Description
God’s Saintly Friends Volume 2: Saintly Friends and Family
Children learn virtues from saints who were family members in this beautifully illustrated board book.
God’s Saintly Friends Volume 2
$14.95
$14.95
Children learn virtues from saints who were family members in this beautifully illustrated board book.
Jesse King –
This little board book is a sweet addition to any Orthodox child’s bookshelf! The illustrations are so pretty and I really appreciate the variety of saints. Each page focuses on an attribute or virtue that saintly friends bring into your life!
Olga Atty –
What a charming way to teach our children the importance of true Christian friendships. Friendships that help us and encourage us along the path of salvation. Cousins, siblings, even a mother-in-law can help us to grow into the person God wants us to be. God’s Saintly Friends, Volume 2 (and Volume 1) by Kathryn Reetzke with delightful art by Abigail Holt will be a wonderful addition to the libraries of my toddler and preschool grandchildren.
Nadia Parker –
Beautifully illustrated! This book is full of simple, practical examines to encourage children to live holy lives. My 2 year old absolutely loves it!
Kristina Wenger –
Park End Press has once again published a beautiful board book that introduces young Orthodox Christians to new “friends”: the saints of the Church. These new friends are no ordinary friends: because they are saints, they point us to Christ, and demonstrate the beautiful virtues that produce fruit in the life of each person who is truly following God.
In this book, readers will meet 8 sets of saintly friends, one for each spread of the book. This edition includes saints who were related to each other: Sts. Ruth and Naomi; St. Emelia and her children; Sts. Cosmos and Damien; Sts. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus; the Theotokos and St. Elizabeth; Sts. Cyril and Methodius; Sts. Benedict and Scholastica; and St. John the Forerunner. Kathryn Reetzle has succinctly written a one-sentence statement about each set of saints. This statement mentions the virtuous way in which a saintly friend points those around them to Christ. Each spread of the book also offers a few sentences introducing these saints who modeled that statement with their life. The spread also includes a drawing of the saints as they display the virtue and interact with these other members of their family.
Abigail Holt’s simple but beautiful illustrations pair beautifully with Reetzke’s words. The saintly friends are sketched in a straightforward style and colorized with a select palette. The illustrations are simple, but will be engaging for children of all ages.
Readers will learn much from the words of the book, and desire to interact with their family members in a similar manner. Children will be especially drawn to the friendly faces and kindness of the saints on every page. The book may be one of those books that is just read over and over again. It could also be used for educational purposes: whether for a family study, or for a Church school class. With a little research and a few other resources, each spread could easily be crafted into a lesson about the saintly friends on that page (and the way in which they interacted with their family members), while also taking a closer look at the virtue that they modeled. Regardless of how the book is used, all who read it will be challenged to become a saintly friend and to seek saintly friends.
This book will be an asset to any family or Church school library. It would also make a beautiful gift, whether for a new baby, a baptism, a young child’s name day, or their birthday. (I liked it so much that I gave a copy to the newest little member of our parish on the day of her baptism!)
Thanks to Park End Books for allowing me to review this lovely book.
Basma B –
This sweet board book has been such a great addition to our personal home library!
It makes for a wonderful introduction to some of the most beloved and well-known saints (along with some not-so-known saints.)
The illustrations are beautiful. My 5 and 3 year old enjoyed looking at the all the drawn details and asking questions to learn more about the saints.
This board book would make for a perfect gift for littles!
Kendra Spencer –
This book is full of color and super cute illustrations of saints. My 11 month old often picks this one out to look at and it’s the most beautiful children’s book we have!
Jocelyn Estes Abyad –
Friends matter. If there’s one thing I’ve learned as a momma, that’s it. Who we spend time with shapes us. I love this second volume of God’s Saintly Friends from Kathryn Reetzle. I love that I can bring the stories of saints who were friends to my youngest children because of the board book format, but we also use the stories as a springboard for my older children to learn more about the lives of these saints. From the youngest to the oldest of my kids, they see that the saints kept good company with their friends just like we should today.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, which leads me to what I believe is the best testimony for the book… after reading it to my children, it took me three days to find my copy and post this review because my four year old had tucked it away in her bed so she could read it each night before sleeping. Any book worthy of setting aside to read again and again is surely a treasure!
April Mahafza –
This is a perfect book to begin to teach my young son about the Saints! I especially love some of the more obscure Saints listed, so even the adults can learn too. The pictures are beautiful and I love seeing the virtues of the Saints listed out.