A series of six historical fiction titles from the time of the Great Depression; page count above is per book.

This series of six books from the American Girl collection can be enjoyed by young girls even without getting into buying the doll and all her accessories. Set in Ohio in the 1930s, this series focuses on Kit Kittredge and her family who are learning to be more frugal and caring during the tough times of the Great Depression. These are sweet stories and fairly easy for young readers (as young as six or seven years old). The stories are filled with nice little lessons about the things that really matter.

These books can be purchased new from numerous catalogs or warehouse stores but are also readily available in used book stores.

Written by his daughter, this book brings us a portrait of a great Christian, loving husband and father, and devoted son who was also one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century.

As a pediatrician, Jérôme Lejeune saw many patients with Down syndrome. Seeking to help these beloved patients and their families, he succeeded in tracing the cause of Down syndrome to an extra 21^st chromosome. He could have named the genetic anomaly after himself, but with his characteristic humility, he named the condition "Trisomy-21," meaning three 21^st chromosomes (instead of two). While his work did succeed in removing the stigma from Downs (it had previously been thought that maternal syphilis caused it), Lejeune was heartbroken to see his discovery turned into a weapon against the little ones he loved so much.

Further discoveries in the field of genetic medicine followed, including Trisomy-13 and monosomy-9. But despite his pioneering work, which opened up the field of genetically-based diseases, he was never awarded a Nobel Prize, likely due to his unwelcome pro-life views. There was worse to come. Because of his defense of the innocent and defenseless, Lejeune found himself increasingly sidelined. Nevertheless, he continued to bear a hope-filled Christian witness, forgetful of self, a shining example to us all.

Toward the end of his life, Dr. Lejeune worked to found the Pontifical Academy for Life and was (very briefly) its first president. He died on Easter Sunday, a circumstance in which his friend Pope St. John Paul II found a particular significance.

A beautiful book about a great man.

Most Catholic homeschoolers today are familiar with the high quality level of the Catholic Textbook Projects volumes, and this one, Light to the Nations is no exception. (Note that I write this review based on the CD format of the book). Attractive, user-friendly layout, beautiful reproductions and helpful maps are found throughout the chapters.

Light to the Nations explores World History starting with the birth of Christ. So it is the history of our Christian, Western civilization. Volume One, the book in question, goes from the time of the Birth of Christ until the Enlightenment in the 18th century. Volume Two will pick up where this volume has left off, and from what I can assess on their website, it is in production. See more information at the publisher's website at http://www.catholictextbookproject.com/purchase/purchase-main.html

What is different, and both extremely rewarding and delightful about this book, is the issue of trust. You know the feeling: you are studying History with your kids and when it comes to certain historical periods, you begin trembling, knowing all too well what's coming: attacks on the Church based most times on ignorance of History and Protestant slant. Not here!

While this book doesn't have the usual Protestant or secular slant, it does not glorify the Church as a spotless, perfect human institution: She isn't. We know that, as mistakes have been made and apologies have been issued. Light to the Nations gives the Catholic student a balanced, cohesive, balanced account of the turbulent and wonder-ful times of the development and growth of Christendom in Europe.

I led a small group of 8th and 9th graders this past school year (2008-2009) using The Catholic Textbook Project's Light to the Nations. We got together once a week for an afternoon and read aloud the chapter, stopping to discuss when necessary, and using Atlases many times to follow along paths of events. We read the summary at the end of the chapter and loved the interesting extra snippets about people and places of interest. Since the teacher's manual is not yet available, I had the students write different types of questions with answers for each chapter and many times we had fun quizzing each other.