Teaching young children about Catholic Saints is such an important part of teaching the faith. Saints are our role models. They lived their lives in a virtuous way that we strive to emulate. Teaching young children about the Saints is important, yet often challenging because many of their stories are not always easy to explain in a way that is appropriate for children.
I have found that it is crucial to have great books about Saints that are written in kid friendly language and are also up to date and modern in appearance. I use these books in my religious formation class with my first graders and I've also used them as resources for my Saints printable resources. Here is a round up of books about Catholic Saints that are geared toward children.
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In this book, Amy Wellborn teaches that the Saints in her book are heroes and focuses on the virtues that they exhibited in their lives. I like this because there has been a push in our after school religious education program to teach the virtues. Rather than teach them in isolation, we always connect it to a Saint and this book supports that perfectly.
I am a sucker for a good ABC book and I love that you can have an ABC book about any topic. This book focuses on a different saint for each letter of the alphabet. There is a short passage about each Saint and then at the bottom it gives more detail about that Saint in a smaller font. Definitely a great introduction to the Saints that can be used with younger students since there is not a lot of text on each page.
This book focuses on sixty Saints and is written in a concise and kid friendly way. Each page has a drawing of the saint, the feast day, what they are the patron of, a quick blurb about their life and then a prayer to that saint.
My Bedtime Book of the Saints
This book is a little different than the others on the list in that there are no pictures. It is mostly text which at first glance doesn't seem kid friendly. However, I like this book for kids because it focuses on 12 saints and each saint has a few pages, but it is written in a very engaging storylike format. This would be great as a read aloud to engage students in the stories and lives of these saints.
This book takes a different approach than most Saint books and is written as if the Saint on each page is writing it from his/her perspective. We often have to remind our first graders that this is like what the Saint would be saying if they were writing/reading this book. This is a great kid friendly text.
This book includes sixty saints and teaches about their stories, important facts, and real life applications. There is also a discussion question that can be used in a classroom or even at home with your children to generate a conversation about the Saint and connecting it to daily life.
This book focuses on thirty Saints. It shares a story about each Saint along with a prayer. The illustrations are watercolor paintings and are engaging, modern and colorful.
Where's Waldo but for Saints? How fun is that? Not only can this book be used to identify different saints and as a fun seek and find, but it also gives facts about the saints and includes a parents guide to help with educating young children. Each page is organized by theme such as Popes who became Saints.
This book focuses on 19 saints in 16 short rhyming poems. It is very easy to understand and perfect for kids to get a little introduction to these saints. The poems are short enough that they could even be memorized.
I am loving EVERY book by this author. They all are part of the "for little ones" series and they are truly good for younger children up through 3rd or 4th grade. They explain the faith in simple, easy to understand ways. This book has beautiful artwork and introduces children to 12 female saints. There is also a sequel - Girl Saints for Little Ones Volume 2.
Similar to the girl saints version, this book is simple with beautiful illustrations. We are introduced to 12 male saints with a short biography and a quote. Such a perfect introduction to saints for students in lower elementary.
I love when I find books that make the saints accessible to even our littlest ones in the house. For so long we only had books written for older kids and even adults. When I saw this board book, I knew I needed to add it to our collection. Each page has a short quote and illustration of the saint who spoke it.
Those are some of our favorite saint books for kids. We will continue to update as we come across new favorites!!