The Miracles of Jesus

 By Tomie DePaola

This is a fantastic book.  The pictures are done in the style of Medieval religious paintings.  The stories are written so that a three year old can understand them.  Mostly.

 But the miracles of Jesus are all pretty great stories and reasonably entertaining for children of any age.

I've sifted through a lot of terrible Christian books and I haven't seen anything better than this.  My daughter was intrigued.  Confused, but intrigued.

We don't do a lot of religion right now because it all goes over her head.

And It Was So

 Published by the Westminster Press Philadelphia
Illustrated by Tasha Tudor

This book is not bad at all.  Totally Presbyterian, but the parts they pull from the bible are heavily edited to be understood by kids, so whatever.

 The only problem I have with it is that it pulls from way to many sections.  It starts with Genesis, which is great.  And then it moves on to a whole bunch of psalms.

It sneaks something in there about the son of God being born and how he loved children and stuff, which is nice.

The pictures are really nice.  But it's all blonde white kids, and there's this one page about spreading the news throughout the world that has bunch of kids in traditional outfits from foreign countries.  It's a bit white-savior/racist.  But it's an old book, too.  Maybe there's a new edition?

Let's Talk About Being Selfish

By Joy Berry
Illustrated by John Costanza

I found this book at a thrift store and recognized it.  We had one about Family Meetings that was terrible... but I'd heard good things about the other books in the series.  We're also talking a lot about sharing at home.

The art isn't great, but I think it's fairly engaging for kids because the expressions on the characters faces are over the top.

The text is very positive and simply stated.  It really is perfect for young kids.  It explains what it means to be selfish and explains how to avoid being selfish in a number of relatable situations.


These books are still in print with updated art, which isn't much better but at least there's more representation of different ethnicities.  Basically every topic is covered, too, and they're available in French and Spanish as well as English.  I haven't started reading this book yet because my daughter is getting better at sharing all on her own, but I imagine we'll have to break it out one day soon.

First Prayers

 These are uncredited.  Some of them are traditional prayers, some are nursery rhymes, and the rest are vague rhymes about God written specifically for the book.

This is a Catholic book because it contains the Hail Mary and the Guardian Angel Prayer.

It has a fun handle on it and some cut-out pages, so the kids like it.

It's a pretty good read.  It's a nice way to say prayers with a toddler who REFUSES to say prayers.  I like to sing the Our Father with the melody we use at mass.  That song's a big hit at bedtime.

The pictures aren't special.  The prayers written specifically for the book are dreadful.  But they're short, so whatever.

The Bible for Little Ones

 By Maite Roche

I actually really like this book.  It has really nice art.  I find it reminiscent of some of the native paintings from northern Canada, or even some of the Group of Seven paintings, with the light blue/purple outlines everywhere.

Christian theology for children is a tough one.  Most books, like this one, focus on the old testament stories because they're pretty simple.  They don't really address the covenants or death or transgressions or even the overall significance of what was going on.  But even so, the basic tenants of the faith can be a little confusing.

I read this to my daughter.  As I read yet another passage about God, she looks all around at the pages with a furrowed brow.

"Where is God!?!" she says, confused.
"Uh.  He's in heaven.  He's far away, but he's looking at everyone." I answer.
"No he isn't!  God is not there!" She angrily corrects me.  She pauses. "Where is the baby?"
I turn the page, "There he is.  Look it's Jesus."
"Oh."  She says.
I turn the page again.  "Look, Jesus is an adult, now"
"That is not Jesus!  JESUS IS A BABY!" she says, now getting upset.  She turns the page to the story of Moses, "That is Jesus!" she says.

But in all seriousness, this bible is really, truly appropriate for all Christian faiths, including Catholic.