A Missal for Toddlers and My Little Catechism (Ignatius Press)

Ignatius Press has recently released several new books for children, and today I would like to tell you about two of them, entitled A Missal for Toddlers and My Little Catechism.

A Missal for Toddlers is a 22 page board book, designed for children ages 3 to 5. The book is designed to walk your little one(s) through the important parts of the Mass. It starts with the Church bells ringing, the Sign of the Cross, the Gloria, the Liturgy of the Word, the Alleluia, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and the Concluding Rites. The illustration style is very inviting for young readers, and they do a nice job of illustrating what a child should be doing at all parts of the Mass. Since this book is a board book, it will last a bit longer and hold up to a little more abuse. I think is a great book to bring to Mass to help train your children and keep them focused on what's going on around them and not what the people in the pew next to them are doing. My son is recently three, so this came at the perfect time for me, and I don't plan on going to Mass without it in the foreseeable future.

My Little Catechism is a 100+ page paperback book designed for children ages 7+. It begins with an introduction which answers what a catechism is, how we can know Jesus, what the Bible is, and what the Creed is. The book is then divided into three major parts - The Father Creator, Jesus the Savior, and The Holy Spirit in the Church. Within each of these major parts are chapters which answer questions your child will most likely have. Some questions are as follows: Does God exist? What is sin? What was Jesus' childhood like? What is a sacrament? What is eternal life? With each chapter is an answer to the question and sections on what the Bible says, what we believe, a way to put it into practice, a prayer, and a little way to test yourself.

This book uses the Apostles Creed as a skeleton for its contents. I like the question and answer format, because it reminds me a bit of the Baltimore Catechism, only with more detail. I also like that this book is another title from the Magnificat Children's Books "series." Other books in this series and in the same style are The Catholic Bible for Children and Catholic Saints for Children. All books have the same style illustrations and cover art and make for a great set of books to put in your family library or as an aid in the classroom and parish. If you are looking for a way to better explain the faith to your children or let them read the answers on their own, I highly recommend this book!

These books were provided to me for free by Ignatius Press in exchange for honest reviews.