Customer Reviews

Christopher: The Holy Giant

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I learned about Tomie de Paola from watching Barney, of all things, and this was the first book of his we bought.

The drawings are bright and well done, and match the text perfectly.

This is a good book for introducing religious concepts (devil, Christ Child) to little kids without overtly proselytizing. Also, if your child happens to be named Christopher (as mine is), it is fun for the child to learn what his name means.

I would recommend this book and plan to buy more by this author.

This book tells a story that happened a long time ago about a giant, named Reprobus, who wished to serve the greatest king. He set off on a journey to find this king. First, he came to a great city and thinking that the king of this city was the greatest, he served him. Every time this king heard the devil's name, he made the sign of the cross because he feared him. Reprobus then decided to serve the devil. After finding the devil, he traveled with him and they came upon a cross, and the devil shook with fear. Learning that the devil was afraid of Christ, who is even more powerful, Reprobus decided to serve Christ.

Wandering through the desert Reprobus met an old hermit, who taught him about Christ. The hermit told Reprobus to go to a mighty river on the other side of the desert and help all who wished to cross and so he did. He carried many people across the river, and one stormy night a small child appeared and asked to be carried across the river. As they crossed the river, the waters became higher and the child became heavier. Reaching the other side of the river, Reprobus sat the child down and told him he felt as if he had been carrying the whole world on his shoulders. The child then revealed that he was Jesus and told Reprobus that from that day on he would be know as Christopher, Bearer-of-Christ.

This is a great book about St. Christopher for young children.