October, 2001

Loyola Kids Book of Saints is the first title in a new series of children's books from Loyola Press. In each chapter, children will find:

• The dates when the saint lived, the saint's feast day, and an original illustration of the saint
• Stories about the saint's life and work, written in a conversational, friendly style
• Ways to apply the saints' stories to their own lives, plus a discussion question based on the story

A personal note to Catholic Mom participants from author Amy Welborn:


I'm so pleased and honored that you're reading my book. To be honest, the book wasn't exactly my idea - the folks at Loyola Press invited me to write it. It didn't take me long to get excited about the idea, though. There are a few saints books for children out there, to be sure, but I wanted to do something different and, I thought, necessary, with mine: really try to tie the story of the saints' lives in with "teachable moments" in children's lives. As I tell my young readers in the book, there isn't just one "kind" of saint. Saints come in all shapes and sizes, ages and nationalities, all have different talents they've been given by God, and all come out of different life circumstances. Children need heroes today, and there are no better heroes than saints!

We're all really pleased with the book, and I must give due credit to the illustrator and the designer, who did a wonderful job. I'm really proud of the book, and I'm pleased to say that we've started work on a follow-up, tentatively (I hope!) called "The Loyola Kids' Book of Heroes and Happenings." That book will contain stories about saints who didn't get entries in this one, as well as stories about important and inspiring events in the history of the Church. 


Amy Welborn

To learn more about author Amy Welborn, visit her website A Spirited Life which features excellent articles, insightful book reviews and information on her completed and upcoming writing projects.

We are pleased to recommend these additional works by Amy Welborn:

• Prove It! Church and Prove it God,  (already published) and Prove It Jesus and Prove It: Prayer (to be published in Fall, 2002, all by Our Sunday Visitor Press). This is a series of apologetics works especially written for teens. They're great for classroom or personal use.
  
• "Prepare for Joy", a family devotions/activity booklet for Advent published by Creative Communications for the Parish