direct quotes from him are found throughout the colorful book, such as:

If we were logical, the future would be bleak indeed. But we are more than logical. We are human beings, and we faith, and we have hope.

The art is reminiscent of illustrations from the 60s and very pleasant. We read this aloud and some of the facts of his life listed on the last page. We also found plenty on You Tube including longer films of his adventures on his ship, the Calypso.

Together with another picture book about Jacques Cousteau entitled Manfish by Jennifer Berne, this book can bring alive the life of a great man and his work to any young student .

Note: An interesting piece in the NYT about these books on the "red-capped" ocean explorer is worth reading!

Nancy Brown and Hillside Education have teamed up for a second volume of kid-friendly mysteries adapted from G.K. Chesterton's Fr. Brown mysteries. It's a little difficult to say what age these are appropriate for since, unlike the first volume, these are all based on murder-mystery stories, and sensitivities vary from child-to-child. My rough-and-tumble seven year old son loved them as a read-aloud, but the general subject matter is off-putting for my very sensitive thirteen year old daughter. There are four stories in this volume: "The Invisible Man" is about a murderer who took advantage of the fact that many people are taken for granted because we see them all of the time. "The Mirror of the Magistrate" involves a murder with some mysterious clues that could easily be interpreted in the wrong direction. "The Eye of Apollo" tells of a prophet of a "new religion" who is up to no good. In "The Perishing of the Pendragons", a disgruntled murderer uses superstition to cover up his crimes. The stories emphasize the solving of each mystery and the thinking involved in the solution - which includes some very interesting insights into human nature and its foibles and limitations.

The sequel to A Life of Our Lord for Children, this title by Marigold Hunt tells the story of the infant Church. After a few introductory remarks, the story begins with the Pentecost (Acts 1) and ends with Paul's visit to the Jews of Rome (Acts 28). The beauty of this book is the wonderful storytelling style of Hunt. It is a great book to read aloud because then it really sounds as if she is speaking to us. One day I was reading out loud to my nine year-old and all the other children had gathered around. My eleven year-old said, "That's a cool author." I know he meant, "I love to hear the way that author tells a story."

At the beginning of each chapter Hunt lists the corresponding chapters from Acts of the Apostles. At various points in the text she recommends the reader go and read from the Bible. For example, when she describes the Pentecost, she suggests that the reader reads Peter's speech which is recorded in Acts 2. She calls it the "very first sermon of the very first pope." I have to admit that when I read her suggestions, I wanted to hop up and read the Bible version! Hunt selects particular tales from Acts, saying that she couldn't tell all that happened. However, she selects those that would be of most interest to young readers. For example, she chooses to include the story of Philip running next to the chariot of the Treasurer to tell him about the Faith, which is kind of a funny image. Hunt also does a good job explaining the problem that Christians Jews had with gentiles becoming Christian without keeping the "law of Moses," and how it was resolved. She makes it clear that Peter makes the final decision, and that when he does, everyone accepts it, clearly establishing him historically as the leader of the Church. With every story she explains things in ways a child would understand by comparing them to things in our own time.

As with A Life of Our Lord for Children, this edition, reissued in 2004, is illustrated by Ted Schluenderfritz (a homeschooling dad!). His drawings add greatly to the text. This is a book that will appeal to all children and is a joy to read aloud. It could be read independently by a 4th grader.