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An interesting, fully illustrated (with pen and ink drawings) story of the construction of a Medieval Cathedral. The cathedral in the book and the details of the story are fictional, but are based on details of what we know about the construction of real-life cathedrals. (Among other reasons, this technique makes sense because there probably aren't enough details known about the construction of any one Cathedral to make a book of this sort). In addition to scientific, artistic and architectural details about how flying buttresses work and other technical information, the author provides a glimpse into this significant aspect of Medieval life - how dedicated the townspeople were to the project, how many of those who started the project did not live to its completion (because it took so many years to build), difficulties that would come up in the midst of the construction, etc.

The title clearly explains what this book is all about: Gibson took the twelve months of the year, wove in the liturgical celebrations and linked these to marvelous picture books – creating a mosaic of Catholic culture and beautiful literature.

But this book is much more than an annotated book list, although that is included too. Gibson gives suggested questions for you to discuss with your children. She gives suggested copywork – that is, quotes that children memorize or use for handwriting practice. She gives ideas for activities that will reinforce the meaning of the particular book. She helps families to truly live and embrace the wondrous Catholic traditions connected to feast days, liturgical celebrations and other things Catholic.

Some of the books described and linked in this book are Catholic illustrated classics – books like Weight of a Mass by Josephine Nobisso, Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi and St. George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges are extremely popular with many Catholic parents and children. But Gibson goes beyond the “Catholic classics” and mentions books like The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen (illustrated by Rachel Isadora) and The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein and how you can apply Catholic teachings to these books, giving your children a rich and lasting understanding of our Catholic culture.

In total, Gibson integrates FIFTY-TWO illustrated children’s books with the Catholic calendar and Catholic living. Books that cover the Mass, First Communion, various saints and important liturgical seasons are included. In addition, she suggests other books which may also work (but omits questions and activities linked to these “second-string” books some of which unfortunately are out-of-print or hard-to-find).

All the primary books are easily attainable from booksellers; in addition, books by popular authors like Tomie dePaola are usually available at public libraries so as not to strain your book budget too much. However, after seeing these books, you might want to have good copies for your home library. Gibson has selected books not only for the meaning in their words, but also for the beauty of their illustrations. These books could easily be used as an art study in conjunction with the literature, religion and other subjects covered in these books.

Further resources that Gibson gives the reader are suggestions for creating and maintaining a “Liturgical Notebook” throughout the year – a memory scrapbook of this literature-based journey – as well as incorporating some of the traditional Catholic homeschool resources (for example, CHC’s A Year with God or Seton’s Art 1).

Run, don’t walk, to get a copy of this book. I know I sound effusive, but this book is remarkable in its ambitious objective which is stunningly successful. This is one of those homeschooling volumes that needs to be on every Catholic resource shelf – that is, when it’s not being used!

This is an illustrated, children's adaptation of "The Nun's Priest's Tale" from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. It's a simple moral tale, reminiscent of Aesop's Fables, with a lesson about the dangers of flattery and pride. A prideful rooster faces danger as he is flattered by a cunning fox. Truly a classic.

Sometimes your casual pick-up-what-looks-good from the library hits jackpot--last week it was one of those instances for us. Close to the Wind by Peter Malone gets very close to being the picture book par excellence. In every aspect, this gem brings the very best of the world of picture books: beautiful, detail-rich illustrations, a captivating story, plenty of educational content, and great use of visual diagrams, side notes and explanatory illustrations.

Good picture books, I am always exclaiming, are so helpful in the homeschool. What did we know about the Beaufort Scale before this find? Next to nil. Now, not only we learned about the useful scale that measures wind based on detailed observations, we also learned information on ship-building, sails, the life of sailors, curious entries in sailor's glossary, how many trees are cut down to build a ship, and the sad destiny of many ships after their many years of service.

Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons is an outstanding new addition to our family library - this book is a very clever mixture of gorgeous children, lovely pets, and scrumptious cookies combined with important ideas for all ages. I think that this is one of the most memorable "virtues" books that I have seen for young children. Difficult concepts are described both through subtle clues in the illustrations and through little stories related to cookies in the text. For example, "Cooperate" is defined as "How about you add the chips while I stir?" on a page with the animals in aprons helping a young child to stir the cookie dough. The book is probably best as a read-aloud as some of the typefaces that vary from page to page may be difficult for beginners to read. A delight to browse. A delight to hear. Over and over again.

Preschoolers and up, in the non-fiction section.

Daddy's Lullaby by Tony Bradman, beautifully illustrated by Jason Cockcroft, is a children's storybook about a young dad who comes home late at night to find the baby wide awake in his crib. In his efforts to soothe the baby back to sleep, dad cuddles him in his arms and tours the house with the baby to see all the other sleeping members of the family. When that doesn't work, dad takes the baby downstairs and sings him a soft lullaby about "Daddy will hold you safe from all harm" and "Love you forever--A promise he'll keep." Exhausted from his long week at work, dad falls asleep with the baby nestled in his arms. In the morning, mom and big brother find them still sleeping peacefully. The strength and power of this dad is displayed in his commitment to his family, "let me chase that bad old dream away" and the warmth and the love he has for them with words like "And here's the best mother a baby could have. You're a lucky baby and I'm a lucky dad!" In this day and age of broken homes, this story is a refreshing encouragement to dads about the real meaning of family life. The captivating pictures poignantly illustrate the tenderness and love of this dad for his family.

Newbery Medal runner-up 1935

This beautiful new edition of Hilda Van Stockum's little masterpiece was an exciting development in our household. You see, we missed the original Bethlehem Books run of this favorite title and ended up with an old copy from eBay with cracked and brittle pages. We still loved it of course.

A Day on Skates is a simple story of a Dutch brother and sister who go on a skating picnic with their teacher and classmates for a whole day. For modern children, the setting and events open up the imagination to far away times and places. There are humorous episodes and simple lessons in humanity present in the story. The writing is lovely and engaging. The pen-and-ink illustrations and occasional full-page color paintings are a perfect complement to the story.

A particular strength of her writing is her sympathetic view of the human condition. Here is a perfect example from the story:

Every Dutch boy and girl loves to skate, and every Dutch man and woman, too. And no wonder. Holland with its canals and streams has many miles of ice when the cold at last arrives. Both Evert and Afke had learned to skate when they were very small. Indeed, Afke had been only three when she first tottered on pigmy skates, carefully held up by her father. By now she had become quite an expert, and Evert was even better. He had won several prizes in his school's skating tournaments. One of the prizes had been a beautiful book called Robinson Crusoe, which he had read so often that the cover had come off. Another time he won a silver pencil, which he gave to Afke, and the last time it had been a book entitled Good Henry, the story of a boy who was always good. This he had promptly traded for a penknife.

We bring this book out again and again, particularly on chilly winter days. Although the text is a bit longer than your average picture book, it's broken up into chapters. We tend to read a chapter at a time spread out throughout a day.

This would make a lovely gift for children of all ages.