Lives of the Saints: An Illustrated History for Children

We love this book. I bought several children’s Catholic Saints books from amazon and returned the rest after we saw this one. Some of them were just ugly to look at, one was just poems with no actual info about the Saints themselves, one was paperback (how will that last?!) Etc. We’re very happy we stuck with this one. The illustrations are gorgeous. Absolute gold. My four year old looks at them for fun, and begs me to read about each Saint due to the compelling artwork. My only complaint is it says something weird about Saint Joseph being “engaged” to Mary when the annunciation occurred which is not correct (so say the church fathers and many well-educated modern theologians, look it up), but is a common Protestant-influenced error and was easy enough for me to fix with a bit of white out. The book itself is well made and feels high quality, the pages are nice and sturdy paper and it’s hardback so it will last years. Some water even soaked it pretty good by accident and it dried out fine (thankfully!).I totally recommend it all around. I got this for my preschool aged kids to grow into so when I read it I mostly paraphrase to make it understandable to their level and leave out a bit of the violent martyrdom bits one of them is quite tender at this age. I like to look at it too because there’s quite a few Saints and many I’m not yet familiar with.

As many reviewers have said this book gives a VERY brief amount of information, maybe 13-18 sentences, about each saint. This is a great introduction for children, and I think they will love the vivid illustrations.

I am a Protestant who recently decided to introduce my children to the lives of the saints. I am using this book as a devotional piece after Bible Study, and was waiting for the groans of disappointed from my sons upon introduction. Boy was I pleasantly surprised. My oldest son (11) and youngest son (4) ate it up, with my oldest son taking it to bed and reading it cover to cover. Mind you, this is a child that hardly touches a book. He has since replaced his Internet ESPN searches with Internet searches on the saints, and I have heard several "Whoa's" and "Awesome's" as he conducts his research. The illustrations are beautiful, and the wording is perfect for keeping the attention of children. The prayers to the saints will be a turn-off to many Protestants, but I believe all Catholics with children will find this book exceptionally edifying. Indeed, a warning to Protestants...Your kids might fall in love with Catholicism. I am now answering questions along the lines of "Would you be mad if I became Catholic," and "Do you think I'd be a good priest?"

I bought this book as a First Communion gift for my nephew. It is a really nice way for children to get to know some of the saints.It is also beautifully illustrated. My nephew was captivated by the illustrations and then started to read the text. Getting his attention can be difficult. I am hoping he will keep this book as he grows older to remind him of a very special day. Many thanks to Mr. Tesoriero.

I love this book! I have given it to multiple family friendsEasy to read. So enjoyable

Gave it as a First Communion gift to my godson and I love telling the stories to him. I like how there’s a short biography of the saint and the bottom part of the page is a prayer for the saint that they can learn from.

Good children's book. Good for anyone to spark their interest. Great color pictures.

My daughter and I are Catholic. Santa brought her this for Christmas last year when she was six. I think her and Popi read it all in a few hours. She brought it to class, she attends a Catholic school, and would read about the Saint on his or her Feast day. She is 7 now and it is still her favorite book. She always keeps it where she can look up what Saint day it is. Even though it is only October she has already started a list for Santa. She made sure it was short, 4 items and a new Saint book is on it. My heart wants to burst with happiness. Thank you for such a wonderful book introducing my daughter to the Saints and leave her thirsting for more. I only hope Santa can find one that compares to this wonderful book.