This book has an excellent 25 page story of Edith Stein's life and death complete with many black and white photos and a comprehension question section. It is written at an upper grade school reading level, but would make excellent reading for older students and adults and could be read aloud to younger children as well. Click here to read a complete review of this book.
A sweet, fully animated, half hour movie for young children, about the apparitions of Our Lady to Saint Bernadette, in Lourdes France in the mid 1800s. The story is told from the point of view of a family with a crippled boy about to visit Lourdes, whose father explains why they are making the trip.
In the consistent style of the Vision Series of non-fiction Catholic stories for young people, the author presents a very engaging account of the important story of Our Lady's appearnces to Bernadette Soubirous - probably the poorest and simplest child in the small town of Lourdes, France. Bernadette's beautiful devotion is inspiring and her stubborn honesty is refreshing. More important, however, is Our Lady's message and her profound effect on those who come to her out of devotion and sometimes only curiosity.
Although this series of Saint Stories from Catholic Heritage Curricula is listed on our Reading Comprehension page, they should also not be overlooked as really wonderful stories for their own sake. The stories are well-written and contain very interesting details about the lives of the saints that I haven't seen elsewhere. Highly Recommended!
Rather than take a morning vitamin, our family reads Saints for Young Readers for Every Day every morning! It is a two volume set, with a saint story for every day (sometimes two). The first volume contains saints for January to June, the second volume covers the rest of the year. This hardcover set is a little expensive, but worth the money. We leave it on the kitchen counter, and do a daily reading with breakfast each day. The stories are well-written, engaging, and always one or two pages in length. There are black and white line drawings that accompany some stories.
Recently republished by New Hope Publications, the lay Dominican community in New Hope KY, Truth Was Their Star by Sr. Mary Jean Dorcy, OP offers a gentle introduction to various Dominican saints. Naturally, since she is a Dominican, she would be interested in sharing the lives of several Dominican saints. While not talking down to the child, the text is written as though speaking to a younger child. Each chapter is really an introduction to a particular saint offering a vignette about his or her life, or encapsulating a series of popular stories about the saint.
"Long ago in a far distant land there lived a boy called Offero." So opens the story of St. Christopher, one of fourteen saint stories in In God's Garden. Written in a friendly story teller format, the book's primary audience is younger children, approximately preschool-age to 3rd grade.
In the Bethlehem Books catalog, this book is recommended for ages 5 - 10, but I think many of the stories will be appealing even for preschoolers. The stories have been carefully chosen to be interesting to children at the "fairy tale age". Many of the saints chosen are knights and princesses with adventures and lessons to share with your children. Some parents may not like the informality of her story-telling style, but I think most will appreciate using this book to foster an interest in the Saints at a very young age.
Once Upon a Time Saints is a collection of stories about the lives of the saints written as stories and not biographies to capture the attention of young children, from preschool through the early grades. Intertwined in the stories are mixtures of legend, fact, and humor, embellishing on the human qualities of the saints and presenting them as not mere statues, but real people. Reading with expression and drama, the narrator brings these stories to life, allowing us to listen to the book as it should be read, out loud.
"In writing this volume, the purpose has been to acquaint our children with biographies that will have some particular influence on the development of their characters. Each story has been planned as a real character-training project, not merely as a reading lesson to inspire admiration for faith and religious heroism." (From the Foreword)