Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing (Franciscan Media)

Welcome back to the Children's Corner here at Stuart's Study. I told myself I was only going to review two products a week, but that's not going to happen this month. I have some season-specific products that I need to review, so for at least the next two weeks I'll be back to 3 posts a week. I received this latest book, Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing, from Catholic Company's reviewer program. Unfortunately, it seems the program has been suspended at the moment, so that's a bit depressing, but hopefully it will be back in the future!

Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing takes places in the month of December in Naples, Italy.  The story centers around a boy named Alessandro who is living with his grandparents temporarily since his parents are away in another country for work. His grandfather has a pretty awesome job (in my opinion). He is a craftsman who makes Nativity figurines. December is an especially busy time for the grandfather both because of his job and because Bambinelli Sunday is quickly approaching. What is Bambinelli Sunday? Bambinelli Sunday occurs on the Third Sunday of Advent, and it involves children bringing their baby Jesus figurines to the Pope (or parish priest) to be blessed before placing them in the manger for Christmas. In this story, Alessandro learns about faith, generosity, love, and the true meaning of Christmas.

This is another wonderful hardcover children's book from Amy Welborn, with beautiful illustrations to boot. The main character, Alessandro, had a very real feel to him. It's easy for Catholic children's authors to portray Catholic children as perfect, angelic beings, but Amy Welborn gives us a character with depth who we see mature and grow in love as the story progresses. She also introduces the tradition of Bambinelli Sunday, which many Americans are unfamiliar with. I spoke with our Director of Religious Education to see if we could get the priests to start doing it in our Church. I recommend you ask your priests as well! I also encourage you to pick up a copy of this book in time to prepare for Bambinelli Sunday with your little ones!

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing. The Catholic Company is the best resource for all your seasonal needs such as First Communion gifts as well as ideas and gifts for the special papal Year of Faith.

Our Sunday Visitor: The Fathers of the Church Bible

If you follow my blog and books I review, you should know three at least three things about me. I LOVE Bibles, the Fathers of the Church, and Mike Aquilina's books. Therefore, when I heard that there was a Bible being published called The Fathers of the Church Bible and that Mike Aquilina was involved in the project, I knew I had to own a copy! Unfortunately, my excitement quickly faded once it arrived in the mail. Before I get to what I didn't like about the Bible, let me give some basic details about the Bible.

The translation of this Bible is the New American Bible Revised Edition, also known as the NABRE. This is the version you hear proclaimed at every Mass, so you know this is a faithful translation. Like your basic NABRE Bible, you get both the NAB and NABRE introductions. You also get footnotes and cross-references. How is this Bible different then? There are 88 color inserts in the Bible with writings from the Church Fathers on topics such as the Canon, Baptism, Angels, etc. I would have liked for these inserts would be placed near the Scripture passages that they address, but instead they are just spread about evenly to make for a uniform distribution.

Let me start with the positive aspects of this Bible. The Fathers of the Church Bible itself is a paperback, but the pages have a nice weight to them. The font is easy to read, and the Scripture cross-references and notes are easily separated on the page to make for easy navigation and easier reading. The margins aren't very large if you are looking for a Bible to make notes in. I am not, so that wasn't a deal-breaker for me. The inserts are especially enlightening and full of important teachings. I am VERY pleased that St. Ephrem the Syrian merited his own insert, as he is too often overlooked and forgotten.

As for the negatives, it is mainly the combination of presentation and price that I find lacking with this Bible. If you are looking to buy your FIRST copy of the NABRE Bible, then this would be a good choice. If you already own a copy of the NABRE, then you will be a little disappointed with this Bible. In my opinion, the inserts would have been better served as a small booklet sold separately. So if you already have a NABRE Bible, then I wouldn't recommend getting this one as well, because the inserts don't justify the cost. You would be better served buying a copy of one of Mike Aquilina's many books on the Church Fathers.Overall, I would give this Bible 3.5 out of 5 stars. I expected much more from this Bible, and I believe it could have been better than it was.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on The Fathers of the Church Bible. The Catholic Company is the best resource for all your seasonal needs such as First Communion gifts as well as ideas and gifts for the special papal Year of Faith.

Our Sunday Visitor: Encyclopedia of U.S. Catholic History

Welcome back to Stuart's Study. Today, I am reviewing a history nerd's dream book - Encyclopedia of U.S. Catholic History. Before I open up a book to read and review, I make a mental list (sometimes physical list if the book is long enough) of topics, aspects, and features that I expect to be included. If something is missing from my list upon completion of the reading, then it can lower the rating I give it. My method definitely helped review this encyclopedia.

Encyclopedia of U.S. Catholic History is an up-to-date and thorough single-volume encyclopedia that lives up to its name. Before I even cracked open the book, I was hoping that there would be some sort of timeline in it. Well, the first thing after the Table of Contents is a chronology that begins in 1492 and ends in 2011. This chronology featured important events that took place, like the first martyr in the United States or the birth of Elizabeth Ann Seton. Also included in this chronology were negative events in our history, like the clerical sex abuse scandal. I appreciate that Mr. Bunson did not ignore these warts in our history. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

After the chronology, there are approximately 1,000 pages of alphabetized information, spanning from "Abbelen, Peter M." to "Zumarraga, Juan de." I would be lying if I told you that I read every article in this massive tome. I instead chose topics that I knew about already, like my Archdiocese for example, and read these entries to see how accurate they were. Of the many articles I did read, the information was spot on and did not disappoint. Unlike most encyclopedias, this one was  lacking on images. There are some, but they are just sketches, so that was a bit of a disappointment.

After the articles, there are four appendices in this encyclopedia:  "Missionaries to the Americas," "Saints of the Americas," "Catholics in Statuary Hall," and the most interesting one to me "Cathedrals, Basilicas, and Shrines in the U.S." The first two appendices would be good starting places for reading articles in this work, but the last appendix would be a good vacation planner. Simply look up a state; see what cathedrals, basilicas, or shrines they have; and then plan a pilgrimage for your family or parish.

Overall, I would give this encyclopedia 5 stars merely for the fact that it even exists. It wasn't perfect, and information is always changing, but it serves its purpose. I would say though that the audience for this book is limited. I could see a history or religion teacher or even a history enthusiast wanting to own it, but who else? The only audience that I could think of is parents who homeschool. When your child is studying a certain point in U.S. history, they can supplement their studies with this book and see what was going on in the Catholic Church of the U.S. during this same time period. For example, without this book, your child might never learn that 500+ Catholic nuns helped tend to the sick and wounded during the Civil War.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Encyclopedia of U.S. Catholic History. The Catholic Company is the best resource for all your seasonal needs such as First Communion gifts as well as ideas and gifts for the special papal Year of Faith.