H is for Holy and A Gift for Matthew (Ancient Faith Publishing)

One of the greatest joys about being a book reviewer is the children's books that I receive to review. For one, it is nice to have a short book to read amidst all the long ones, but more importantly it is nice to share something I love with my son. If you want your children to love reading, you have to start with them early and place an emphasis on it is important. You not only have to read to them, but they should see you reading as well. So this week, I am going to be reviewing only children's books. Today. I am going to share two selections from my favorite Orthodox publisher, Ancient Faith Publishing.

H is for Holy is a hardcover book that teaches children their alphabet by relating letters to facets of Orthodox Christianity. It isn't a new concept, as I have reviewed a Catholic/Christian one before, but I was intrigued to read through it and see how it compared. The book starts out familiar enough with A for Altar, B for Bread, and C for Cross, but the true test of books like this is what they do with the tough letters. Rightfully so, I is Icon and O is Oil. Catholics don't really think about those two things much, as they receive greater attention in the East, so I liked that! Q is Quiet; X is ICXC; and Z is good ole Zacchaeus (as if there was any doubt). On each page is a further description of each letter's representation, and at the end is the numbers one through ten with Orthodox ways to learn your numbers. The illustrations were done in a watercolor format and helped drive home the alphabet concept. Solid book.

A Gift for Matthew tells the story of a boy who goes to visit Brother Justin in a monastery. Brother Justin had a special gift. He was an iconographer. Brother Justin is going to teach Matthew how icons are made. They begin with a prayer before starting. Then, he showed him how a sketch on paper gets transferred to an icon board. The board was slowly engraved with Brother Justin praying the Jesus Prayer continuously. In addition to learning this, Matthew learned where the colors (pigment) came from and what egg tempera is used for. At the end of the book is a the complete text of the Iconographer's Prayer, which I found very beautiful to read. I found this book a joy to read and I feel like adults can learn as much as children when reading this book. The book did a nice job emphasizing that iconography is more than just art. It is prayer. If you are looking for an approachable way to teach your children about icons and how they are made, I highly recommend this book!

These books were provided to me for free by Ancient Faith Publishing in exchange for honest reviews. If you found these reviews helpful, please click here and/or here and hit Yes!

Embracing the Icon of Love (Liguori Publications)

There are a lot of things I love about Christianity. I love reading Scripture and commentaries that point out things I miss. I love the complexity of the Rosary and the simplicity of the Jesus Prayer. I love the knowledge of the Church Fathers and the simplicity of the childlike Saints! And I love the beauty of icons, but more than that I love the depth of icons. Brother Daniel Korn shares this love of iconography, and it is on full display in his book Embracing the Icon of Love.

Embracing the Icon of Love begins with a two chapter introduction that explains what an icon is and how to read and pray with icons. In his words, "Icons are not static objects of sacred imagery that remind us of the holy. Rather, they're energy-filled realities that draw us into a relationship with what the image represents." He goes on to explain in simpler terms that when we pray before an icon of Mary, "we are also in the space of God that resides within Mary." Part II of this book walks us through praying with one of the most famous icons, the Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. There are five elements of the Gospel story of Jesus:

1. The Face of the Blessed Mother
2. The Right Hand of Mary that points directly to the heart of Christ
3. Jesus (or the Infant God) that Mary presents to us
4. Angels flanking Mary and Jesus
5. The Golden Background of the Icon

Each chapter goes into more detail. For example, the chapter on the Face of the Blessed Mother focuses on her eyes, ears, mouth, and the eight-pointed star which adorns her head. Each chapter also includes a Scripture reflection, reflection questions, and in the middle of the book is full color images zoomed in on the particular aspect of the icon being studied. Brother Daniel meticulously explains many facets of the icon one could easily overlook. For example, most of us focus on the faces of Christ and Mary, but did you notice that his sandal is falling off? If you did, do you know what it means? I did not, but I will share it with you. It represents Christ's humility in taking on His human nature. Every element; every color; every detail of an icon is deliberate, so you must take your time when praying with an icon, so take your time and don't rush!

The book contains a concluding two parts - one with prayers and exercises before the Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and the other with a history on the icon and its restoration. In fact, this book was published to announce the 150th Anniversary of the icon being given into Redemptorist care by Pope Pius IX. His mission for the Redemptorists when placing this icon in their care was to make Our Lady of Perpetual Help known to all. They have certainly done that through the years, and this book is taking that mission a step further. So whether you have a love for iconography' like me; a devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Hope; or just are an inquiring heart, you will find beauty and truth in this book. I highly recommend it!

This book was provided to me for free by Liguori Publications in exchange for an honest review. To see an interview of Brother Daniel Korn by Fr. Mitch Pacwa, click here. And if you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!

Fire from Ashes and From God to You (Ancient Faith Publishing)

I discovered Ancient Faith Radio at least 5 years ago. It was during this time of questioning and searching that I gained a new knowledge and appreciation of Eastern Orthodoxy. One of my favorite podcasters was Steve "the Builder" Robinson. He had two particular podcasts, Our Life in Christ (where I learned the most about Orthodoxy) and Steve the Builder (where I learned the most about Steve and living a Christian life in the secular world.) I reached out to Steve on occasion, and he was always a blessing to talk to. When he stopped making his podcasts, sadness doesn't even begin to describe how I felt. When I saw that he was releasing a book, I was over the moon happy and knew I had to read it!

Fire from Ashes is a brief book (less than 150 pages) written by Fr. Joseph Huneycutt and Steve Robinson, both podcasters or former podcasters at Ancient Faith Radio. The premise of the book is the struggle and need of perpetual conversion. There is no such thing as "once saved always saved," and anyone who tells you otherwise is in heresy. We must remember that even the righteous man falls seven times and rises again.

The book begins with the story of a heroin addict named Mark who used to work for Steve. Steve compares him to St. Dismas the Good Thief who died on the cross next to Jesus. Both lived less than stellar lives, but both reached out to Jesus on their deathbeds and took a chance on Him being able to save them. This story was taken from one of Steve's podcasts, so it was familiar to me, but it still moves me everytime I hear it. A lot of Christians don't like to hear these deathbed conversion stories, but we should rejoice every time a soul makes it to Heaven. The book says, "The 'deathbed conversion' is the instant realization of the futility of our life and the acceptance of our personal responsibility and guilt for our sin, but it is also a turning to the love of God in the sufferings of Christ for our sins." AMEN!

Chapter Three is one that I feel will relate to most people, because it discusses habitual sin. There are many types of habitual sin, but the authors choose to discuss pornography and masturbation. This seems reasonable, since that is a habitual sin that is much more prevalent today with the advent of the Internet. The authors take the time to remind us that it is good to struggle with sin. If we are struggling, we are least putting up a fight. It's when we stop fighting against our sins that we are defeated. However, we are not alone in this fight. God is on our side. The saints are on our side. The angels are on our side. Our Church is on our side.  We would do well to remember this.

Overall, this was a very approachable book and you could see the personalities of the two authors in not only the words on the page, but the illustrations they provided as well. What I especially loved about this book was all the examples they used from Scripture and the Church Fathers. The examples that St. John Chrysostom and St. Moses the Black provided will stick with me a long time. Though the target audience for this book is Orthodox Christians, I believe it would be helpful for Catholics as well. We are all sinners in need of perpetual conversion and this book does a fine job explaining what perpetual conversion is and how to live it.

From God to You is the second book on icons by John Kosmas Skinas. His first book was called Pictures of God. In this book, your children will trace the history of icons through the ages. The book starts by explaining that people have always tried to get rid of icons (even to this day sadly). However, they have survived thanks to the Church. Our journey then begins with The Icon Not Made by Human Hands and the story of King Abgar. Two icons later, we learn of the first Christian iconographer St. Luke, who painted an icon of Mary from her kitchen table.

Other features in this book are explanations of the Egyptian style of iconography; specific symbols early Christians used, like the peacock; and important icons in history like the Pantocrator from Mt. Sinai. We also learn about facial expressions, directions of the eyes, and the meaning of colors in iconography. The icons in this book are beautifully reproduced in these pages. The explanations are simple and easy to understand. I also really love how the author explains that saints are like "restored icons" because he used their lives to to make beautiful images. It inspires us and our children to imitate these great men and women so that we may be made into icons as well. If you are looking for a set of books to teach little ones about icons I wholeheartedly recommend Pictures of God and From God to You.

These books were provided to me for free by Ancient Faith Publishing in exchange for an honest review. If you found the review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!