Do you like to make the Easter basket about more than just the chocolate? Four new books from Pauline Kids will make excellent additions to your child’s Easter basket this year.
Jesus Our Savior: the story of God’s Son for children by Patricia Szczebak is an adaptation of Bible stories about Jesus. Written for independent readers in second grade and up, it would make a great read-aloud for children as young as age four. Most chapters are about three pages long, so this book is perfectly formatted for bedtime reading with your children, a chapter or two each night. This Bible storybook is faithful to Gospel accounts, adding only a bit of historical detail (such as a simple explanation of leprosy) to help young readers understand the stories better.
Our Blessed Mother: the story of Mary for children by Marilyn Evangelina Monge, FSP, is from the same series as Jesus Our Savior. This book is divided into two parts: The Life of Mary and Mary Leads Us to Jesus, which covers the Marian apparitions at Carmel, Guadalupe, Lourdes, and Fatima, the Miraculous Medal, and a quick how-to on praying the Rosary. The book begins with a good explanation about how we honor Mary but do not worship her, and also that we get some of the stories of Mary from Tradition.
The Life of Jesus is a graphic novel by Ben Alex, illustrated by José Pérez Montero. This book brings the Gospel stories to life in a different way; more and more kids ages 10 and up are very into the graphic-novel format, so this will appeal to them without boiling down the message. The narrative is very action-oriented but does not leave out the numerous occasions in the Bible where Jesus goes off by himself to pray. At the bottom of each page, you’ll find the Scripture reference for the story depicted there. I’d recommend this for tweens, teens, and Confirmandi.
Divine Mercy in my pocket by Marianne Lorraine Trouvé, FSP, is a small booklet, about 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches, that helps kids learn to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet. In addition to the prayer instruction, the first half of the booklet contains a short biography of Saint Faustina, as well as some information on the meaning of the prayers and how and why we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. The rest of the booklet is titled “How Can I Share Mercy with Others?” and discusses the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy in language children can understand. Paired with a Rosary, it would make an excellent First Communion gift idea.
Tuck one (or more) of these books into your child’s Easter basket this year — right next to the chocolate bunny.
Copyright 2018 Barb Szyszkiewicz
This post contains Amazon affiliate links. I was given a free review copy of this book, but no other compensation. Opinions expressed here are mine alone.