Tag: book reviews

Book Review: First-Communion Gift Idea

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As you choose a gift for the First Communicant in your life, think beyond the standard greeting card with a check enclosed. Instead, consider a gift that will help a young Catholic child learn more about faith, prayer and the Blessed Mother.

mother-mary20223lgMother Mary…God’s Gift to You is a combination storybook, activity book, and journal. Children can use it along with their parents (or grandparents or godparents) to grow in their understanding of, and devotion to, Mother Mary. It is a companion volume to The Parable of Willy Wheat and is designed for children who have already read and enjoyed that story.

Author Kathy Bleichrodt blends cute illustrations with easy-to-understand (but not insulting) language to explain tough concepts to children between the ages of 5 and 8. The book is not meant to be read all at once, but over a period of time; it would be an excellent way to extend your child’s religious education over the summer, when school, homeschool and parish faith-formation classes take a break.

Topics covered in this book include:

  • prayer
  • mysteries of the Rosary
  • consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
  • the scapular

This book is packed with information and hands-on activities.

mother mary bookMother Mary…God’s Gift to You comes with a Rosary, Miraculous Medal, scapular, and wheat berries. You need only a few simple household items to complete all the activities in this book.

Both books in the series have a Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, signifying that they are free of errors regarding the Faith and that nothing within the books are contrary to Catholic faith and morals.

This review was originally published at CatholicMom.com. You can find this book and many other First Communion gifts at Aquinas and More.

I wrote this review of Mother Mary for the free Tiber River Catholic book review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods.

Aquinas and More is the largest on-line Catholic bookstore.

I received a review copy of this book for the purposes of this post. Opinions expressed are mine alone.

Book Review: Yes, God!

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Yes God by Susie LloydI’ve long been a fan of Susie Lloyd’s work (how can you resist a book titled Please Don’t Drink the Holy Water?) Anyone who’s a parent can relate to the tales she tells of her kids’ shenanigans.

In her latest book, Susie uses her famous sense of humor and encouraging style for a different purpose:  to inspire vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

I think she’s on to something here. The point she makes in Yes, God is that regular, everyday families can raise children who grow up to do extraordinary things for the Church and the world.

Each chapter in this short book contains a vocation story, a family story, a prayer, and Susie’s own commentary on the stories told by 5 young priests and 5 more young Sisters. These are not old stories about senior citizens; they focus on recent vocation stories.

Susie celebrates parents who say “Yes” to duty, affection, strength, spiritual poverty, tradition, the greatest commandment, generosity, humility and patience–in the regular, everyday circumstances and events of their lives. Even as the stories are told, you see Susie’s trademark sense of humor shining through in the telling–and you’ll find it in her encouraging reflections as well. Here’s an excerpt from the chapter on Generosity to illustrate:

How could I relate to Father’s parents, who worked so hard that I get tired just reading about it? Don’t they seem a bit like those saints written about long ago, who were born fasting? I don’t know about you, but I automatically separate those saints out in my mind as more angelic than human. I can’t relate. Therefore, I can’t imitate. Please, Lord, hold me excused.

For the record, I’m not above leaving this book around where one or another of my kids might take a peek inside. It couldn’t hurt, right?