New Children's Books from a Catholic Illustrator

Barb Szyszkiewicz reviews two new children's books, both illustrated by Catholic designer and artist Ted Schluenderfritz.

When you think of children's books, even chapter books, you probably think of the illustrations. Maybe you even have a favorite illustrator. When I was a child, I loved (and tried to imitate) the gentle pencil drawings of Garth Williams that brought the Little House books and Charlotte's Web to life for me. As a young mom, I enjoyed the sweet art of Tomie dePaola. 

The picture books that catch my eyes these days are distinct from many children's books on the market because the style of art is still gentle, sweet, and colorful without being garish or harsh. If your children enjoy the coloring pages in our Sunday Gospel Activities, you may recognize the work of artist Ted Schluenderfritz. Ted creates the drawings for our coloring pages, but that's only a small part of the creative work he does; you can learn about it all at his website, 5Sparrows.com.

These are excellent books for families to enjoy together, and are also appropriate for use in Catholic-school or religious-education classrooms.

Rejoice & Be Glad! Living the Beatitudes

By Rachel Schluenderfritz; illustrated by Ted Schluenderfritz

Published by Emmaus Road

Rejoice & Be Glad! is Rachel and Ted's second book together. This book walks the reader through the Beatitudes in a wonderful way: by exploring how one of the saints lived out a particular Beatitude. "Blessed are the poor in spirit" is connected to Saint Francis of Assisi, "Blessed are the meek" to Saint Juan Diego, and "Blessed are the merciful" to Saint Faustina Kowalska. The book blends Scripture, a few comments about the saint, and helpful explanations of the promises behind each Beatitude, which are done through quotes from Scripture.

At the end of this book, you'll find a longer story of each saint featured earlier in the book, plus others whose lives exemplified the Beatitudes. It's a clever way to make the point that the Beatitudes are there to teach us how to change our lives.

The Word Within: The Ark of the Covenant and Mary

By Maura Roan McKeegan & Scott Hahn; illustrated by Ted Schluenderfritz

Published by Emmaus Road

As with Rachel and Ted's book about the Beatitudes and the saints, this book about Mary and the Ark of the Covenant is one that will teach adults as much as it teaches children! Reading it, I learned so much about the ways Mary is the fulfillment of the typology introduced in the Old Testament (without ever seeing complicated works such as "typology"). In this fascinating book, episodes from the Old Testament are presented next to the aspect of Mary's life they foreshadow.

It will be easy for children and their parents or teachers to see the parallels, and hearing familiar stories from Scripture will never be the same once they've read The Word Within together.

As you listen to stories from Scripture
And find wonder in all God can do,
Remember, dear child, that this divine plan
Shows the depth of His great love for you.

Ask for these books at your local Catholic bookseller, or order online from Amazon.com or the publisher, Emmaus Road.

Is this a book you'd like to read? Share your thoughts with the Catholic Mom community! You'll find the comment box below the author's bio and list of recommended articles.

Copyright 2025 Barb Szyszkiewicz
Images: (top) detail from illustration in The Word Within, copyright 2025 Emmaus Road
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