Let the Little Ones Come

Late Night Fun

 

A good book.

A good treat.

Sayonara!  :)

Sixty Saints for Girls and Boys

 

 I cannot believe that in all of my 14 years of parenting, I have not heard of Joan Windham.  I just recently discovered the treasure of books that she has written on the lives of the saints and I am overjoyed to have new stories to read to my little ones.  

Windham has written many books but most of her saints stories are included in the anthologies:  Sixty Saints for Girls and Sixty Saints for Boys.

The stories are a perfect length to read aloud in one sitting for the younger set or to be read alone by the older set!   I used her story on St. Catherine of Siena when I taught Little Flowers this past year and the story was fabulous--very detailed and written so engagingly.  I haven't been so excited about a saints book since I discovered Ethel Pochocki's Once Upon a Time Saints books.  :)

Oh, and I just discovered that Pochocki has written a third volume in her saints series.  A great idea for a Christmas gift!  ;)

Quote of the Day

"It's the great mystery of human life that old grief passes gradually into quiet, tender joy."

--Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

(Yes, I am still reading this albeit very slowly...an amazing book.)

A good Bible for active boys!

Paul, who will be eight later this month, just finished reading this Bible. It is a Bible illustrated with cartoon/comic pictures and is quite unique. Paul actually picked it up on his own and began reading it after our family Rosary one night about six weeks ago. He proceeded to consistently and avidly read right through it in chronological order. He would come to me often and narrate all the exciting parts (the Old Testament with all of King David's adventures was a highlight).

This is such a great example of having the right materials available at the right time--I am an avid collector of children's bibles. I really like to have a vast assortment at the ready so each child can pick and choose one that fits their age level and perhaps their mood or temperament. I am going to prepare a post on the Bibles that we have in our home with a brief review--and try to post this for Holy Week.

And as an aside, I am slowly reading through the Gospel of St. John with my Navarre Bible. I heartily recommend this Bible for anyone who can only read scripture in small time slots. The commentary is excellent and I am really able to "see" and "participate" in the life of Christ this way through prayer. It has been a wonderful gift to me this Lent. It will probably continue through the Easter season as I just started the ninth chapter this morning. The eighth chapter took me two weeks. I might get an award for the most plodding pace of bible-reading, ever, but it has been a gift to truly be able to savor this beautiful Gospel slowly and with love.

Learning all about Helen

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart.--Helen Keller

Recently, we rented a copy of Disney's version of The Miracle Worker. About a year ago, Bill and the two oldest girls watched the original version with Anne Bancroft and thoroughly enjoyed it. So, this was not my first choice of a family movie, but it was a lovely movie to watch with good, solid acting and beautiful cinematography and costumes as well.

It sparked interest in the life of Helen Keller for all my kids but especially my just-turned six year old. Rose went to the library with her Daddy and came home with these books, some which she used to practice her reading and the others we read-aloud.

A Picture Book of Helen Keller

A Girl Named Helen Keller

Helen Keller: Courage in the Dark

There are a lot of books on Helen. My oldest Meg, who is 12, has read her autobiography and really enjoyed it.

After reading (and re-reading!) our library books, we decided to splurge and we've got this one coming in the mail and will read it together next week:

Helen Keller: From Tragedy to Triumph (Childhood of Famous Americans)

We have also visited a few cool websites about Helen:

The Helen Keller Kids Museum

Birthplace of Helen Keller

And we found a good website with lots more information on this amazing woman.

Our interest in Helen was a natural result of learning some sign language ourselves. Like so many others, we began watching and learning sign language with Alex and Leah and Rachel about a year ago.

Even Baby Joseph has a few books of his own on sign language. All the kids love the songs and the fun and they are learning a lot of signs, too. I think Helen would be proud! :)