The Life of Christ
A Treasure Chest of Traditions for Catholic Families
During the past few years, there has been a renewed interest in beginning and in continuing traditions within our families within the context of the liturgical year. This book has been written to help make these celebrations easier to plan as well as to provide countless new ideas. Some of these ideas are original while others are traditional. This book is especially well-suited for families with children in the preschool years up through the late elementary years.
The majority of the suggestions for each month are craft-oriented or games that are sure to appeal to younger children. For example, January 17th is the memorial of St. Anthony, patron of basket makers. The book gives a very simple biography of St. Anthony, suggests a "prayer habit", and includes the directions for making a basket out of bread dough. The description for the Feast of the Ascension includes detailed directions for making a kite to ascend to the heavens in addition to directions for making bubble-blowers and bubble solution. Ordinary Time saints' days include a lengthy section describing the making of Catholic games that will help in learning the catechism and in remembering the Saints. Names of some of the games are Jell-O Box Jeopardy, Catechism Categories, Holy Rummoli, and Lists and Levels; don't they sound interesting and fun to play?
The book is organized by the liturgical calendar, beginning with a New Year's Eve party for the beginning of the Church year just prior to the start of the Advent season and continues on to the Feast of Christ the King in late November. The dates and feast days are those of the modern Church calendar, although the listings for some dates include those saints not found on the revised Roman calendar. There are more ideas and suggestions than a family could possibly do; this book should keep your family busy for many, many years. It will be an excellent addition to your family library and a good companion to a book of saint's stories or of church history.
A Year With God
The Table of Contents begins with "Celebrate Advent and Christmas", continues with "Celebrate Lent and Easter", and concludes with "Celebrate Ordinary Time". This overview will provide you with an easy-to-use reference to the book, but even more valuable is the "Index of Activities" in the back of the book. This Index is arranged by the calendar year and provides page and activity references to specific Feast Days of the Church. Have you ever considered celebrating The Feast of St. Nicholas? Or the Annunciation of the Lord? Or the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows? Now you have ready-to-go plans for these and hundreds of other special days.
Plays, craft projects, dramatic readings, games, drawings, hands-on learning, writing projects and much more employ all of the various styles of learning. Also included are the most popular longer-term projects from the CHC Lesson Plans. Many families have purchased the lesson plan sets just to have access to these enriching ideas. The wide range of projects and activities appeal to all age groups as well. I have a sixteen-year age-range between students in my own homeschool, and there are enjoyable activities for everyone, including me! The extensive artwork is professional, orthodox, and pleasing while remaining accessible and comprehensible to everyone. Produced with a variety of easily-read fonts on creamy, thick paper, the book is a joy to read while allowing both durability and excellent reproduction quality. CHC has permitted that activity pages may be copied for immediate family members, further extending the usefulness of the book. Arrangements can also be made for group copyright permissions; this is a terrific way to introduce these activities into homeschool cooperative groups, sacramental preparation classes, and other group situations.
Every other book that we have used as we have celebrated the liturgical year has been tied to the cultural traditions of different countries around the world. While we have enjoyed these experiences, there are plenty of books available to learn about them. A Year With God is different from these books; it does not include such popular and well-known traditions as the Christmas Tree or the baking of Hot Cross Buns. A Year With God is focused on the truly spiritual and universally Catholic in a way that develops and fosters growth in virtue and holiness. The richness and depth of our Faith comes alive in a way that is unforgettable, both to the student and the teacher. Take the time to really read through and use this book. It will be a blessing to your family!
Copyrights 2003/2005
Donated for review by Catholic Heritage Curricula
Abigail and the Widow Mary
My children were familiar enough with these stories from the Bible that they delighted in figuring out which story was being told (the background development gives them a little chance for guessing). So enjoyable was this story, in fact, that I was coerced by my daughter into reading the entire book in one sitting. I have to admit that I found the task not at all unpleasant.
In order to give you a sampling of the book, the story of Reuben's Basket, which is about the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, may be read online. Note: A character in one of the stories makes a joke that some may find offensive. Keeping in mind that the author is British (and some of the words involved in the joke have different connotations to British than to Americans); I don't think the joke is a real problem, but you can decide for yourself as the joke in question is included in the chapter that you can read on their website listed above.
Easter
Holy Names of Jesus: Devotions, Litanies, and Meditations
This book is laid out in short sections that may be read in a few minutes while providing food for thought for hours. Forty-four names by which Jesus is known have been listed and described, with a short prayer or meditation after many of them. Those names whose origin is well-known have longer passages than those names that are less familiar. I must admit that two of the passages struck me as a bit odd: the one titled "Cosmic Christ---Jesus, Priest" which is a modern piece of poetry and the one titled "Jesus, Our Mother", which is a commentary of the universal natures of Christ. Both seemed out of place and less than reverent, but the book has both the "nihil obstat" and an imprimatur. Most of the remaining names were familiar to me and quite traditional.
Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat
Jesus Feeds Everybody!
Jesus Feeds Everybody! by Young-Jin Choi and Jung-Cho Kim, is an English translation of a board book originally published in Korea. The multiplication of the loaves and fishes came to life for Ramona. She loved this brightly illustrated book and I think she especially loved that it comes with a built-in ribbon handle for convenient toting.
A very happy Jesus, cute bunnies and lambs and its own handle ... Ramona was pleased.
I recently received a couple of new books from Pauline Books and Media and Ramona was taken with both of them. The books are this one, Jesus Feeds Everybody!, and The Easter Swallows by Vicki Howie.
Jesus of Nazareth
There is no substitute for reading the story of Christ's life in the Gospels themselves. First hand sources are always the best, but this book can assist in developing a more complete understanding and familiarity with the life of Jesus. The author is obviously well-acquainted with the geography, history and culture of Palestine and its people and gives us many of these sort of details which are not explained in the Bible. She is also well-versed in the Bible - particularly Our Lord's life and the foreshadowing and prophecies of the Old Testament related to it. I found the details of how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies particularly fascinating.
The story is very beautifully written and the events are related in terms of what we know from the biblical accounbts, relevant prophecies and considerations and meditations on why Our Lord did certain things and what He and others may have been thinking about each event.
Some may dispute the "Simply Told" aspect of the title because of a certain amount of antiquated language. Be assured that definitions given in the footnotes (at the bottom of each page)are very helpful. Footnoted scriptural references allow for a more easy comparison of the relevant passages from the original text. The author shows some reluctance (as seems rather common with authors of that time period) to discuss certain events connected with the Annunciation and the Incarnation such as Saint Joseph's thought of divorcing Mary when he found that she was with child and his reassurance by an angel in a dream.
I think this book would make a rather nice family read-aloud during Lent. We found it very nice (even for our six year old) when we read a chapter or two at a time (the chapters are rather short) and spent some time discussing events as we went along.
Jesus of Nazareth, Holy Week
Faith in Christ's return is the second pillar of the Christian confession. He who took flesh and now retains his humanity forever, he who has eternally opened up within God a space for humanity, now calls the whole world into this open space in God, so that in the end God may be all in all and the Son may hand over to the Father the whole world that is gathered together in him. Herein is contained the certainty of hope that God will wipe away every tear, that nothing meaningless will remain, that every injustice will be remedied and justice restored. The triumph of love will be the last word of world history. Vigilance is demanded of Christians as the basic attitude for the 'interim time'. This vigilance means, on the one hand, that man does not lock himself into the here and now and concern himself only with tangible things, but that he raises his eyes above the present moment and its immediate urgency. Keeping one's gaze freely fixed upon God in order to receive from him the criterion of right action and the capacity for it - that is what matters. Vigilance means first of all openness to the good, to the truth, to God, in the midst of an often meaningless world and in the midst of the power of evil. It means that man tries with all his strength and with great sobriety to do what is right; it means that he lives, not according to his own wishes, but according to the signpost of faith.
Life of Jesus
We put this poster up in our upstairs hallway thinking that the colorful pictures would be attractive to the little ones and help them develop a better understanding of the Life of Jesus. The full color drawings are attractive but dignified. It's been a big hit so far. I find my six year old reading words here and there, my four year old asking about what happens in different pictures and my two year old pointing to her favorite scenes. The pictures include simple descriptions and dialogue along with Biblical references.
Bernie (age 4) says: "I like Christmas and Easter and Palm Sunday and the Last Supper. And I like when Jesus was baptized. Jesus made water into wine."
Terri (age 6) says: "I think the poster looks pretty. It is about God. I like the pictures of Palm Sunday. It looks like fun."
Gus (age 8) says: "It's sort of like a Picture Bible on one poster."
Four reproducible work sheets cover "the Miracles of Jesus", "the Parables of Jesus", "Who is Jesus" and "Events in the Life of Jesus".
Update March 2024: Ascension Press used to carry these wall charts but no longer does. However, they are still being published (see the box at the top of this review for details).