Saint Patrick

I teach Kindergarten Sunday school at my church, and I am always looking for good books to read during snack time to keep the munchkins from tearing around the room when they've had their fill of crackers and cheese and apple juice. For the Sunday before St. Patrick's Day this year, I wanted a beautifully illustrated, engagingly -- yet simply -- told tale of the biographical basics of this great saint. Thank goodness for this book! It more than answered the call. The children were transfixed by both story and pictures -- even my assistant was enchanted. What a lovely tribute to an amazing man of God! One interesting note: The cover shows St. Patrick holding a shamrock -- the tradition being that Patrick used the clover to illustrate the idea of the Trinity. Then, on the title page, there is another shamrock. But the story of his using the shamrock is curiously absent from the text. A minor quibble, of course, but this reader would not have minded an extra page (an extra gorgeous illustration!) of that story.

We used this book in a "Five in a Row" style the week before St. Patrick's day and my kids got so much out of it. It's a little book full of great information about a great Christian. It was an introduction for them to missions, persecution, slavery, Ireland, the Trinity, and more. We followed up our study with Celtic music and a meal of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, green shamrock-shaped honey rolls and green lemonade just for fun.

Ann Tompert, an excellent author of children's books, has done it again in her wonderful style of writing. It will be most enjoyed by those 5-10 years old, with 3rd to 5th graders being able to read it for themselves. She wrote this book based on the facts present in one of St. Patrick's letters. It is primarily about his life to when he got home from his slavery, and prepared to return to Ireland. Only one page is spent on his ministry in Ireland. Then it talks about his days of slavery and incarceration later in his life ending with how his being in Ireland has continued to affect it. There is only one page of writing for every two pages open. Most pages of writing only have 7-12 lines of typing on them. The illustrations are great. As the School Library Journal Editorial Review states it: "It is mounted in an exceptionally handsome format, with a formal presentation of the text on yellow backgrounds richly framed by borders of brown and gold, facing full-page, mixed-media illustrations of power and distinction, gleaming with brilliant color. The artistic style is decorative yet forceful, with an interesting variety of landscapes and flat, simple, but very expressive human figures."

This is a great book for people who wan't to know a little basic information about the life of St. Patrick. It explains wonderfully for children and adults! It talks from birth to death. There is little information about his childhood, but Ann Tompert covers it best she can.

Long ago in the forth century a boy was born in Britain,his parents called him Succat but later in his life he was called Patrick. He grew up with his parents in Britain they thought him about God. He was not a religious man until he was captured by the Irish pirates and sold as a slave. His master was very kind to him. He tended his flocks and while doing that he prayed to God and started to communicate with him. God deliverd himfrom his bondage and show him the way home back to his parents. There he thought people about God after a few years he went back to Ireland and spread the word of God,he was captured and put in prison but he still teach people about God and started many churches and stayed there until ha died.