Customer Reviews

Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls

5 star:		(5)
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2 star:		(1)
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We use this book as a bedtime read aloud. Each story takes about 10-15 min. to read aloud. My kids, ages 3-14, never tire of hearing the stories. They are well written, moving, enjoyable and character-building all at the same time. Each story has a beautiful message without being preachy. And the heroes and heroines are children. Highly recommended!

I have had these books for my children for the past year, and I love them so much I'm ordering them for a friend of mine's little girl for her birthday--out of curiosity I read the reviews posted on this site, and was surprised and a little irritated by the one negative review---I felt I should weigh in with my opinion for what it's worth. I found these stories to be appropriate for young children with interesting stories of children told from a Catholic perspective. Initially I was leary about these books, because so often Catholic literature written in this time period, tends to be so saccharine and hokey and not something that children today can relate to. This was NOT the case with these books. The stories are beautiful, sometimes so moving I was in tears while reading aloud. I'm extremely sensitive to violent themes, and nothing in this book bothered me at all, and I'm not at all sure where the reviewer came up with sorcery as a theme in this book, unless he/she is anti-catholic and of a persuasion that feels catholic values and practices are intrinsically evil....I have run into a few of those types of people. But I digress. For those of you looking for good literature to read aloud to your children that emphasizes Catholic values and the faith, while at the same time being entertaining and often inciting great conversations afterward, I can't recommend this book enough.

The stories in this book are great stories that interest and inspire the reader. Charming, sweet and yet all with good humour and without any irreverence, this book makes an excellent gift for birthdays, Christmas, or if you home educate like me, it's a great book to just have and read at story time in class. It's style is simple and yet entertaining, and the age guide for 9-12 years is good but it could be read aloud to children as young as 4, depending on their attention span. As an adult, I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned from it. Hope others enjoy it as much as my family has!

Like a large box of fine chocolates, each story contains its own sweet surprise, not a sugary explanation of the Catholic faith, but a pleasant surprise that makes sense and causes us to pause and wonder, "Ahh, that is an example of God's goodness and mercy." In "Terrible Farmer Timson," we meet Audrey and Jill, two girls who pray for a mean farmer to become "sensible and gentle." Through their prayers and actions, they soften his hardened heart. In "Joseph's Godfather," through Joseph's prayers and sacrifices, he brings his Godfather, an old gentleman known as the General, back to the sacraments. In "Jack and Jim," twins, Jack and Jim, find out the real meaning of sacrificing yourself for the one you love. These are stories that appeal to all ages and your children won't want to miss.

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.

Everytime I read these stories I have to skip sentences that are not appropriate or are violent, such as "he liked to dwell on the arms and legs he had cut off wiht a rusty saber..." I guess if your children are watching public television, the content with be nothing new. If, however, you are trying to protect your younger children from concepts like violence and sorcery, move on....