Alicia Van Hecke

Anno's Counting Book

Book cover: Anno's Counting Book
Author(s): 
Mitsumasa Anno

This is a charming Counting Book with a colorful two page spread for each number from zero through twelve. The pictures show the beginnings of a town. For zero, you see a snowy field with a river running through it. The next page has one house built, one snowman, one person skiing, one pine tree, one crow, one dog, etc. Each month another building is added as more people come to the town. Young children, who often enjoy small details in pictures, can find how many things on each page can be counted up to the same number.

My Path to Heaven

Book cover: My Path to Heaven
Author(s): 
Geoffrey Bliss, S.J.
Illustrator(s): 
Caryll Houselander

This is one of the nicest educational materials I've come across (and I think that's saying a lot). What this book amounts to is a simplified form of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, designed to be understood by children. This is cleverly done with a very detailed picture for each of the twelve chapters. The child studies the details of the pictures and then the parent or the child reads the text (two or three pages) which explains the details of the pictures. The child is then invited to look at the picture again.

The Last Crusader: Isabella of Spain

Book cover: The Last Crusader: Isabella of Spain
Author(s): 
William Thomas Walsh

Queen Isabella (the Catholic) of Spain is one of the most influential and controversial women in history. She and her husband were responsible for supporting Columbus' voyages to the New World, the re-conquering of all of Spain from the Moors, the expulsion of the Jews, and the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition. Her daughter, Catherine of Aragon, was the unfortunate first wife of King Henry VIII of England (who founded the Anglican church because he didn't accept the Pope's refusal to grant him an annulment of his marriage to Catherine).

How the Reformation Happened

Book cover: How the Reformation Happened
Author(s): 
Hilaire Belloc

This book is a surprisingly readable and interesting account of "How the Reformation Happened". Although it is written from a Catholic perspective, Mr. Belloc is very fair in dishing out the blame to the appropriate people on both sides. The years covered are 1517 (when Martin Luther affixed his protest against the Indulgences to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany) to 1648, but also includes commentary of the implications of the "Reformation" on our own times.

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Book cover: 'The Scarlet Pimpernel'
Author(s): 
Barroness Orczy

This classic romance/mystery set in the French Revolution is the story of a wealthy British nobleman, Percy, with a daring and secret side of his life which he keeps hidden even from his wife - a beautiful French actress. Percy and some close friends have found a sport much more exciting, noble, and dangerous than the typical fox-hunting: that of rescuing French aristocrats from the raging mobs and guillotine of the French revolution.

A Tale of Two Cities

Book cover: 'A Tale of Two Cities'
Author(s): 
Charles Dickens
Historical Fiction set in the French Revolution. For the uninitiated - the two cities are Paris and London. The story also involves two men - one a French aristrocrat, hated by the lower classes involved in the bloody revolution for crimes committed by his family - the other a wealthy British bachelor. Both fall in love with Lucie, the beautiful daughter of a man who was freed from the Bastille after being wrongfully imprisoned. It is a beautiful story of love and sacrifice amidst the horror and evil of the Reign of Terror.

Christ and the Americas

Book cover: Christ and the Americas
Author(s): 
Anne W. Carroll

Christ and the Americas is a high school American history text by the same author as Christ the King, Lord of History. It is difficult to describe in a paragraph or two a book that covers so much. The book is packed with stories and information about major aspects of American history, from the ancient civilizations of the Mayans, Aztecs and Incas, to post-Cold War America.

Christ the King Lord of History

Book cover: Christ the King Lord of History
Author(s): 
Anne W. Carroll

This very interesting and readable World History text covers the beginnings of History through the early reign of Pope John Paul II from a Catholic perspective. Old Testament History, the great ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome, the Life of Christ, the growth of the Church, the Great Heresies, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the "Reformation" and Counter-Reformation, the French Revolution, the Age of Napoleon, World War I, the Russian Revolution and World War II are all included in fascinating details.

The Borrowed House

Book cover: The Borrowed House
Author(s): 
Hilda van Stockum

The Borrowed House presents us with a look at Germany and Holland during World War II, through the eyes of Janna, a 13 year old German girl who is raised on Hitler's propaganda and is a member of "Hitler's Youth". Janna, raised in the Black Forest of Germany and separated from her parents (who are famous actors and travel around a bit), has been indoctrinated with a hatred of Jews and other aspects of Hitler's "ideals". From the beginning we learn somewhat chilling (although subtly handled) facts about the treatment of the sick and elderly in Hitler's Germany.

Hittite Warrior

Book cover: Hittite Warrior
Author(s): 
Joanne Williamson

This is a rather interesting story, set in Biblical times (about 1200 B.C.) of a great battle led by the Hebrew Barak (at the time of Deborah) and told from the perspective of a young Hittite Warrior, Uriah – one of the enemy. The story gives the reader a real sense of the culture of the time – from the land of the Hittites, to Ancient Israel, to the major Canaanite cities of Tyre and Sidon (where the people fearfully sacrifice a child to the god Moloch in time of difficulty).

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