Goodnight Jesus published by Ancient Faith and illustrated by Nicolas Malara
This was the first Orthodox board book I ever saw or owned. We have gone through 2 copies amongst my 4 kids and I have gifted it to all my godsons and many of the kids at our parish. Note the bite marks and worn cover above! If you want a comforting, lyrical, and sturdy book for toddlers and babies, then this is an excellent choice.
The Myrrhbearing Women and Zacchaeus
With illustrations that are definitely Orthodox and a variety of familiar saints, this board book captures the attention of the littlest ones and is easily read out loud by emerging readers. An excellent bedtime go-to to focus our thoughts on God and family before rest.
A simple prayer: Lord have mercy.
In case you already own “Goodnight Jesus,” then another excellent addition to your liturgy bag or night stand is “I Pray Today.” We were gifted this by my youngest daughter’s godmother when she was baptized. In this book as the children go through their day from breakfast to bedtime, they repeat the prayer Lord have Mercy. This one is especially great for helping little ones memorize a short prayer or begin to pray for themselves. I also appreciate the various activities where the children turn to prayer to help them refocus.
As a Mama who loves to read, this book’s pleasant illustrations by Amandine Wanert make it one I don’t mind reading over and over again with my babies.
If you have kids under 5, then I would recommend you add this to your nightly rocking chair reading time. Or if you have many small children at your local parish, consider donating a copy of each to the church school nursery class teacher or if you have a basket of books for kids to look at during Liturgy, these are excellent choices!
My kids know when I pull out our copy of “Catherine’s Pascha” by Charlotte Riggle that I’m going to cry. I can’t help it. You might think that means this is a sad story, but in fact it’s the brightest story we could have in the Orthodox faith.
This book does an excellent job of viewing the Paschal Midnight Service from the eyes of a young girl (I would guess 8-10 years old), her family, and friends. What I love about this book is that on each page in the background is a different Orthodox Church from around the world. RJ Hughes takes us across the globe on that Holiest of nights when we as Orthodox celebrate the Resurrection of Christ.
Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Tokyo, Japan (background)
Catherine is determined to stay awake through the service with her best friend Elizabeth. They get up to normal kid stuff during Liturgy (dripping wax from their candles on their hands), which I appreciate as a mom of 4. This book is realistic in both the artwork and storyline, you can insert your family into this night of worship quite easily.
If you’re wondering about the part I cry in each read, it’s when the family is outside the church and the Priest knocks on the door and someone inside asks “Who is the King of Glory?!” Why does this part make me cry? It is one of my most vivid memories as a convert of my first Paschal celebration in 2008. It is also perhaps one of the most important services as Christians. Other than the Nativity service where we celebrate how Christ came into this world as both God and a babe, the defeat of death by his death and resurrection is key to our life in Christ as Orthodox Christians. He is the light and by his light we spread that to others through loving them in this life and worshipping him in both this world and the Three me to come.
“Lift up your gates so the King of Glory May come in!”
There are also some fun Pascha basket traditions in the book, Catherine’s mother makes Sticky Bubbies and my kids ask me every year to make them! Sticky Bunnies Recipe from the book: https://charlotteriggle.com/honey-bunnies/
Photo used with author Charlotte Riggle’s permission from her website.
I pray this book helps your family celebrate the night of Pascha year round and that it encourages you to have conversations with your children about our faith. -Kathryn Reetzke
“The Saint Nicolas Day Snow,” also by Charlotte Riggle and RJ Hughes
This is a sweet book about what saintly people do, focusing on their relationships with others. Each page is laid out so that it is predictable to emerging readers, with words on the left and art on the right. The beautifully simple line-drawing illustrations focus on the main characters; the color palette is gentle and pleasing.
The theme of describing what a saint is like is clear throughout the eight stories in the book, and is made understandable with relatable concepts. Sparking curiosity for “the rest of the story,” older kids will likely ask for more details about some of the saints. For younger kids, they can be asked to point out similar experiences in their world.
The words on each page are separated into a short factual statement and a longer description with some details, making it easy to read to children of all ages. Children can visit with each page, soaking in the details and pondering the story.
It is the perfect size: large enough to read to a lapful of kids, small enough to fit in a diaper bag, and takes about 3 minutes to read. For our family, it will be a perfect addition to our rotation of books for the kids’ church bag, and as a short story break for when I’m asked “can you read me a book?” while I’m in the midst of folding laundry or vacuuming.
This book is 100% American made by Orthodox Christian mothers who run small businesses when not busy with their children. It was written, illustrated, edited, printed, and packaged in the USA. (Not every Orthodox publisher prints in the US.) My kids love it, and we’re excited to add it to our collection of Christian kids books!”
Set on the Greek Island of Corfu, the audiobook Spyridon’s Shoes by Christine Rogers is written for the seven-year-old to the pre-teen, but can be appreciated by any age. The historic fictional child Spiro and his environs are described in colorful language and details as we learn how he catches fish and octopuses to support his family. The choice expressions the author uses are dramatic and paints pictures of the playful and realistic antics of your everyday beach-loving boy. She also reads the story aloud with expression that matches the lively action.
The author brings to life the historical character of St. Spyridon who young Spiro encounters multiple times while fishing at the shore. He helps the boy when he injures his foot and nobody else is nearby to help him home. The boy looks for his kindly friend and repairs the ripped sandal tall Spyridon loaned him to walk home in. In later encounters, they become friends as he tells the white-bearded man about his worries and dreams and is consoled and encouraged. I loved the drama of the relationship that unfolded as the fatherly man shared his thoughts and aspirations about how to know God and confide in Him about everyday matters.
The traits of St. Spyridon such as his habit of helping people in need are based on actual stories passed down for centuries in Corfu. I enjoyed the author’s creativity in adding drama that aids the imagination to picture the skeleton story-line we are often left with in historical accounts. This allows the reader to appreciate the historical figure and for a child to encounter him or her more fully.
I came away with a vivid picture of the generosity and kindness of our historic saints who labor for us in invisible ways. And also the profound reminder of what saints’ lives constantly remind us of: that our connection to God is vital for the everyday things we need and prayers are what create and continue this connection.
Spyridon’s Shoes is available on Audible, and as a paperback from the publisherand on Amazon.
Alyson d’Arms is a homeschool education specialist and teacher who dabbles in poetry and historical fiction writing. She is currently exploring the trails and stories of wild Alaska.
The Cellarer’s Celery is a joyful tale that will draw the reader along as it explores some deep truths of the Christian faith and its practice in the world.
First, I want to draw attention to the rhyme and rhythm of the book. Fr. Jeremy Davis’s writing style is so fun and whimsical. The style and language of the book beg for it to be read aloud, which I did several times with my 3-year-old daughter—who also enjoyed the story.
Second, the story offers a very simple yet profound lesson on the Christian life. A few things jumped out at me during my repeated readings of this with my daughter:
The sower prays nightly for the flourishing of the celery crop. He doesn’t do this because he wants praise, but rather because he loves the cellarer and knows that he enjoys the celery;
The sower’s despondency when the celery is destroyed and his concern on how to let the cellarer know is so useful in presenting how we oftentimes face dread when we have to ask forgiveness of another;
The cellarer’s response and the imagery of celery as life is simple but so true and helps readers of any age remember that our life here on earth is not meant to be one of ease and comfort, but of struggle and trying. Nevertheless, our life—like celery—is savory and refreshing.
I highly recommend this book for anyone with young children as the story and illustrations—by Luke Garrow—are a delight to view and inspect. My daughter was especially fond of finding the cellarer’s mouth as it is hidden in a big beard.
In this remarkable scene from Wit (2001, directed by Mike Nichols), Evelyn Ashford (Eileen Atkins) comforts her dying friend and former student Vivian (Emma Thompson) by cradling her gently and reading Margaret Wise Brown’s The Runaway Bunny.
At the 5:00 minute mark, these two grieving women, both academics, share a surprising discovery about the book. “Ah! Look at that,” Evelyn says smiling. “A little allegory of the soul. Wherever it hides, God will find it.” Vivian is hardly able to speak, but the moment figures as a turning point as her suffering gradually gives way to sleep.
The Runaway Bunny is a picture book classic, most often read in the same spirit as books such as Love You Forever or Guess How Much I Love You. It’s meant to be read over and over again, until the words are all memorized and the spine cracks and the pages fall out. Little ones never tire of hearing that wherever they go, however life changes them, their mama will find them and bring them home.
It’s a logical choice for the film, which chronicles the inward journey of an intellect-centered college professor struggling for transcendence as she dies of cancer. Her friend and mentor in this scene is much like the mother bunny in the book. Evelyn arrives at the hospital having only just learned that Vivian is there. What are the odds? It is a detail just touched on as Evelyn takes off her coat, but it is the same quiet miracle as the mother bunny finding her baby wherever she goes. The little bunny who keeps trying to shape-shift, to become some other animal, to have some other life, mirrors the human journey to discover and improve our actual self, the one we hope to keep. And the kindly, humorous, unfailing persistence of the mother bunny is the Love that birthed us and leads us home.
Of course, once you begin to hold a lens over the story, you see more in it than you first expected. Consider the progression of transformations the little bunny suggests, and the ways his mother answers them. These pairs of images are rife with Christian symbolism!
I will be a fish in a trout stream/ I will be a fisherman.Jesus calls His apostles with the promise that they will become “fishers of men,” gathering in new believers.
I will be a rock on a mountain/I will be a mountain climber. He calls Peter the “rock” on which He will build the Christian church.
I will be a crocus in a hidden garden/I will be a gardener. When Mary comes to the grave seeking Jesus after his crucifixion and He meets her there, she believes at first that He is the gardener.
I will be a bird/I will be the tree you come home to. The tree is a reference to the Cross, the place to which Christians “fly home” in search of eternal life.
I will be a sailboat/I will be the wind. The wind is the Holy Spirit, and “blows where it will”, just as the mother bunny will blow her little sailboat “where I want you to go.”
I will be a trapeze artist/I will be a tightrope walker. The circus is an old and often-used metaphor for the world (as distinguished from heaven or the Church). Biblical tradition describes Satan as the “lord of the air,” and Jesus harrowing hell and rising to heaven “clears the air,” overcoming what darkness lingers there. Thus, like the mother rabbit, He meets us in danger and saves us. Alternately, the trapeze artist and the tightrope walker could prefigure the Second Coming, when believers will be “caught up together in the clouds” and “meet the Lord in the air.”
I will be a little boy/I will be your mother. This pair brings the little bunny to the pinnacle of Christian imagery, and teaching – the incarnation. Interestingly, in this final iteration, the little bunny has assumed the divine role (the Son of Man, born on earth) and the mother bunny plays the dual role of birthgiver and guide. She will be this little boy’s mother and catch him up in her arms to hug, just as Mary must so often have embraced Jesus in her role as Theotokos, God-bearer, mother. But simultaneously, this is also the role in which she succeeds in bringing her little bunny home to his true identity, a nod at the salvific power of the incarnation and the Christian striving to be in God’s image. When the little bunny chooses an identity that both parallels and transcends his present life, he has come to the end (or beginning!) of his spiritual journey. And of course, he has found his way home.
More to the Story 