Chapter Chats (and a giveaway!) with Christine Henderson
When Christine Henderson asked if I'd like to review her children's saints books, I was excited. But when I sent Christine my address, we realized that we only live about 20 minutes away from each other! She dropped off the books in the mail and then we met up over coffee and visited about life, writing, blogging, and our faith. It was wonderful to meet someone I had met through an online bloggers group face-to-face.
Christine is a Catholic wife and mom to six children. She's home schooled them for over fourteen years! She's passionate about telling the stories of the saints and bringing them to life for children. When she's not writing you'll find her spending time with her family, playing games, hiking, reading, knitting and gardening. Check out the books she's written!
In her first book, Saint Philomena, Help!, Sister Marie begins her missionary work in a poor neighborhood. She meets a little girl, Maggie, who has just moved to the area with her family. When Sister Marie finds out that things are not going well for Maggie and her family, Sister Marie introduces them to Saint Philomena. Readers learn the story of Saint Philomena and what a devotion to her looks like.
In her second book, Saint John Bosco and the Dog, Sister Marie comes across a stray dog. She asks her friend, Edgar, to take care of the dog as a pet. Edgar spends his afternoons taking care of a young boy named Zack, and is worried that this new dog and Zack will not get along well. Christine ties the story of Saint John Bosco in with the adventures of Zack, Edgar and the dog.
Since the books are focused on bringing the stories of the saints alive for younger readers, I asked my little sisters to read the books and let me know what they thought.
Olivia, one of my little sisters, shared her thoughts about the book with me: "I thought It was a short but sweet book. It showed me a great example of the virtue of charity. The adventures of Sister Marie and her goal of helping others inspired me to help our world learn more about Christ. I thought this book was very lovely, and it was nice that we could read it with the whole family. It was written that even the littlest of us could understand it, but us older kids could read it and not feel like it was a book that was meant just for little kids. All in all, I loved this book and I thought that this book was family friendly and something I'd definitely read again."
I also asked Emma, my little sister who just started high school, what she thought about the book. "I thought that the books were incredibly well written, yet on a level that was easy to understand. The sweet innocence of Sister made me fall in love with her and the story," she told me. "Also, the way the saint stories were relayed made me want to learn more about the saint, and retell the story to others. I would read Christine's book again. - they're a perfect way to teach kids about saints!"
If there are little people in your life who want to encounter the saints, Christine's books are a wonderful place to start! Today I'm hosting a giveaway for one of Christine's books - Saint Philomena, Help! The winner of the giveaway will be announced September 8th, 2017!
The winner of the book is Laura R.! Congratulations, Laura! Thanks for reading and please check your inbox for details about receiving your new book.