First and foremost is a good children’s bible. Children love stories and there is no better way to ignite a love of God than to read them the stories of his goodness and salvation throughout history. The best children’s bible I’ve seen with not only good accurate catholic biblical story telling but beautiful illustrations is the “New Catholic Picture Bible: Popular Stories from the Old and New Testaments” by Rev. Lawrence G. Lovasik, S.V.D., Divine Word Missionary from 1955.
Publisher : Catholic Book Publishing (January 1, 1955)
ISBN-10 : 089942435X
ISBN-13 : 978-0899424354
Nihil Obstat: Daniel V. Flynn, J.C.D.
Censor Librorum
Imprimatur: Joseph T. O’keefe
Vicar General
Archbishop of New York
Next as children get older and are able to read on their own, starting maybe at the earliest 10 years of age if they can read, a book that can help them become good Catholics which, in my opinion, equates to the best of human beings is: “Book for Boys and Girls” by Leo J. Trese
ASIN : B0006BREIO
Publisher : Fides Publications (January 1, 1967)
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 67-24804
Nihil Obstat: Louis J. Putz, CSC.
University of Notre Dame
Imprimatur: Leo A. Pursley, D.D.
Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend
For raising boys in particular a good book is “The Difficult Commandment” by Rev. C. C. Martindale, S.J.. Below is the information for a current reprint but the approbations are from my 1935 P.J Kenedy & Sons edition.
Publisher : Loreto Publications (August 1, 2011)
ISBN-10 : 1930278055
ISBN-13 : 978-1930278059
Nihil Obstat: Petrus E. Ryan, S.T.D.
Censor Deputatus
Imprimatur: Gulielmus F. Brown,
Episcopus Pellaeensis, Voc. Gen.
Southwarci, Die 29 Octobris, 1928
A book which seems complete in its addressing most if not all major points concerning the Catholic faith, which I have just started reading, which should prove helpful in catechizing catholic children in general is “To The Heart of The Child” by Josephine Van Dyke Brownson, from The Encyclopedia Press, Inc. New York copyright 1918. There is a newer reprint with the ISBN information below and the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur being from my 1918 copy. It may be a bad assumption but I assume the copy is an exact copy and therefore these approbations apply. After each section there are questions to ask the children if the book is used to read to them. Though, from what I have read, checking the table of contents, and checking one or two key points it seems essentially complete. and seems to touch on all the rudimentary subjects of the faith. Unfortunately, the problem that arises is one of precision. I use the book but make corrections on the fly when reading to my grandchildren. Assuming that a child is able to complete his education or even at least complete this book there should be no problem.
I will give a few examples of what I mean. The book reads with regard to God: “Oh, if we could only see Him! Shall we ever do so? Yes, the day is coming when we shall see Him face to face.” This last sentence should more precisely read: “Maybe, the day will come when we shall see Him face to face, but only if we are baptized, avoid mortal sin or if we commit a mortal sin we confess it before we die.” The requirements are clear here on how to “achieve heaven” (i.e. see God) on page 7 and the book does not introduce the concept of hell for another 15 chapters, enough time to make the child comfortable with the beauty and goodness of God after introducing the Blessed Trinity, angels, Adam and Eve, the Fall, Abraham and Moses, the blessed Virgin and the Birth of Christ and baptism.
The matter of perfect contrition is discussed. It should be stressed that “perfect contrition” if a very high bar to attain. It’s likeliness is low, in my opinion, that less than .000001% of people can have perfect contrition. You would have to rather burn in hell for all eternity than every offend God again! That is a high bar. That should be stressed. The most reliable way to “avoid hell,” given a mortal sin, is confession.
The final example is her reference to the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as an “apple.” Assuming the children are average, it probably will be forgotten and do no harm, but an especially precocious child might remember this or a normal child may not want to eat apples. This in my opinion is careless and can possibly lead to the problems mentioned above. The normal parent if they decide to use this book they should, be prepared to improvise on the fly or should annotate the book so as not to mislead or confuse the child.
Publisher : Legare Street Press (October 27, 2022)
ISBN-10 : 1016661479
ISBN-13 : 978-1016661478
Nihil Obstat: Arthur A. Scanlan, S.T.D.
Censor Librorum
Imprimatur: John Cardinal Farley
New York
For raising Catholic girls an old staple seems to be “The Catholic Girls Guide” by Rev. Francis X. Lasance and any number of editions can be found by typing it into the amazon.com search bar. One such reprint has the following identification information and the approbation is from my copy:
Publisher : St. Augustine Academy Press; Abridged edition (June 29, 2012)
ISBN-10 : 1936639173
ISBN-13 : 978-1936639175
Nihil Obstat: Remigius Laport,,
Censpr :Librorum.
Imprimatur: John M. Farley,
Archbishop of New York.
New York, December 18, 1905
Another interesting book I have started to read of interest to parents as well as teachers of Catholic girls is “Innocence and Ignorance” by M.S. Gillet. Though I have never raised any girls myself, they, based on talks to other parents, appear to be an altogether different cup of tea from boys. The follow ISBN information is for a reprint and the approbations are from my original 1917 copy published by the Devin-Adair Company New York, which, I assume the reprint is an exact duplicate of.
Publisher : Palala Press (May 2, 2016)
ISBN-10 : 1355248647
ISBN-13 : 978-1355248644
Nihil Obstat: Remigius Lafort, S.T.D.
Censor
Imprimatur: +John Cardinal Farley
Archbishop of New York
To Close off the section specific to catholic girls is the book “What Catholic Girls Should Know about Marriage” by Francis X. Dietz
ASIN : B0006P5MEI
Publisher : Fides Publishers Association (January 1, 1960)
Nihil Obstat: Louis J. Putz, C.S.C.
University of Notre Dame
Imprimatur: +Leo A. Pursley, D.D.
Bishop of Fort Wayne, Indiana
Finally, to books with unique essentials of the Catholic faith readable by the youngest Catholics able to read (kindergarten/first grade) are: “I Believe in God: The Apostles’ Creed” by Rev. Lawrence G. Lovasik, S.V.D
Publisher : Catholic Book Publishing (January 1, 1980)
ISBN-10 : 0899422764
ISBN-13 : 978-0899422763
Nihil Obstat: Daniel V. Flynn, I.C.D.,
Censor Librorum
Imprimatur: + James P. Mahoney, D.D.
Vicar General,
Archdiocese of New York
And “The Seven Sacraments” also by Rev. Lawrence G. Lovasik
Publisher : Catholic Book Publishing; First Edition (January 1, 1978)
ISBN-10 : 0899422780
ISBN-13 : 978-0899422787
Nihil Obstat: Daniel V. Flynn, I.C.D.,
Censor Librorum
Imprimatur: + James P. Mahoney, D.D.
Vicar General,
Archdiocese of New York
And to top it all off is a well rated Missal for children attending the Tridentine Latin Mass (TLM) entitled “Traditional Latin Mass: A Missal for Children (Little Ones Series)” by Kimberly Fries.
ASIN : B09LGNR1T6
Publisher : Independently published (November 11, 2021)
ISBN-13 : 979-8763960235
As well as a DVD Called “The Traditional Mass for Children” by Pro Multis Media copyright 2006 made in the U.S.A. also available from amazon.com. ASIN : B000XLUBRI.
For traditional mass altar boys is a book by Father Leo Trese entitled:”Book for Boys” once available from amazon:
ASIN : B0007EWZBQ
Publisher : Fides Publishing Association (January 1, 1961)
Paperback : 131 pages
Finally for Catholic parents wishing to home school:a good book is “Catholic Home Schooling: A Handbook for Parents” by Mary Kay Clark.
ASIN : B002W4HC4Y
Publisher : Seton Press; Second Edition (January 1, 2008)
Paperback : 362 pages
ISBN-10 : 160704160X
ISBN-13 : 978-1607041603
Traditional Thomistic Catholic 