Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Book Review: Catholic Tales for Boys & Girls

Over the past few weeks my children and I have been enjoying a great little book entitled Catholic Tales for Boys & Girls.  The book is a collection of stories about children that teach children a deeper understanding and appreciation for their Catholic faith through lovely stories.  This book was originally published in 1957 under a different title.  With that being the case, it goes without saying that the stories contained in this collection of tales have a very nostalgic feel.  

I started out reading this book to my youngest daughter who is five.  She loves to hear stories like the ones contained in this book, so this book was well received by her.  Her only complaint about this book was that there weren't enough pictures (Each tale has one black and white illustration.).  When you're five, things like illustrations in a book can make or break the experience for you.  While she certainly would have preferred to see more pictures, she did still enjoy the book.  I suspect she liked the stories in this book because they're very similar to the Catholic Children's Treasure Box series.

My older daughter started expressing an interest in the stories contained in this book when she heard me reading one of the stories to my younger daughter.  She found the tale I had been reading to her sister to be rather interesting and she decided she wanted to take a look at the book.  She found the book to be easy to read (She's entering fourth grade in the Fall.) and she finds the stories to be rather enjoyable. 

Overall, I think this book is a lovely addition to the bookshelf of any Catholic family with young children.  While the book works as a read aloud story book for younger children, I do think it works much better as a book to be read by an older child.  The book appears to be written on a fourth or fifth grade level.  

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from Sophia Institute Press in exchange for my honest review.

2 comments:

  1. This really sounds like a great book and could be used in CCD classes to teach children a deeper understanding and appreciation for their Catholic faith.

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  2. It could certainly be used in a CCD class but it would be important to note that the stories will take up about 10-15 minutes of class time. Amazon.com offers a peek inside this book.

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