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Making Music Praying Twice is a music and movement program for the young Catholic child. There are a variety of ways the parent can use the program. It can be used with your own children or with other families in a homeschool co-op or a group class for the parish. Because the program is highly adaptable, the age range is quite wide. The class could be for newborns through age 5, or toddler through second grade.

If you are familiar with the song books from days gone by like the Catholic series, We Sing and... or secular series from the same time period, this series is similar to them in that the “Children’s Songbook” includes a number of young children’s songs written as simple melodies along with the words.

Do you know what homonyms and homophones are? If not, this book will certainly help you understand them. With clever writing and silly cartoon illustrations (and a somewhat obnoxious typeface), they give many clever and memorable examples of each.

Here's a small sampling of text from each of the two segments:

Homonyms are words that sound and also look alike.

But they have different meanings, as in "Can you pass that can, Mike?"

Or "May I sail with you in May and coast along the coast?

and

Now, some words sound identical but are spelled in different way.

These words are known as homophones.

Like praise and preys and prays.

This is a lovely picture book about, naturally, beginnings. The simple but descriptive storyline, along with vibrant illustrations, take you through signs of new things - like a tomato plant, a tree and a thunderstorm. These capture the beauty of different aspects of God's creation, but only show the simple ways that we see what's coming next.

The story culminates in looking at the questions of where *we* come from and answers it in the simplest and most innocent way, focusing on the love of God who "chose the perfect place for you, inside the safe, warm shelter of your mother's womb..."

This is a sweet Mass Kit designed for little fingers (ideal for toddlers and preschoolers). It's made of fabric with cleverly weighted bases and includes a chalice, paten (with a hidden pouch that holds little foam "hosts"), cruets, "candles", a censer, crucifix and two cloths (corporal and purificator) all packaged rather nicely in a zip-up case (with a long carrying strap) that doubles as an altar.

This is a clever, very colorful picture book with a simple purpose. It illustrates, with funny little cartoon illustrations, hundreds (440 to be exact) of common expressions in the English language that involve animals, such as:

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
"Mad as a hornet."
"I have butterflies in my stomach."
"You're putting the cart before the horse."

A short definition of the phrase's meaning is also included.

This is a fun idea for exploring our language and it's amazing just how many expressions fit into this category? I like how there's a certain connectivity between different themes and they modernized some old-fashioned clip-art for some of the illustrations.

This will be enjoyed by preschoolers all the way through the elementary school years.

This lavishly illustrated story-book was inspired by (and includes stories from) the best-selling story collection The Book of Virtues. This has been a favorite book in our family since my oldest was just two. The stories include: The Little Hero of Holland, the Tortoise and the Hare, The King and His Hawk (a cautionary tale about anger involving Genghis Kahn - my daughter liked this story so much that she had it almost memorized at the age of 2 1/2), St. George and the Dragon, St. Francis' Sermon to the Birds, the Legend of the Dipper, George Washington and the Cherry Tree, the Indian Cinderella, the Boy Who Cried Wolf and the Honest Woodman. Classic poems are included as well.

I like this volume even better than The Children's Book of Virtues. (We checked it out from the library three different times before I finally bought it!) Heroes includes stories of Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa, Helen Keller, David and Goliath, Father Flanagan and Jackie Robinson. The book is filled with illustrations and stories are generally three to five pages, with a few poems included as well. The biographies are our family's favorites, but there are many other stories including myths and fairy tales which teach some of the same values. You can't miss the Catholic stories included.

This newest edition presents some colorfully illustrated tales of a more religious nature. Passages from the Bible include "the Story of Daniel and the Lion's Den", "the Healing of a Paralytic", "the Call of Samuel", "the Little Lost Lamb", the 23rd Psalm, and "Miriam and the Floating Basket." Other stories involve St. Christopher. St. Martin of Tours and St. Augustine's famous "Walk by the Sea" where a little boy (believed to be Jesus or an Angel) had a conversation with him about the mysteries of God. Classic tales by Leo Tolstoy and Oscar Wilde, beautiful poems and hymns, and the stories of Amazing Grace and of the historical event which was the origin of the celebration of Hannukah are also included. There are thirty-three stories in all.

Another great collection compiled by William Bennett which includes beautifully illustrated tales and poems such as: Father Junipero Serra, the story of the First Thanksgiving, Paul Bunyan, the Story of the Star Spangled Banner, an Indian legend, and patriotic songs and poems. This is one of the books that my children ask for over and over - probably because of the wonderful illustrations, interesting content and great variety of stories. I especially like the story included about Father Junipero Serra which very nicely portrays the faith and fortitude of this humble priest.

We've always been big fans of the Provensens. Martin and Alice Provensen authored and illustrated so many of our early childhood favorites including The Year at Maple Hill Farm, Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm, and A Book of Seasons. The two also illustrated The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown as well as the original Fuzzy Duckling. Their folksy artistic style is rich in character and their humor and insight appeals as much to parents as to children.