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Book Reviews

Celebrating St. Patrick Through Books {Lent Book Series}

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The Lent Book Series today features Katie Young, a homeschooling mom of seven, blogger and lover of all kinds of Catholic feasts.  Today she and her children share some book ideas for St. Patrick’s Day.

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Growing up, I thought St. Patrick’s Day was all about the wearing the color green or else you’d be getting pinched all day long. Youch!! So, if I bump into you today and you’re not wearing green, you better watch out.

As the years have gone by, thankfully, the Spirit plants a desire to learn and grow in faith more, and my celebration of St. Patrick’s Day has evolved.

Early on in our marriage, my husband and I started the tradition with our kids of learning about the lives of the saints and celebrating feast days. We do this by reading books and stories about their lives, eating fun/themed foods, singing songs, making crafts, and more.

We found St. Patrick to be one of those “easy” saints when jumping into this new learning experience together. There is so much information and ideas out there to really celebrate his feast in a meaningful way.

Our family has really enjoyed getting to know St. Patrick, while keeping some of our own silly Irish traditions. The following four books are ones that we always pull out and read this time of year. I not only shared a little bit about what *I* think about the books, but also asked each of my older children to read and offer some thoughts and a review as well (great homeschooling assignment, no??)…

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St Patrick’s Day by Gail Gibbons

“This book tells a little about the life of St. Patrick and also about the reasons for the decorations, symbols, and celebrations and how they came about. It’s a better book for younger kids because it is a more of an introduction, but I wanted a little more detail on his life.” ~Lillian, age 9

I agree with Lillian about this book being more appropriate for the younger crew – this book is probably best for ages 2-7. What a great description of his life, the symbols of St. Patrick’s Day and also some legends surrounding the saint. The pictures are bright and fun and the flow of the book definitely will keep little ones attentive. One legend was new to me – “It is said that the sun didn’t set when Saint Patrick died and that it shone in the sky for twelve days and nights.” Cool!!

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The Story of Saint Patrick’s Day by Patricia A. Pingry

“It tells you the story of St. Patrick and why you celebrate it. I liked it because it’s a good book and you celebrate that feast the day after my birthday.” ~Elizabeth, age 7

This adorable little board book is one that the littlest ones can grab and look through many times, without ripping it – yippee! I love how on each page, there is a word or two highlighted to point out the main idea of the page. Great for those first readers to notice and understand even more. The pictures are lovely and the words are very simple for little ones to understand and enjoy.

A little warning…. we do have some little leprechauns that come to our house and make a mess on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day, but they are also nice enough to leave some green goodies (Andes candies, tic tacs, Lucky Charms, a dollar bill, etc…). On one of the pages, it says, “Leprechauns are make-believe” – we had to kind of ad lib when we read this part. Our tradition is all in fun and the kids look forward to the visit of St. Patrick’s little friends each year.

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Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland by: Tomie dePaola

“Tomie dePaola’s St. Patrick book expresses a good example of St. Patrick’s life. DePaola is a good and devoted man. His books really express God and the lives of the saints.” ~Jonathan, age 12

We are big Tomie dePaola fans in our house! Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland is one of many saint books that he has blessed us with. He beautifully takes the life of a saint and creates a story for kids to sit down, read and enjoy, year after year.

The artwork is lovely as always too In his great story-telling format, he takes appropriate names for the land and culture to make the story come to life- for example, Dichu and Odran were some names in this book.

One neat part of Tomie dePaola’s saint books is that he usually includes a letter written to us at the end of the book to show how he was first introduced to the saint and how he has grown in knowledge of him or her. Reading this book is a great way to “meet” good ole St. Patrick!

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Patrick, Saint of Ireland by: Joyce Denham and Diana Mayo

“ I was surprised that a small book like this could hold so much information about St. Patrick. The illustrator was a good artist too!” ~Matthew, age 11

This book is woven together from both the writings of St. Patrick and the legends that are attributed to his name. Like Tomie dePaola, Denham & Mayo draw you in to the life of the saint through a story. The illustrations and text of this book are very well done and informative.

My favorite part is that it includes some of St. Patrick’s actual writings and prayers – what a meaningful element added to help understand who this saint was and how much He loved and trusted God!

In celebration of Saint Patrick’s feast day, we will most definitely be reading these four books together, as well as singing this song…

“The Trinity Song” is from the Dogma Dogs CD, and the kids learned the motions from this song from one of our very own Peoria-diocese seminarians – Matt Deptula, who helped lead a Trinity VBS at our church a couple summers ago).

How else will we celebrate? I’ll serve the traditional corned beef and cabbage for dinner that night, probably Trinity sandwiches at lunch time (triangular shaped sandwiches – super easy!), and we will maybe do a craft. You can bet there will have been a visit from St. Patrick’s leprechauns and we will all be wearing green. I hope you will be too!!

++Saint Patrick, pray for us to be blessed with the virtues of courage, fortitude and faith.++

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Katie Young is blessed to have 8 very special people in her life. She is married to her high school sweetheart, Neil , and they have seven beautiful children together.  They live in Coal Valley and are members of Sacred Heart Church in Moline.

Her favorite thing to do is spending time with her family – whether it is playing games, watching movies, going on walks, fishing at the lake, reading books, cooking, teaching at the Young Family Academy, and most especially learning about and celebrating the richness of the Catholic faith together. You can visit their family blog at: Raising Young Ones.

Making a Catholic Home {Lent Book Series}

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Today the Lent Book Series features Britta Kreps.

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When my husband and I first got married, I assumed that living the liturgical life of the Church would be easy. He was the Director of Worship for our Church and our conversations revolved around the liturgical year much of time.

Living the liturgy was just what we did.

I naturally assumed that this would carry over into our home and that talking about and teaching the faith to our children would be easy.

There’s nothing like a dose of reality to bring us to our knees. While our Catholic faith is very tangible and accessible, faith and understanding  in a family of little ones doesn’t come without effort. My husband’s employment with the Church does NOT equal an easy road to instant faith education and practice.

Mary Newland Reed’s book, We and Our Children: Making a Catholic Home is an excellent source for the language and how-tos of making the faith present in our families every day – all the time.

I’ve read the book once and this Lent I’m reading it again with a pencil and notebook in hand!

A wise priest once preached on the necessity of reading Scripture three times in order to gain the most from its richness. He said to read through the excerpt once, then read it again slowly and prayerfully, and then one more time highlighting or making note of things that stand out.

What great advice. I think this should apply to more than just reading Scripture. That’s why I’m tackling Reed’s book again.

Lent is a great time to find an area of our lives that needs some work or needs refining. This Lent I am going to focus on how our family lives the liturgical year in our home. We and our Children is a fantastic resource.

Reed puts into words so much of what has been tumbling around in my head for 10 years! Her gift to the reader is the tools (examples, language, etc) for making the faith come alive in our homes everyday.

Reed makes the stories of the Bible come to life in language suitable for any age. By sharing her experiences with her own children, Reed encourages parents. She gives them concrete examples and suggestions as to how to broach somewhat sensitive topics like purity and chastity, all while using the richness of our faith.

I’m sad I didn’t learn about this book sooner. I feel like I’ve got some making up to do, and I plan on trying my best to incorporate her ideas as they suit my family. I want my children to live our faith in such a way that “it’s just what they do” without thinking that while living out the ordinary they become closer to the extraordinary.

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Britta Kreps has been happily married to Christopher for 11 years.  She is the mother to seven children Grace 10 yrs, Gianna 8 yrs, Tobias 6 yrs, Joshua 5 yrs., Samuel 3 yrs., Christopher, Jr. (aka Nick) is 2 and Alexander is 6 months old.  They are members of St. Patrick in Raritan.

She loves anything Catholic, reading, sewing, knitting, walking, bicycling and spending time with good friends.  She likes wearing skirts of all kinds and matching them up with sneakers– all about comfort!

She’s a homeschooling, kitchen-loving, blogging, trying-to-make-it-to-Heaven kind of mom.

You can read more from Britta at her blog  By Prayer and Petition.

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Can You Relate? {Lent Book Series}

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Today the Lent Book Series features guest writer Liesa Dugan.

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Relativism—have you heard about it yet?

I really only noticed the term about a year ago when scrounging through some books on display at a conference I was attending. It is sometimes difficult to keep this mind of mine engaged in reading material.

So I wasn’t surprised that the slim size of this little book entitled, Absolute Relativism: The New Dictatorship by Chris Stefanick  grabbed my attention-challenged brain.


Don’t be frightened by the ‘deep’ sounding word. Clearly, you need NOT be a theologian, philosopher or brainiac to dive into this subject matter on relativism if someone like….well, me….can read, understand and identify the concept in action in our society.

What the heck is Relativism?

Well, if that is what you are thinking right now, may I say you are a brilliant student/reader.

Pope Benedict XVI stated that relativism is “the greatest problem of our time.”  Stefanick goes on to say, “Relativism is the idea that there is no universal, absolute truth but that truth differs from person to person and culture to culture.”

Basically, relativism takes political correctness to another level.  A relativist believes that everyone should be allowed to believe as they like without being challenged by others.   A relativist feels that they have the right to believe solely what they feel is right for them, not you.  They state that you should not impose your beliefs on an individual because they have the ability to make up their own morals, values, and rules to live by.

And this is a problem because….?

I am in no way, shape or form going to rewrite Stefanick’s book. He does an incredible job of explaining and dissecting this philosophy in his book.

So I say, read it! I can guarantee you won’t look at another television show, neighbor, or family member the same way again.

(That’s a good thing? Yes!)

By identifying how this disjointed form of acceptance and tolerance is weaving itself into the fabric of our daily lives, you can help unravel the harm it is doing to your family and faith.

You may not know it yet. but relativism is harming the world in which your children are growing up.  Simply because this philosophy of living has not been widely discussed or examined, it is sneaking into our own homes and wreaking havoc on our families.

Today I’m playing mom with the yucky medicine bottle and saying, “Take this.”

As an excellent offering for Lent, read this little book: Absolute Relativism: The New Dictatorship by Chris Stefanick.

You will thank me later…

For the reading-challenged, here’s Youtube video by Stefanick about relativism:

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Liesa Dugan and husband Jim have been married for 23 years. They have three fabulous daughters 18, 16, 12. The two met at NIU as they were earning their degrees in Communications. Liesa has enjoyed spending most of her mom days at home raising their three daughters. On the side, she has assisted at parishes with various ministries, worked for Catholic Charities to assist with public relations, lead the Elizabeth Ministry at two parishes.  Currently, she leads the Drama Club at St Jude Catholic School.

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“Less Right, More Love” {Lent Book Series}

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Today the Lent Book Series features guest writer Melissa Bland.

Ok, I have an admission to make. Although I love books, and am married to a terrific bibliophile, I rarely take the time in this season of life to read actual grown-up, enrich-my-life, discussion-worthy books. With homeschooling three, and chasing a fourth away from stairs and electrical cords, reading Farmer Boy with my seven-year-old is the closest I’ve gotten to literature lately.

Lent is upon us, however, and each year I like to choose book to guide my school-aged young ones through Lent in a joyous, thoughtful manner. This year, I’m pulling Bringing Lent Home with Mother Teresa by EWTN host Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle down from my shelves.

Bringing Lent Home with Mother Teresa is organized by day with each day providing a quote from Blessed Mother Teresa, reflections for parents, family prayer, a brief story from Mother Teresa’s life, suggestions for fasting and almsgiving that day, and a closing prayer.

Suggestions for fasting and almsgiving are not necessarily your typical “giving up sweets” ideas…One day you are advised to give up worry, another to abstain from grumbling. (I can’t wait to get to that day!)

I liked using this book quite a lot—it requires no prep and can be pulled out at breakfast to start the day right or at lunch for a midday focus on spiritual things.

Normally, I shy away from the “Spiritual Stuff Every Day” books that fill the shelves of Catholic bookstores—just not enough depth and context to be meaningful for me. But during Lent, I think it’s appropriate to use a guide for the day-by-day journey through the desert to Easter.

Because O’Boyle is writing in such little bits, however, I have to be careful how I use this guide, lest it become a daily finger-wagging from Mommy. “See, Blessed Mother Teresa says you shouldn’t grumble.” This is especially true in this year when I’ve resolved to be less “right” and more “Love.”

Although each member of our household (minus baby) has his or her own individual Lenten promises to keep, having a tool like this book to join us together on the journey is a real blessing that I look forward to using again this year. And, I can’t think of a better guide than Mother Teresa to reflecting on Pope Francis’ theme for Lent this year: “He became poor, so that by his poverty, you might become rich.”

Melissa Bland is wife to Andrew (physician/teacher working at OSF for the U Of I College of Medicine at Peoria) and mother to Emily (12), Alayna (10), Kayla (7) and Nathaniel (8 mos.)  She left Speech Pathology in 2001 to raise, and then homeschool her babies, and prays that she always loves her calling so much.  

She is a cradle Catholic whose faith was re-energized when her husband joined the church in 2005. She is a member of St. Anthony Parish in Bartonville where she is a catechist, lector, and gopher.

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Meet a Reader: Maddie Mangieri

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I’m delighted to feature Maddie Mangieri as a “Reader” here and in The Catholic Post this month.  I met Maddie last summer when she was an enthusiastic and terrific member of one of the Totus Tuus teams in our diocese.  Thanks, Maddie, for sharing your love of reading here.

Maddie Mangieri

How you know me:

I will graduate in May from Illinois State University with a bachelor’s in speech-language pathology. In the fall, I will begin a two-year graduate program. I was a teacher this past summer for Totus Tuus, a summer evangelization program that brings teams of four college-aged young adults to parishes to teach the youth about the Catholic faith for a week. I’m still going back and forth with the Lord on whether or not I will return this summer. My parents, Sam and Peggy, live in Galesburg, and my brother, Sam, is a seminarian for the diocese of Peoria. He’s studying at Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Maryland.

Why I love reading:

I’ve always been a big reader. It started when I was in Catholic middle school. My English teacher, Mrs. Watkins, taught me how to “dig in”, if you will, and analyze the characters and plots. I took well to the Harry Potter series, which helped me to expand my vocabulary a great deal. Since college, however, textbooks have become my main focus, but I have been able to squeeze in some spiritual reading during my holy hours. For me, it’s the idea that I can escape from reality for a bit, or learn how to be a better version of myself based on the examples of the saints, or dive deeper into the mystery of our Catholic faith. When I settle in with a good read, I am taken to a quiet place of my own.

What I’m reading now:

I’m currently reading The Practice of the Presence of God
by Brother Lawrence. It’s about a French monk from the 1600s who developed a constant union with God that was rooted in the everyday practicalities of life. He continually spoke to God during every activity, at every moment, of every day. He felt that this was best way for his heart to draw closer to Christ. His witness has been influential in my life, and I’ve begun speaking in the quiet place of my heart more often, striving to find myself in His presence always.

My favorite book:

My favorite book is one that I haven’t actually finished yet. The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis is somewhat like a handbook on how to live as Jesus did. It’s not a book you want to sit down and read cover to cover in one sitting, or even in a few days for that matter. The Imitation is too rich to just zip through the pages. I’ve found that reading it in small doses allows me to meditate on the small, yet meaningful messages. Little by little, I can try to make my life an imitation of the One who created me.

I also really enjoy “The Hunger Games” series, so if you’re looking for some adventure and suspense, I highly suggest those.

Being the Beloved

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Following is my column that appears in this weekend’s edition of The Catholic Post. I invite your feedback.

Just between you and me, several years back I was apprehensive about confession with a visiting priest at our parish. The reason? The last time I went to a visiting priest for confession, my penance was — an entire Rosary.

I can laugh now, but in my shock, I asked if that’s what he really meant. An entire Rosary was unnerving to someone used to a penance of up to five Hail Marys, with perhaps a Lord’s Prayer thrown in.

But this time, the priest, in his lilting African accent, told me while giving a (non-Rosary) penance, “dear daughter of the King,” and my eyes welled up. Of course I am a daughter of the King–we are all children of the King. His grace and love are for each one of us.

But hearing that in the healing Sacrament intensely spoke to me about how beloved, how truly loved, we are as children of our Heavenly Father.

Even though it’s been years since my “entire Rosary” confession, and my “dear daughter of the King” confession, they were in my mind as I begin to reflect on “what to do” this Lent.

Then this thought occurred: what about trying to understand how much we are dear sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father?

That’s where Henri Nouwen’s Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World offers food for Lenten thought. It’s not a new book—it was first published in 1992, but reprinted in a handsome new version in 2013. And it has the feel of a spiritual classic, especially for our post-Christian time. My husband Joseph has been encouraging/pestering me to read this book for some time, and I am so glad he persisted.

In “Life of the Beloved,” Fr. Nouwen explores—for a longtime Jewish friend who asks him—what the Christian life entails. His friend wants to hear about a life of faith in a way that he and his secular friends can understand. Nouwen sums it up in this book-long exposition of the concept of knowing that we are beloved by God (cf 1John 4:10).

Here’s why I’m surprised to find this book so compelling. Normally, I tend to gravitate towards spiritual writing that is “practical”—that may not make sense, but if you’re a “do-er” you will know what I mean. I want action items, prayers to say, saints to know.

But Life of the Beloved sweeps away all of those “to-dos” that I—and surely others—are so fond of, whether in the physical or spiritual life, and invites us to rest in God’s unconditional pure love.

Because Nouwen was writing for a secular audience about the spiritual life, there aren’t a lot of quotes from the saints or even Scripture, though Scripture is implicit in every page. But this simplicity creates a deceptively easy read that is compelling and enduring.

Nouwen struggled with depression much of his adult life, so how he writes this book is very personal and very authentic, in how he relates the importance of being beloved by being, like the Eucharist, taken, blessed, broken and given.

The book has so many great quotes that speak to the whys of being “beloved.” As I read through it, I’ve been sharing them regularly with friends because they have such resonance for the Christian life:

*“I don’t know anyone who is really happy because of what he or she has. True joy, happiness and inner peace come from the giving of ourselves to others. A happy life is a life for others.”

*“The movement of God’s Spirit is very gentle, very soft—and hidden.  It does not seek attention.  But that movement is also very persistent, strong and deep.  It changes our hearts radically. The faithful discipline of prayer reveals to you that you are the blessed one and gives you the power to bless others.”

Despite all my talk here, I must admit that as a do-er, I will be giving up chocolate, and “doing things” for Lent (and reading several books—see below). But I’ll also be pondering the message of Life of the Beloved through it all, and seeking to believe that I am a dear daughter of the King.

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So what else will I be reading?

l’ll be taking off the shelf the Lent & Easter Volume of  In Conversation with God by Fr. Francis Fernandez. Many years ago, I received the entire set as a gift from my husband, and read it over that year and a few others. Recently, when a friend mentioned it again as great spiritual reading, I resolved to read these short, so-relevant daily reflections.

I will also be implementing some of the ideas in Blessed by Less: Clearing Your Life of Clutter by Living Lightly by Susan V. Vogt.

The cover design of Blessed by Less is bare bookshelves—a thing I can’t imagine for a moment at our house—but I wasn’t daunted from reading it, and I’m glad I did. While many books about reducing clutter can be helpful, Vogt offers a fresh, spiritual approach to living with less, whether in possessions, thoughts or unhealthy patterns.

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This is six out of seven posts for 7 posts in 7 days.

Also, don’t forget about the Lent Book Series.

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This Lent, I and other local-ish writers will be sharing books that are helpful during a Lent journey. Consider joining in with us and learning about new or classic books all Lent long.