Alicia Van Hecke

Full title: From Slave to Priest: A Biography of the Reverend Augustine Tolton (1854-1897) The First Black Priest of the United State

This is a beautiful and helpful little book that explains and elucidates on the Cardinal Virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance) and Theological Virtues (faith, hope and charity) in a helpful and accessible way. The idea is to examine and understand the idea of trying to live a virtuous life in a day and age in which "virtuous" is practically an insult.

This is a really nifty little picture book that illustrates the importance of commas through the use of simple sentences with humorous illustrations contrasted with the same sentence (on the opposite side of the page) differently punctuated. The results are entertaining and quite educational.

Here is one example:

On the left-hand page is the sentence: "Slow, children crossing." The cartoon-like picture shows a crossing guard signalling for cars to stop while some school children cross the road.

I'm so excited about my friend Maureen's new book from Ecce Homo Press. Maureen is a kindred spirit in the "living books" department and I know that this book will be a favorite on my shelf and have recommended it to friends who are interested in the way our family homeschools.

Danielle Bean is a Catholic homeschool mom with a bunch of kids, a great sense of humor and a very helpful sense of perspective. Her book is a collection of short reflections on events in her life that any mom-of-many can relate to. Somehow, in the midst of these engaging stories of noise and illness and chaos, great truths glimmer just below the surface. Truths about God and reality and what really matters. Encouraging truths that give us perspective when things don't go quite right and the world simply doesn't understand.

This one volume, written especially for homeschooled high schoolers, provides study questions to reflect on while reading the Greek classics. The study questions are simple and aid in comprehension. If you read the questions before reading the related passage, they give you a sense of what to look for, thus helping you stay focused on challenging subject matter. They're also helpful in discussions with an adult afterwards to help make sure that the student has comprehended the book and as starting points for further discussion on important ideas contained in the book.

Fans of Danielle's first book, My Cup of Tea and her blog will undoubtedly be eager to absorb more of her wisdom and good humor – and with good reason. This, her second book, is aimed especially at younger moms who are overwhelmed and still trying to figure out how to work out a lot of the details of smoothly running their homes (and lives). These moms tend to feel guilty for not “having it all together” and wonder how older, more experienced moms with more kids ever manage their large brood and complex family life.

Memory has always been a favorite game in our family; partly because it's easy for even the young non-readers in the family and also because there are so many fun variations on the game.

Now we have a new favorite Memory game for the very youngest members of the family. The game involves matching photos of mother animals with their babies.. The cards are super heavy-duty (of a similar thickness to the original Memory games but more like the size of playing cards) with lovely photographs of each animal.

After Papa's store burns down in East Texas, the Pierce family decides to take up farming and moves to the wilds of the Texas Panhandle where life is challenging and money is tight. Papa has built a "dugout" cabin and the family makes do with circumstances far different from those to which they are accustomed.

Pope John Paul II - Jon Voight
Karol Wojtyla up to his election as Pope John Paul II - Cary Elwes
Cardinal Adam Sapieha - James Cromwell
Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski - Christopher Lee
Stanislaw Dziwisz - Wenanty Nosul