Elementary

The Essence of Holy Mass

Book cover: 'The Essence of Holy Mass'

This book is divided into two sections. The first, 44 pages long, discusses the purpose of Holy Mass and its essential parts (in such a way that it would be equally useful for those attending a Tridentine Indult or a Novus Ordo Mass). The text is very simple and could be ready by many first or second graders. The large typeface and full-color photos (of children re-enacting scenes from Our Lord's life) make it very appealing. My oldest read through the book rather quickly in second grade and like it very much.

This is Our Town

Book cover: 'This is Our Town'

This reading text is the first of three used in the third grade at Seton Home Study school. In the tradition of the Faith and Freedom readers, this book offers family stories centering around a parish Church and school, stories of saints, fairy tales, folk tales and some just plain silly stories designed for reading practice and pleasure.

A Look at Rocks

Book cover: A Look at Rocks
Author(s): 
Jo S. Kittinger

I really didn't expect to get much out of a children's picture book on rocks. Rocks are, well, rocks! I was wrong. Mrs. Kittinger has done a fine job in presenting various types of rock, how they are formed in nature (with a significant emphasis on volcanoes) and the various fascinating and often beautiful varieties of rocks. There are many stunning photos and fascinating statistics on rock-related items from Mount Rushmore (and it's lesser known "sister-sculpture" – Stone Mountain – of some "monumental" figures of the Confederacy) to the Grand Canyon to amazing volcano formations.

A Look at Minerals

Book cover: A Look at Minerals
Author(s): 
Jo S. Kittinger

A surprisingly interesting (and fairly in-depth) picture book that introduces children to minerals – which include metals and gems. Many full color photos highlight and enhance the text, which covers topics such as Mohs' Scale of Mineral Hardness, ice crystals, cleavage planes (the way minerals break when cut) of various minerals, metals in their natural state, special metals like gold, silver and platinum, how various minerals form and what they look like in their natural state. My children and I found this to be quite an interesting book.

The Children's Book of Faith

Book cover: The Children's Book of Faith
Author(s): 
William Bennett
Illustrator(s): 
Michael Hague

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.

Cathedral

Book cover: Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction
Author(s): 
David Macaulay

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).

Sharks

Book cover: Sharks
Author(s): 
Seymour Simon

Seymour Simon is well-known for his numerous photo-essay-type of picture books for elementary-aged students. Most of his books center around one specific well-defined topic and are illustrated with full-page photographs of the subject. This book is no exception. Sharks is an unpaginated, 32-page picture book, with approximately half of those pages containing full-color photographs of sharks.

Elementary Diagramming Worktext

Book cover: 'Elementary Diagramming Worktext'
Author(s): 
Mary Daly

This is simple, clearly presented, and in a pleasing font; examples are profuse, and exercises numerous. It includes a complete answer key, on different colored paper, in the back of the book. Ours was just a shrink-wrapped set of 3-hole-punched pages which we put into a simple binder. No fancy bindings, but an excellent presentation. The eight chapters include The Sentence: Subject and Verb, Three Articles, Adjectives, Direct Objects, Linking Verbs, Adverbs, Prepositions, and A Peek Ahead.

Birds do the Strangest Things

Book cover: Birds do the Strangest Things
Author(s): 
Leonora and Arthur Hornblow
Illustrator(s): 
Alan D Singer

Twenty-two stories of the natural but strange and fascinating behavior of various birds. The text covers ostriches, hummingbirds, kiwis, loons, peacocks, emperor penguins, woodpeckers and much more. The text is somewhat lengthy (approx. 12-20 lines per page), but in fairly large print and at a fairly easy reading level. My children find this book completely fascinating. Part of the "Step-Up" series which includes "Meet George Washington" et al.

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