Tiber River Review: The Way of the Cross for Children

My three year old has developed a bit of a fascination for the stations of the cross that are hung around our church.  While we're in church waiting for Mass to begin, she likes to find Jesus everywhere in the church.  When I noticed that our local Catholic gift shop had a children's book titled The Way of the Cross for Children, I knew I had to buy it for her. 

The format of the book is pretty much what you would expect for a children's book on the stations of the cross.  Each station has two pages devoted to it.  You could use this book to pray the stations of the cross with your children, or you could simply read the explanation of each station to them in sort of a story format.  On the first page, you'll find a heading with the number of the station.  Below that, the title of the station is listed in boldfaced type.  You'll then find an opening verse for the group leader followed by a response for all.  This verse is the same for all fifteen stations.  A beautiful illustration for each station is presented below that.  Beneath each illustration is a description of that station.  I particularly like that it is written in a way that even a very young child can understand. The second page for each station has a prayer verse for the group leader, followed by a response prayer for the group.  Each prayer verse pertains directly to the station.

I like this book, but I think the prayers are better suited to older children.  My seven year old could easily follow along with the prayers, but it would be very difficult for a child who cannot read to participate.  I fully appreciate that there is a description that is child friendly for each station.  When reading this book to my three year old, I simply read the station descriptions to her and we talk about what is going on in each picture.  In all, it is a lovely book to add to your child's library.

This review of The Way of the Cross for Children was written for the Tiber River Blogger Review program, created by Aquinas and More Catholic Goods. For more information and to purchase, please visit Aquinas and More Catholic goods.

Tiber River is the first Catholic book review site, started in 2000 to help you make informed decisions about Catholic book purchases.