Zzzspotlight on Saints (Opa)

Spotlight on Saints features 12 "readers theater" plays about contemporary kids dealing with everyday problems. Each play is funny and engaging with a feisty narrator who interacts with the characters in the plays, such as prodding a character when he missed his cue to sigh, or by making a sarcastic comment about another character who says something silly. In addition, the characters learn about a saint during each play who inspires them to change and do the right thing. The stories of the saints fit in well with the main stories and are never didactic. What I love most about the plays is how accessible they are to kids. They feature a lot of characters, so a lot of kids can take part in the plays. Plus, they really are funny and relatable with lively characters that kids will enjoy playing. And one of the best thing about these plays is that the saints become memorable in a new way. Instead of just learning about a saint's life, kids can see how a particular saint's life can inspire them today. They can apply lessons such as forgiveness and truth to their own lives the way the kids in the plays did. In addition to the plays themselves, there are suggestions on costumes/props, presentation, and a short bio about each saint. The introduction includes helpful tips on how to perform the plays as readers theater or transition them into traditional stage productions. If you're looking for a truly funny and engaging book of plays for kids to use while learning about saints, Spotlight on Saints is for you.

This book contains twelve plays about the lives of Catholic saints. The plays are meant to be used as "Readers Theater" where they are read/acted from the script and not memorized. Each play has a short biography of a saint, a few sentence summary of the play, and helpful ideas for costumes, props and settings. The main character in each play learns about strengths such as leadership, forgiveness, facing one's fears, being helpful and staying humble. These "lessons" are fun stories told through engaging writing. Jenkins delivers her point through dialogue, action and humor. Most importantly,the characters sound like real kids. Within the plays, characters face real and relevant situations and choices. Jenkins creatively brings out the lessons without ever being preachy. For me a big plus is that the saints come from all corners of the globe and from different historical times. Saint Bakhita hailed from the Darfur region of Africa, Saint Andrew Kim Daegeon from Korea and the Blessed Kateri Tekawitha was a Native American.