St. Mary’s Great Books – December 2017 Courtesy

-St. Vincent de Paul

We become what we read, so we need those kind of books that talk about great people who made great things. Those books are a source of inspiration for our lives because they show us how beautiful and how great our lives can be no matter what difficulties we will need to face. Every time we open a book, we open a window to another world and to a new experience. We also get in touch, not only with the author but also with the characters in that book. Books make both our world and our life bigger and, if they are beautiful, they make our lives more beautiful as well.

This newsletter is a monthly publication which has the purpose to introduce your family to those great books that will make your life greater. It is a guide for each member of your family, kids and adults alike. Feel free to use it in the way it fits your needs. There are no expectations, just opportunities. I hope your family will find this publication very useful.

Fr. James de Cendra, school Chaplain

(by Simon François de Tours, 17th cent.)

Picture Books

Ages 4-8

Ages 3-7

Stone Soup By Marcia Brown, Aladdin; Reprint edition (1997)

Based on an old French tale, this is wonderful story about three hungry soldiers who pass through a strange town asking for food and shelter. When the greedy villagers pretend they have nothing to share, the soldiers have to use their wits to trick the villagers into hosting a sumptuous feast! Available at: St. Mary’s Library, Bemis Library and Arapahoe, Douglas & Jefferson County

The Little Mermaid By Hans Christian Anderson, Word Inc (1988) Illustrated by Hubert Seargent

This is not the Disney version of The Little Mermaid! This is the story of someone who felt that there must be more to life than having fun and pretty things. The Little Mermaid was willing to risk losing everything for the love of a prince and for the hope of winning eternal life. Her story shows that nothing in the world is stronger than love, not even suffering or death. At the end of the story she gives her life for the prince with no hope at all of receiving anything in return. She did not expect that by this final act of love she would gain what she dreamed of most of all - eternal life.

Available at: St. Mary’s Library, Bemis Library and Arapahoe, Douglas & Jefferson County Libraries

Ages 2-6

Ages 1-4

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead (Author), Erin E. Stead (Illustrator), Roaring Brook Press; 1 edition (2010)

A sweet story about a zookeeper who takes care of the idiosyncratic animals at the zoo. When Amos McGee wakes up with a cold and can't go to work, the animals come to take care of him for a change! This is a great story to discuss the importance of visiting the sick with your children. Available at: St. Mary’s Library, Bemis Library and Arapahoe, Douglas & Jefferson County Libraries

The Nice Book by David Ezra Stein,Nancy Paulsen Books; (2013)

An adorable menagerie of irresistible animals populate this gentle look at friendship. Getting close to someone is an art and these little creatures demonstrate the simple ways to show you care. David Ezra Stein's expressive illustrations ooze charm and will inspire readers to be very nice indeed

Available at: St. Mary’s Library, Bemis Library and Arapahoe, Douglas & Jefferson County Libraries

Ages 4-6

Elementary

Ages 7-9

Othello retold by Julius Lester,Scholastic; (1998)

Othello is a powerful general, revered by his soldiers and honored by his peers. But his strength cannot contain his jealousy and rage when he believes his beautiful wife, Desdemona, has been unfaithful. As deception leads to tragedy, nobody is safe . . . Award-winning author Julius Lester takes one of Shakespeare's most intense plays and brings modern life to this saga of two doomed, passionate souls and a kingdom torn apart by secrets, lies, and violence. Available at: St. Mary’s Library, Bemis Library and Arapahoe, Douglas & Jefferson County Libraries

What If Everybody Did That? by Ellen Javernick, Colleen Madden (Illustrator) Two Lions, 2010

If you drop just one soda can out the window, it’s no big deal ... right? But what if everybody did that? What if everybody broke the rules ... and spoke during story time, didn’t wash up, or splashed too much at the pool? Then the world would be a mess. But what if everybody obeyed the rules so that the world would become a better place? Using humorous illustrations rendered in mixed media, these questions are answered in a child-friendly way and show the consequences of thoughtless behavior.

Available at: St. Mary’s Library, Bemis Library and Arapahoe, Douglas & Jefferson County Libraries

Ages 8-12

Ages 8-12

The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson (Author), Garth Williams (Illustrator) HarperCollins; Reissue edition (1989) Three children, newly homeless, encounter an old hobo under a Paris bridge just before Christmas. Despite their initial suspicion of each other, the children and the old man teach each other the great dignity of each human person and eventually form a fast friendship. (Newberry Honor book) Available at: St. Mary’s Library, Bemis Library and Arapahoe, Douglas & Jefferson County Libraries

The Complete Anne of Green Gables By L.M. Montgomery, Aladdin Publications, Reprint (1986)

Favorites for nearly 100 years, these classic novels follow the adventures of the spirited redhead Anne Shirley, who comes to stay at Green Gables and wins the hearts of everyone she meets. Available at: St. Mary’s Library, Bemis Library and Arapahoe, Douglas & Jefferson County Libraries

Ages 5-7

Ages 8-12

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell; Scholastic; (2000)

A horse is a horse of course unless of course the horse is Black Beauty. Animal-loving children have been devoted to Black Beauty throughout this century, and no doubt will continue through the next. Although Anna Sewell's classic paints a clear picture of turn-of-the-century London, its message is universal and timeless: animals will serve humans well if they are treated with consideration and kindness.

Black Beauty tells the story of the horse's own long and varied life, from a well-born colt in a pleasant meadow to an elegant carriage horse for a gentleman to a painfully overworked cab horse. Throughout, Sewell rails - in a gentle, 19th-century way - against animal maltreatment. Young readers will follow Black Beauty's fortunes, good and bad, with gentle masters as well as cruel. Children can easily make the leap from horse-human relationships to human-human relationships, and begin to understand how their own consideration of others may be a benefit to all. Available at: St. Mary’s Library, Bemis Library and Arapahoe, Douglas & Jefferson County Libraries

My Mouth is a Volcano by Julia Cook (Goodreads Author), Carrie Hartman (Illustrator) All of Louis thoughts are very important to him. In fact, his thoughts are so important to him that when he has something to say, his words begin to wiggle, and then they do the jiggle, then his tongue pushes all of his important words up against his teeth and he erupts, or interrupts others. His mouth is a volcano! My Mouth Is A Volcano takes an empathetic approach to the habit of interrupting and teaches children a witty technique to capture their rambunctious thoughts and words for expression at an appropriate time. Told from Louis' perspective, this story provides parents, teachers, and counselors with an entertaining way to teach children the value of respecting others by listening and waiting for their turn to speak. Available at: St. Mary’s Library, Bemis Library and Arapahoe, Douglas & Jefferson County Libraries

Ages 8-12

Middle School/High School

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare; HMH Books for Young Readers; (2011)

Kit Tyler comes to live with her extended family in the new Puritan Connecticut Colony after being orphaned in the Caribbean. As she finds solace in her loneliness she meets another lone and mysterious figure, the old Quaker woman known as the Witch of Blackbird Pond. When their friendship is discovered, Kit faces suspicion, fear, and anger. This is a great story of how caring for and understanding others can breakdown our prejudices. Available at: St. Mary’s Library, Bemis Library and Arapahoe, Douglas & Jefferson County Libraries

The BFG by Roald Dahl; Puffin Books; (2007)

Captured by a giant! The BFG is no ordinary bone-crunching giant. He is far too nice and jumbly. It's lucky for Sophie that he is. Had she been carried off in the middle of the night by the Bloodbottler, the Fleshlumpeater, the Bonecruncher, or any of the other giants-rather than the BFG-she would have soon become breakfast. When Sophie hears that they are flush-bunking off in England to swollomp a few nice little chiddlers, she decides she must stop them once and for all. And the BFG is going to help her!

Available at: St. Mary’s Library, Bemis Library and Arapahoe, Douglas & Jefferson County Libraries

High School/Adult Othello by William Shakespeare; Folger Shakespeare Library; (2004)

In Othello, Shakespeare creates a powerful drama of a marriage that begins with fascination (between the exotic Moor Othello and the Venetian lady Desdemona), with elopement, and with intense mutual devotion and that ends precipitately with jealous rage and violent deaths. He sets this story in the romantic world of the Mediterranean, moving the action from Venice to the island of Cyprus and giving it an even more exotic coloring with stories of Othello's African past. Shakespeare builds so many differences into his hero and heroine—differences of race, of age, of cultural background—that one should not, perhaps, be surprised that the marriage ends disastrously. But most people who see or read the play feel that the love that the play presents between Othello and Desdemona is so strong that it would have overcome all these differences were it not for the words and actions of Othello's standard-bearer, Iago, who hates Othello and sets out to destroy him by destroying his love for Desdemona. As Othello succumbs to Iago's insinuations that Desdemona is unfaithful, fascination—which dominates the early acts of the play—turns to horror, especially for the audience. We are confronted by spectacles of a generous and trusting Othello in the grip of Iago's schemes; of an innocent Desdemona, who has given herself up entirely to her love for Othello only to be subjected to his horrifying verbal and physical assaults, the outcome of Othello's mistaken convictions about her faithlessness. Available at: St. Mary’s Library, Bemis Library and Arapahoe, Douglas & Jefferson County Libraries

Audio Books

Adult/Family

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens; Performed by Tim Curry; Audible Studios; (2010)

A Christmas Carol has constantly been in print since its original publication in 1849, and has been adapted for stage, television, film, and opera. It has often been credited with returning the jovial and festive atmosphere to the holiday season in Britain and North America, following the somber period that emerged during the Industrial Revolution.

The story opens on a bleak and cold Christmas Eve as Ebenezer Scrooge is closing up his office for the day. As the story progresses and Christmas morning approaches, Scrooge encounters the unforgettable characters that make this story a classic: Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, and, of course, the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. Available at: Bemis Library and Arapahoe, Douglas & Jefferson County Libraries

The power and the glory by Graham Greene

The Power and the Glory is considered Greene’s greatest novel. It is based on actual events in Mexico in 1926, when the revolutionary government of President Plutarco Elias Calles attempted to eradicate Roman Catholicism entirely. The worst persecutions occurred in the state of Tabasco, where Governor Tomas Canabal succeeded in driving every priest from his domain. Like many of Greene’s other works, it deals with religious themes, features a hunted man in a deplorable environment, and focuses on the inner spiritual struggles of a weak and sinful protagonist who is unable to live up to his ideals. He is painfully aware of his own sin, to a degree rarely found in human experience, let alone in literature. Through his personal struggles, he learns compassion for the sins and weaknesses of others, even to the extent of being able to minister to and forgive the worst of his persecutors and betrayers. Available at: Bemis Library and Arapahoe, Douglas & Jefferson County Libraries