Click here for my Saint Lucia Day Remembrances post (we started having a St. Lucia Procession at our church when my daughter was only two and a half years old. Now she's a Mama who bakes Lusseketter and shares in the tradition with her own children!)
This might seem like an odd title for a November post, but here in sunny Southern California, we get some of our best beach days in the fall. Take for instance last week, when our temperatures hit the low 90's!
My daughter and granddaughters were visiting from Michigan to meet their new baby cousin, and we took full advantage of the hot day to go to the beach, equipped with sand toys, towels, and a little Golden Book about two siblings - Nancy and Timmy - who go with their parents to the beach: A Day at the Seashore.
Nancy and Timmy hop out of their beds one summer morning and help pack their swimsuits and lunch. And then it's off to the seashore! In a charming rhyme, this Little Golden Book from 1951 (then titled A Day at the Beach) describes what preschoolers will find there: "You can catch little crabs—if you're quick! You can draw great big pictures right on the beach with a piece of a shell or a stick."
If your child likes C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, he or she will enjoy Beyond the White Fence. It all starts with a grandmother's backyard and a girl named Katie...
Katie discovers that the valley behind her grandmother's garden is more mysterious than it seems. After tumbling into tenth-century England and encountering Saint Edith of Wilton along with her wild animal menagerie, she is helped home, wondering whether her adventure was truly real.
But after Katie, her cousins, and a neighborhood friend are drawn back in time once again, she realizes her grandmother's garden gate is a portal into faraway worlds, where patron saints are real people making real-life decisions.
Join Katie and her cousins as they mingle with Rachel and Jacob, meet Saint Mary Magdalene up close, trek across the sand with the matriarchs Naomi and Ruth, and have a nail biting adventure with the heroic Saint Katherine of Alexandria. In seeing the richness of the family of God, they glimpse how very much they are a part of it all.
Author Edith M. Humphrey, a grandmother herself (of twenty!) does a great job of storytelling in this new chapter book for 9 -13 year olds (and precocious 8 year olds) from Ancient Faith Publishing. A former teacher and lecturer of theology (at Pittsburg Theological Seminary), she does an excellent job of bringing Orthodox theological truths and historic saints' stories alive for kids - with excitement, humor, and even some movie references - in a non-preachy or didactic way. She tackles the topics of marriage and sexuality with the same amount of matter-of-factness as sibling rivalry.
Written in five parts, the last one makes for an especially suspenseful ending - Humphrey's handling of the bravery and martyrdom of Saint Katherine is wonderfully told. The reader will feel Katie's dread in anticipation of her patron saint's death, but it is reckoned with the power and glory of God in His Saints. It brought me to tears.
Beyond the White Fence is available now from Ancient Faith Publishing.
My granddaughters are the cutest.
My husband recently found a long lost box high up on a shelf in our garage. It was full of some of our kids' favorite childhood picture books! I separated them out according to each (now adult) child so they can pass them along to their own kiddos.
Today I'd like to highlight a story about two sisters, Snow White and Rose Red, heroines of one of Grimm's fairytales. I remember it being a favorite of my childhood fairytales. Growing up, we had a recorded version with a follow-along Little Golden book.
There was once a poor widow who lived in a lonely cottage. In front of the cottage was a garden wherein stood two rose-trees, one of which bore white and the other red roses. She had two children who were like the two rose-trees, and one was called Snow-white, and the other Rose-red...
This beautiful version, Snow & Rose written and illustrated by Emily Winfield Martin, was gifted to me by my daughter! It's a nice chapter book version for kids 8-12, with beautiful illustrations throughout.
From Publisher's Weekly:
Sisters Snow and Rose once lived a charmed life in a grand house with a beautiful garden. After their father disappears into the woods, the girls and their mother are forced to move into a small cottage in the same forest. There, they befriend a boy named Ivo, discover a mysterious library filled not with books but objects, are tricked by a strange little man, and bond with a protective bear.Unfolding over episodic chapters that build to a well-deserved happy ending, this moody fairy tale emphasizes family, friendship, and the powerful bond of sisterhood. Martin’s characterization of the two contrary sisters is especially moving: Rose is the type of person who “holds on to a thing she loved as tightly as she could,” while Snow wants “to see or hear or taste something she loved over and over again, to remind herself that it was real.”
The sisters’ contradictions make their relationship all the stronger, and Martin’s prim full-color paintings and spot illustrations tenderly highlight key characters and moments. Ages 8–12.
Incidentally, when Maria was born, I gifted her with one of Emily Winfield Martin's picture books, The Wonderful Things You Will Be.
Oh, how I miss our little Snow (Lexi) and Rose (Maria)! Such devoted sisters.
Blessed Feast of the Annunciation! Today, I'd like to highlight Love at Lent, a new offering from Ancient Faith Publishing. Orthodox Lent and Pascha are a bit late on the calendar this year, and so am I in getting this post out, but nonetheless, here you go...
Michelle Bonanno Triant, along with illustrator Maria Constantinescu, has curated a sweet boxed set of 50 Lenten activity cards for the whole family that will encourage forgiveness, gratitude, generosity, prayer, and love.
These daily tasks and prayer cards will get your family involved in the Spirit and work of Lent. You can choose one each day of Great Lent and Holy Week to discover a new simple task to complete. The cards can also be utilized in other settings, such as Sunday school, church ministry groups, and homeschool cooperatives.
I just LOVE Maria Constantinescu's illustrations on the front of each card. So bright and perfect for spring!
I think parents will appreciate that the tasks on the back of the cards are simple and straightforward, and not overwhelming at all. They don't even need to be done in a specific order (although there are a few that go especially with Holy Week and Pascha.) Along with the activities, all the cards include "Tips" and "Bonus Fun".
Here are a few examples of specific tasks:
Read a Bible Story
Say "I Love You" in Another Language
Give Away a Toy
Take a Family Walk
Dance
Decorate a Pascha Card
GIVEAWAY: I know this fun pack of sturdy activity cards will be anticipated by kids and used year after year! I'd love to send it to someone.
Be the first parent, grandparent, godparent, or Sunday school teacher to leave a comment and the pack is yours. Then send me an email {wendyb[spam]1963@sbclgobal.net} with your mailing address.
*Of course anyone is welcome to leave a random comment and not enter in the giveaway, but please specify that. Giveaway is only open to my readers with children in their lives that could benefit. Not to be re-sold under any circumstance! The cards are available here from Ancient Faith Publishing.
Troparion
 |
| "St. Bride", John Duncan 1913 |
and flew on the wings of your longing for God.
When you arrived in the eternal City and appeared before your Divine Spouse wearing the crown of virginity,
You kept your promise to remember those who have recourse to you.
You shower grace upon the world, and multiply miracles.
Intercede with Christ our God that He may save our souls.
The well-known founder and abbess of the Monastery of Kildare has been revered and loved throughout Europe for almost fifteen hundred years. While she was still a young woman, her unbounded compassion for the poor, the sick and the suffering grew to such proportions as to shelter all of Ireland. St. Brigid’s tonsure at the hands of St. Mael of Ardagh inaugurated the beginning of women’s coenobitic monasticism in Ireland. St. Brigid soon expanded it by founding many other convents throughout Ireland. The gifts of the Holy Spirit shine brightly upon all through her—both men and beasts—to this day. After receiving Holy Communion at Kildare from St. Ninnidh of Inismacsaint she gave her soul into the hands of her Lord in 523. [Source: http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/irishorthodoxchurch.aspx#brigid]Around this time of year (and especially this year), we all could use a warm, cuddly hug. With Groundhog Day and Valentine's Day approaching, I thought I'd share a heartwarming book with you that features a hedgehog (hey, it's pretty close to a groundhog!)
"Why will no one hug me?" Hedgehog sniffed.
"You're just a little bit tricky to hug," replied Owl, "with all your prickly prickles. But don't worry, there's someone for everyone."
The Hug, written by Eoin McLaughlin, and illustrated by Polly Dunbar, is a unique format picture book that flips over, providing two narratives - and two characters - to love.
Book description: Both a hedgehog and a tortoise are feeling sad and looking for a hug. They ask all the animals they come across, but for some reason, no one will hug them. Until a wise owl explains: Hedgehog is too spiky; Tortoise is too bony. And that's when they find each other!
What your child will like about this book: The story read from the front cover to the middle is Hedgehog's story; you turn the book upside down and read from back to middle for Tortoise's story. Both creatures have the same problem: no one wants to hug them and everyone has an excuse. Both their stories collide - with a big hug - in the middle of the book. These two just had to wait until they found their match.
One more from this writer/illustrator duo: While We Can't Hug, a new picture book for kids in response to social distancing. Hedgehog and Tortoise find other things friends can do besides hugging - they can wave at each other, write letters, make funny faces, and sing songs...all in a show of their friendship.
