Elementary

The Reb and the Redcoats

Book cover: 'The Reb and the Redcoats'
Author(s): 
Constance Savery
One of the many books my wife discovered. After she read it aloud to the kids they wanted me to read it to them AGAIN at their nightly story time before bed. Though this novel is written for children I stayed up late to finish it myself after one such session! It takes place in England during the American Revolutionary War. The main character of the book is a captured American 'Rebel'. He is befriended by the children of the country house where he is held prisoner.

Handbook of Nature Study

Book cover: 'Handbook of Nature Study'
Author(s): 
Anna Botsford Comstock

This is a very informative handbook on a large portion of nature, originally written for elementary school teachers. It covers wildlife, insects, farm animals, birds, fish, trees, flowers, weeds, vegetables, rocks, minerals, soil, climate, weather, magnets, the sun, moon, planets of our solar system and much more. According to the 1986 foreword, most of the living things described are common in the northeastern states of the U.S. but it covers a lot of material that would be helpful in other parts of the country as well.

Faith and Life Religion Series

Book cover: 'Faith and Life Religion Series, Book 1'

This is a very popular religion series for Catholic homeschoolers. There are probably many reasons for this: they're reasonably priced, they're filled with beautiful selections of fine religious art, and they're unquestionably orthodox. The series incorporates questions from The Baltimore Catechism for memorization. Some homeschoolers don't like the brief content (the text contains approximately one lesson per week - although there is also a work book, teacher's manual and extensive resource guide available for each grade).

The Orphans Find a Home

Book cover: 'The Orphans Find a Home: A St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Story'
Author(s): 
Joan Stromberg
This is the story of three orphan immigrants - Maria, an Italian in her early teens, Molly, a little Irish girl with a way of getting into trouble, and Ming, a very shy Chinese girl. Maria, Molly and Ming, survive for a time by sticking together and living in a dark boiler room until their lives are changed by meeting Mother Cabrini. The author, who is a Catholic homeschooling mother, has included questions and other study helps in the areas of history, geography, vocabulary and religion.

Map Puzzles

Book cover: 'Map Puzzles'
We found an old wooden U.S. map puzzle at a garage sale but they're also readily available at Teacher Supply stores and even warehouse stores. I prefer ones that have each state as one puzzle piece, but usually they'll at least group Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut together. When my son was 2 1/2 he really enjoyed playing with it, so we left it out on the coffee table. He'll bring me a few pieces at a time and ask me the name.

The Lady of Guadalupe

Book cover: The Lady of Guadalupe
Author(s): 
Tomie dePaola

This has been one of my family's very favorite picture books since our oldest was a toddler. It is a beautiful re-telling of a beautiful story with illustrations that complement it nicely and which are very appealing to children. I especially like Tomie de Paola's attention to detail. It's informative enough to be interesting even for adults.

Francis and Clare

Book cover: 'Francis and Clare: Saints of Assisi'
Author(s): 
Helen Walker Homan
I've been reading a number of the Vision Books aloud to my five year old daughter and she seems to like each one more than the last. The story of Saint Francis is both uplifting and enjoyable, due to the many humorous events captured in the story. The book is also informative enough to be interesting to older children and even adults (I had never read a full-length book about St. Francis).

Early Women Martyrs of the Church: Coloring book

Book cover: 'Early Women Martyrs of the Church: Coloring book'
Author(s): 
Katie Elizabeth Roll
Portraits of 12 saints--from St. Philomena to St. Lucy--are portrayed in large ready-to-color illustrations alongside a brief description of the martyr. This 8 1/2" x 11" coloring book has a soft cover and staple binding making it easy to lay open for coloring. The saints are depicted with the common symbols telling about their life and death and the descriptions are simple and short enough that they can be enjoyed by a child as young as 5 or 6 years old.

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