Mother Teresa of Kolkata: Saint Among the Poor (Pauline Kids)

It feels like it's been forever since Pauline Books and Media released a graphic novel. The first two were on St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis of Assisi, and were in an American comic book format and illustration style. The next two took a Japanese illustration style and were on St. Philip Neri and St. Teresa of Avila. Today, they go back to the American style and present us Mother Teresa of Kolkata: Saint Among the Poor.

The book starts with a few pages of the familiar nun in her habit, helping the poor and dying in India. We then go back to the very beginning her birth, family, and childhood. In comics, this is known as an origin story. We then see her time in the convent, her vows, and her job as teacher and principal. Here, she helped the people of India, but with all the people dying outside, she always felt like she should and could be doing more. Next, we see God calling her to help the people of India. She had to get permission for this though, which took a long time and had to go through a lot of channels. Finally, Pope Pius XII granted her permission for one year, to see how it would go.  She founded a house for the dying, an orphanage, and a place for lepers as well. News of her work and her ability to get things done spread worldwide. Also recorded in the book is her visit to the Vatican and her friendship with Pope John Paul II.

For being just over 50 pages long, the graphic novel does a splendid job of capturing the important parts of both Mother Teresa's life and her ministry. We see not only her successes, but also her struggles, and there is also brief glimpses of her personality, which showed a woman small in stature, but more than capable of making things happen for the Lord. This is an excellent and engaging read and one that all Catholic children should read. Highly recommended!

This book was provided to me for free by Pauline Books and Media in exchange for an honest review.