Saturday 26 October 2024

Talented Saints Around the World - Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Lindsey Sanders

Talented Saints Around the World
Lindsey Sanders (illustrator)
ISBN 9781645853817
eISBN 9781645853824

Talented Saints Around the World - Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Lindsey Sanders

I recently received the 6 volumes in this set to review. This is the fourth that I have read. The volumes are:

Adventurous 
Ordinary 
Royal and Warrior
Talented 
Unshakable 
Young Saints 

These 6 volumes are geared for younger readers. They are a very high quality picture book. The six books are available individually or as a set. There is a volume that was released in 2021 by the same author and illustrator called Saints Around the World, that could be read to the same audience as this volume but it is much more in-depth and has significantly more information on each of the 100 saints covered in the volume. The description of this volume states:

““Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people.” Colossians 3:23

Banish the image of solitary saints hidden in their monasteries: these fifteen saints used their remarkable gifts to spread God’s love in many times and places.

This hardcover book includes sturdy laminate pages suitable for young hands. Talented Saints Around the World features the stories of:

Blessed Denis of the Nativity
Blessed Dina Bélanger
Blessed Benedict Daswa
Blessed Concepción Cabrera de Armida
Blessed Nicolas Steno
Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)
Blessed Francisca de Paula de Jesus
Blessed Hermann of Reichenau
Saint Hildegard of Bingen
Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara
Blessed María Romero Meneses
Saint Martin de Porres
Saint Jerome
Saint Macrina the Younger
Saint Thorlak Thorhallson

Recommended for ages 4-8.”

About the author we are informed:

“Meg Hunter-Kilmer is a speaker, a writer, and a missionary who has lived out of her car since 2012. Meg loves telling stories, learning about Saints, reading the Bible, and watching the Olympics. She is a proud godmother of ten and aunt of an ever-increasing crew of incredible nieces and nephews.”

About the illustrator  we are informed:

“Lindsey Sanders is the creator of AlmondRod Toys, an online shop that sells Catholic toys designed by Lindsey herself. She has seven kids who she homeschools in Grand Rapids, Michigan.”

There is no table of contents nor even pages numbers which are the only draw backs I see to this book and the 6 in the series. If you wanted to find a specific saint you would need to flip through looking for them. That being said this is an excellent volume and series. We have given a set of them to our Catholic School Library. The physical books are well made, and designed to last a long time and for heavy use. They are beautiful hardcovers with solid stitching. I bent the books flat to scan a couple sample pages and there is no indication I did so. I believe the artwork is either watercolours or water colour pencils. The artwork is stunning. The artist sells blocks with images from the books, for teaching children, and other resources to support learning about saints. I wish she sold a set of them as prayer cards, I would buy a set for myself and 2 of my teen children who love collecting prayer cards. I would also love prints of a couple of the images to be able to hang in my den.

Each 2 page spread includes:

Name of the Saint or Blessed
Pronunciation Guide to the name
Brief introduction to them
A key point to learn from them
Then the country, dates and feast day.
A world map with a star marker for where they were from.

There is also available a Saints Around the World Map & Sticker Set that contains stickers for all the saints in the series. The inside cover of each volume shows where the saints for that volume come from. It would be an excellent supplement for home or classroom use. 

There were a number of saints in this volume I had never encountered before. They were a few I was familiar with. And a few were long time favourites and friends in heaven. I look forward to tracking down more information about some of those new friends in heaven. Only 4 of the 15 was I very familiar with prior to reading this volume.

I have had the longer version of this book for a few years now, as well as Meg’s volume Pray for Us: 75 Saints Who Sinned, Suffered, and Struggled on Their Way to Holiness but after reading just one of these they have jumped way up in my ‘to be read’ pile. I look forward to reading the other 5 volumes in this set as well as Meg’s other works. I can easily recommend this book and series for home, school, and church library. They are excellent for introducing children and even us older folks to a wide range of friends in heaven. A great book and series sure to become a family favourite!

Talented Saints Around the World - Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Lindsey Sanders  Map

Talented Saints Around the World - Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Lindsey Sanders  Sample 1

Talented Saints Around the World - Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Lindsey Sanders  Sample 2

Talented Saints Around the World - Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Lindsey Sanders  Sample 3

Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2024 Catholic Reading Plan

Books by Meg Hunter-Kilmer:
Pray for Us: 75 Saints Who Sinned, Suffered, and Struggled on Their Way to Holiness
A Year in the Word Catholic Bible Journal

Saints Around the World Books:
Saints Around the World
Saints Around the World Map & Sticker Set
Saints Around the World For Younger Readers:

Contributed to:
Living the Word Catholic Women's Bible
The Ave Catholic Notetaking

Pray for Us: 75 Saints Who Sinned, Suffered, and Struggled on Their Way to Holiness - Meg Hunter-Kilmer

Saints Around the World - Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Lindsey Sanders

Adventurous Saints Around the World - Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Lindsey Sanders

Ordinary Saints Around the World - Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Lindsey Sanders

Royal and Warrior Saints Around the World - Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Lindsey Sanders

Talented Saints Around the World - Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Lindsey Sanders

Unshakable Saints Around the World - Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Lindsey Sanders

Young Saints Around the World - Meg Hunter-Kilmer and Lindsey Sanders

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