Reading Catholic

Reading Catholic and catholic

Books for Kids

Meet a Reader: Shannon Cardaronella

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This month’s “Meet a Reader” is a wonderful woman I met several years back at the Peoria Diocese Summer Institute.    At a dinner for speakers & spouses (both our husbands were speakers that year), we talked the entire time about–I know you will be shocked to hear this—books!  This actually is quite surprising as we have kids of similar ages, and kids tends to be a default subject.  I knew she would be great to feature here, and I am so glad to be able to introduce another thoughtful “reader” to Catholic Post readers.  Thanks, Shannon.

How You Know Me:

You probably do not know me.  More people know my husband, Marc, the Director of Religious Education (DRE) at Holy Cross Parish in Champaign and the Regional DRE for Champaign/Danville.  I love Holy Cross!   Holy Cross is one of the loveliest churches I have every enjoyed, and it is our home parish.  If you are ever in Champaign, please come worship with us.  Consider yourself invited.  I also appreciate that our parish is a motley crew of folks from all walks of life.  Marc and I have two boys:  John Berchmans “JB”, 9 and David, 7.  I am a homeschool mom, and I love homeschooling also allows us to read, read, read!

Why I Love Reading:

I grew up surrounded by huge bookshelves filled to the brim and even cataloged.  My sister read to me all the time when I was very young.  My parents discussed their latest reads at the dinner table.  We read it all, from junky books to works that uplifted the mind.  We were curious about other people and places, other points of view, new ways of looking at the world.  Finally, my parents were not afraid of the world.  They both possessed an innate love of and trust in the world and people, always teaching me that most people are good and kind and want to help.  This trust allows me to go deeply into the world of the book I am reading.  There is something about losing oneself in a good book that can neither be adequately expressed nor replicated with other media.

My Favorite Book:

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.  While Scarlett is the main character, it is Melanie who fascinates me.  Melanie is a beautiful Christ figure.  As a reader, I wince at Scarlett’s flaws: her insensitivity, selfishness and heartless conniving.  Melanie sees Scarlett’s perfections: her fortitude, intelligence, good horse sense and strength. The kicker is Melanie is right.  Scarlett — exactly who she is, with all of her flaws, because of who she is, with all of her flaws — saved herself, Tara, Melanie and the baby, Mammy & Prissy… her whole “tribe” if you will, against seemingly insurmountable odds.  Melanie is no doe-eyed ignorant optimist.  She accepts and embraces Scarlett and the world as they are.  This acceptance brings out the best in all, including even Rhett Butler and Belle Watling.

What I’m Reading Now:

Rediscover Catholicism by Matthew Kelly.  Fr. Willard, our pastor at Holy Cross, gave a copy to every family at Christmas Mass.  Thank you, Fr. Willard!  There is a lot of “food for thought” in this one.  And since this is my very own copy, I can underline to my heart’s content.

Gift Book Suggestions for Young Readers {my December column @TheCatholicPost}

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Did I ever tell you about the Christmas when I was 9 years old and I didn’t get the game “Operation”?

My neighbor and schoolmate Liz did get “Operation.”  Let me here confess the envy that I felt seeing it on her dining room table amidst all the Christmas wrapping paper.

The envy lasted about five minutes while we played it together, and then it was abandoned to play “Little House on the Prairie” in her backyard.  I don’t remember ever playing or desiring “Operation” again.  (Though sometimes, when I’m in the toy aisle, I gaze wistfully at it.)

I learned a valuable lesson that day:  some whiz-bang toys that seem cool truly do pale in comparison to a good story. (As an adult, I also realize how wise my parents were—I was the fifth of six children, so they were pretty smart by me—that glitzy toys are not pure gold).

Don’t get me wrong.  We have plenty of electronics at our house.  We like using them, from fighting over who gets to play “Angry Birds”  on the iPad to marathon games of hula hoop or “Sports Resort” on the Wii.

But there is nothing like carving out some time, especially in these colder months, for enjoying and sharing good books.    I propose the giving of engaging and soul-filling books, as gifts this Christmas season.

At our house, we have a newer tradition of giving books on St. Nicholas Day, so there is plenty of time throughout Advent and the Christmas season for reading.  Even with a book-loving mom & dad, I notice our kids sometimes might seem –underwhelmed.

But as the gifts stays out on the coffee table, every well-selected book eventually gets devoured and shared with siblings and friends, gets talked about at the dinner table, and becomes part of our family life.

With so many great, well-produced and well-written books out there for youth, you’re sure to find something new for every young person on your list.

Graphic Novels & Comic Books

It surprises me that graphic novels have become one of my favorite book genres, but there’s so many good publishers out there with myriad themes (who knew dental issues could be such an engaging topic for a YA graphic novel, as it is in Raina Telgemeier’s Smile?), that I’m a convert.

Several Catholic publishers have entered the market with graphic/comic book style that match or exceed the quality of the best out there.  These are particularly good for reluctant readers, but enjoyable for everyone:

*The Adventures of Loupio is the graphic novel The Adventures of Lupio, Volume 1 (in the Ignatius Press/Magnificat series).  Lupio tells the story of an orphan troubadour who learns from St. Francis about courage

 

*The Daughters of St. Paul have published two new graphic novels of saints’ lives:  Saint Joan of Arc:  Quest for Peace and Saint Bernadette:  The Miracle of Lourdes, both by Brunor and Dominique Bar.  I can’t write more about how good they are because my children have absconded with them and won’t give them back.  Enough said.

*For younger readers, Ignatius/Magnficat’s The Illustrated Gospel is–that’s right–a graphic novel of key gospel stories.  I know some may startle at that idea, but it is fantastic and reverent.   What a great way to introduce younger children (and older children, too) who’ve graduated from the board book Bibles to the Gospel message in a fresh and engaging format.

*Bernadette:  The Little Girl from Lourdes and John Mary Vianney:  The Holy Cure of Ars, both by Sophie Maravel-Hutin, are not exactly graphic novels, but they are advanced picture books illustrated in a more modern way, so I’ve kept them in this category.  Nicely done stories for a younger set and those new to reading.

 

Newer Fiction:

*For girls, Olivia’s Gift by Nancy Carabio Belanger follows Olivia in her summer before 7th grade, navigating friends, family and trying (and not always succeeding) to live out St. Therese’s “Little Way.”  There’s a very powerful, but sensitively handled, pro-life theme here. The book is a sequel to the wonderful Olivia and the Little Way, that chronicles Olivia’s fifth grade year and her ups & downs.  The books can be read independently of each other, but most girls will want to read both once they’ve read one.

 

*For mystery fans, The Father Brown Reader II: More Stories from Chesterton is now out, much to the delight of young Chesterton fans everywhere (even those who don’t know they are yet Chesterton fans!).  Several years back, author and Chesterton scholar Nancy Carpentier Brown adapted several of GK Chesterton’s “Father Brown” mysteries for children, keeping the heart of the language and plot.   This “sequel” wonderfully continues the tradition, with witty illustrations from Ted Schluederfritz.

 

*For older tween and teenage readers,Alex O’Donnell and the 40 CyberThieves, Regina Doman’s latest offering.  I can’t think more highly of a teen/tween series than Doman’s Fairy Tale novels.  For older tweens and teenagers, it’s a great way to explore relationships, dating, and the Catholic faith through adventurous, well-paced fictional retellings of fairy tales.  If your teen loves the Twilight series, offer these as a much more well-written and just plain more fun alternative.   My favorite is the first of all, The Shadow of the Bear, but Alex O’Donnell and the 40 Cyber Thieves, the newest in the series, is great good fun and would be of special interest to guys (or girls) interested in all things IT.

 

For the littlest ones:

 

*Who’s Hiding? A Christmas lift-the flap Book by Vicki Howie.  Lift-the-flap books are staples in the younger set, for good reason.  This is a sweet Christmastime one that is delightful.  I especially like the folk-art illustrations from Hungarian artist Krisztina Kallai Nagy.

 

Ignatius has teamed with Magnificat to produce a great crop of children’s books (including many of the graphic novels listed above) for all ages:

 

*Three board books, My First Prayers for My Family, My First Prayers for Christmas, and The Bible for Little Ones, are illustrated in the same lovely style familiar to readers of “Magnifikid,”  Magnificat’s children’s counterpart.

 

*The Bible for Little Ones is a well-produced and illustrated Bible picture book for little ones, with hard pages and rounded corners for little ones.

 

Coming tomorrow:  books for grown-ups.

Meet a Reader: Father Dominic Garramone, OSB

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Meet a Reader:  Father Dominic Garramone, OSB
1.  How do we know you?
I could be known for any number of things!  I’m a 1979 grad of Spalding, a Benedictine priest of Saint Bede Abbey, religion teacher and drama director for Saint Bede Academy, TV baker on public television, cookbook author and children’s author.
2.  Why do you love reading? 
I used to love reading mostly because it transported me to other worlds and alternate realities—I’m a big fan of fantasy writers like Tolkien, Anne McAffrey, Patricia McKillip, etc.  But as I grow older and (one hopes) more mature, I especially appreciate that reading is such a reflective exercise—it promotes reflection, meditation, discussion.  You always have the luxury re-reading a paragraph or having recourse to a dictionary or reading it aloud to someone else in the room, or just saying to yourself: “Stop—I want to think about this for a minute.”
3.  What are you reading now?
Right now our monastery table reading is And There Was Light, the autobiography of Jacques Lusseyran, blind hero of the French Resistance—absolutely gripping.  I’m reading Everyday Life of Medieval Travellers by Marjorie Rowling, as part of class prep for teaching church history.
4.  What is your favorite book, and why?
Apart from the Bible and the Rule of Saint Benedict, my favorite book is The Supper of the Lamb: a Culinary Reflection by Robert Farrar Capon.  No other book has influenced my cooking and my view of creation as much as this work—a great read for anyone who can see preparing food as a spiritual act and a share in God’s creative work.
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Note from your blog host:  This month’s “Meet a Reader” is also the author of both of this month’s featured books, Thursday Night Pizza and children’s book Brother Jerome and the Angels in the Bakery.  I’ve always wanted to feature local authors here, and when the chance popped up I was delighted, and resolved to ask him to be our “Meet a Reader” this month, as well.

Thanks, Father Dominic, for being willing to be a part of this feature!