
Alexis Dallara-Marsh shares how she and her children enjoyed a biography of Pope Francis together and how parents can use the book as a teaching tool.
Pope Francis: A Little Golden Book Biography
by Suzanne Slade; illustrated by Sue Cornelison
Publisher: Golden Books
I recently read the Little Golden Books Biography of Pope Francis to my 9-year-old and 7-year-old children. They were very engaged and the book did a good job of keeping their attention — which can often be difficult in an age where kids tend to quickly prefer using electronics.
Using the book as a teaching tool
To start, we reviewed what a biography was. Some of the parts that appeared to stand out to them included Jorge Bergoglio's life as a child, such as his eating pasta with his family on Sundays, and dancing the tango (they compared this to having seen this dance style in an I Love Lucy episode). They didn't initially know what a pope was, thinking it was a priest in our everyday parish church. We spoke of the unique attributes of Bergoglio being from South America. We also discussed who was in one of the later pictures shown with him as Pope (former President Barack Obama, which we used as a separate learning point).
On the back of the book, the children were quick to recognize some other historical figures already discussed in their secular school, Lionel Messi and Frieda Kahlo. I feel the book's artwork was very vivid and life-like at painting a realistic picture of the life of this young boy who would become the future principal leader of our church. Overall this little book appears to have age-appropriate language and broad appeal for the elementary school-aged group and is highly recommended as an introduction to the life of Pope Francis.
Ask for Pope Francis: A Little Golden Book Biography at your local Catholic bookseller, or order online from Amazon.com.
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Copyright 2024 Alexis Dallara-Marsh
Images: Canva
About the Author

Alexis Dallara-Marsh
Dr. Alexis Dallara-Marsh is a board-certified neurologist who practices in Bergen County, NJ. She is a wife to her best friend, Akeem, and a mother of two little ones on Earth, plus two others in Heaven above.
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