"Living books through eyes of faith" is not a new approach in Catholic education. The idea has a term, now resurfaced, since the rediscovery of Charlotte Mason's ideas of "twaddle free" books.
There are many stories that make the lives of the saints in salvation history vital and brilliant to a child. Young boys are thrilled with heroes and adventure, storms at sea, swashbuckling and sword fighting. Young girls are inspired by Catholic heroines who were brave and forthright in times of duress and danger, and who remained truly feminine through it all. We parents can provide all this when we share with our children the true stories of Catholic saints, blesseds, heroes and heroines.
Below is a listing of saints books for children, presented in chronological order, many of which include either the saint's country of origin or the areas which they later made their homes. Knowing the country of origin or of residence is especially helpful when studying history and geography, or when taking a "trip around the world" with eyes of faith reading living books.
Since this book list is a "living books" overview of Catholic history for children (from the early years of the Church through 1958), some parents may wish to use history textbooks as a foundation. Catholic saint stories easily complement history books like the recently reprinted American history series, Land of Our Lady (available through Neumann Press) , or the ancient history Old World and America textbook (available through TAN).
Using a Catholic history textbook as the cornerstone, parents may read to their children or have their children read the text as an introduction to a time period or the study of a country. Later, after studying both the textbooks and reading and discussing the "living saints," homeschooling parents and their children can again refer to the textbooks for both review and testing.
In using such an approach, parents will assure themselves of covering pertinent material through the textbooks - which often include "end of chapter" questions, a real time saver for busy parents. Children benefit by this approach because they learn more about the faith, understand the difficulties and hardships many Catholics before them endured, and they retain more information like dates, names, places and various scenarios.
Other parents may wish to use this list as the basis for a curriculum course for younger children in the subjects of reading, history or geography. There are excellent passages from which to select for oral narration, dictation and writing practice.
This list includes all the Mary F. Windeatt books now available through TAN Books and Publishers as well as those distributed by the Daughters of St. Paul.
For those who enjoy searching for old treasures, Keeping It Catholic is also including out of print materials originally distributed through Vision Books or Daughters of St. Paul. Titles which do not include the saints name were originally published by the Daughters of St. Paul.
Year of Book Setting and Title 35 St. Paul the Apostle (Jerusalem, ancient Greece and Rome)
45 Love as Strong As Death
255 St. Tarcisius (Pauline Press) Ancient Rome
300 St. Agnes (Pauline Press) Italy
300 St. Pancratius (Pauline Press) Asia Minor
300 Saints of the Byzantine World
385 The Wind at My Back Ireland
500 St. Benedict Italy
1090 Bells of Conquest France
1170 Saint Dominic Spain
1180 Francis and Clare Italy
1190 St. Dominic Italy
1220 Patron St. of First Communicants
1220 St. Hyacinth of Poland Poland
1225 Pillar in the Twilight Italy
1225 The Dumb Ox - St. Thomas Aquinas Italy
1350 St. Catherine of Siena Italy
1425 Wind and Shadows France
1440 Saint Joan France
1460 The Conscience Game England
1500 The Friar and the Knight Spain
1510 Leaving Matters to God Spain
1510 No Place for Defeat Italy
1520 Flame in the Night
1530 The Cross in the West US
1540 Bernadette and the Lady France
1550 A Gamble for God
1550 Saint Philip Italy
1560 Edmund Campion England
1565 St. Francis Solano Peru
1580 St. Martin De Porres Peru
1580 The King's Reward France
1580 The Cheerful Warrior France
1590 St. Rose of Lima Peru
1590 St. John Masias Peru
1600 Saint Issac and the Indians US
1630 Blessed Marie of New France Canada
1640 Father Marquette US
1650 Father Kino US
1650 Kateri Tekakwitha US
1660 A Woman Who Loved France
1725 The Ursulines US
1750 St. Louis De Montfort France
1750 The Road to the Kings Mountain US
1750 Wait for Me US
1760 Mother Seton US
1800 African Triumph Africa
1810 Friend to All Bohemia
1815 Pauline Jaricot France
1820 St. John Bosco Italy
1820 The Great Blackrobe US
1830 John Carrol US
1830 Miraculous Medal France
1840 No Greater Love Belgium
1840 Fr. Damien Belgium
1845 Ahead of the Crowd Italy
1845 Ven. Joseph Marello US
1850 Florence Nightingales Nuns England
1850 Rose Hawthorne US
1860 Katharine Drexel US
1860 The Little Flower France
1890 God's Secret Agent Mexico
1900 More Than a Knight Germany
1900 Yes is Forever US
1915 Our Lady Came to Fatima Portugal
1920 My Eskimos Arctic
1958 Pope John XXIII Italy
Hearts at Home Homeschool is an email newsletter distributed by the Keeping It Catholic Faith, Family and Home Education Network. Trademark, Copyright 1996. All Rights Reserved.
Permission is cheerfully granted to reproduce email newsletter articles *only* under the following conditions:
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Bio Note: Keeping It Catholic (K.I.C.) is a national network primarily focused on the homeschooling family, its real-life challenges, and correcting the problem of diluted Catholic education, even in homeschooling. For more information, please contact KIC.
Marianna Bartold is the founder of Keeping It Catholic. Mrs. Bartold was the founding publisher of The Catholic Family's Magnificat! Magazine and the original Home School Editor of Sursum Corda Magazine! Marianna is a fervent promoter and supporter of authentic Catholic education (through homeschooling) as traditionally given by the Roman Catholic Church. She has founded three different Catholic homeschool organizations - one local (MARY Network), one state (Michigan Catholic Home Educators), and one national (Catholic Home School Network of America). She and her husband Tim are the parents of six children and they reside in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan.
