Description
An introduction to Christian friendship with comforting illustrations
to help your young children follow the examples of Orthodox saints.
Provide your little ones the gentle encouragement they need to
practice being friends just like the saints whose friendships helped to
transform the world with God’s love.
The book includes the following saints who were friends: Myrrh-Bearing Women; the Three Holy Youths in the fire; St. Perpetua and St. Felicity; St. Sophrony and St. Porphyrios; St. Elizabeth and Nun Barbara; St. Patrick and St. Brigid; St. Nino with her companions St. Salome and St. Perozhavra; and Mother Maria of Paris and Father Dmitri.
Written by Kathryn Reetzke and Illustrated by Abigail Holt
God’s Saintly Friends is the first book in the God’s Saintly Friends series created by Kathryn Reetzke and Abigail Holt.
About the Author
Kathryn is blessed to be a mother of four children 6 and under, an avid reader of both children’s books and adult literature, Church School Director and founder of the nursery program at Holy Apostles Orthodox Mission in Bowling Green, KY, and Adjunct Professor of History at WKU. She also coordinates the yearly “Room in the Inn” program to help house the homeless in our sanctuary overnight during the Winter months. She has a passion for both education and almsgiving and prays her first book will bring both to our future Orthodox leaders.
About the Artist
Abigail is a wife, mother of three, and artist. A teacher by trade, she tends to “think in pictures” and enjoys making and thinking about beautiful things. She believes one of the most beautiful aspects of Orthodoxy is that the church truly is for everyone. Creating age-appropriate illustrations is a powerful tool in making the teachings of the church accessible to all ages.
Printed in the U.S.A.
JUVENILE NONFICTION/Religious/Christian/Family & Relationships
JUVENILE NONFICTION/Religious/Christian/Values & Virtues
Board Book size: 6″x6″
Those ordering 5 or more copies from Park End Books should use code bookclub at checkout for a 30% discount. Bulk order 40% discounts for churches or shops ordering 10 or more copies will be applied if you use code bookshop at checkout. For a case discount (60 books), email editor@parkendbooks.com.
International customers, inquire about availability to editor@parkendbooks.com.
Kristina –
This is a delightful board book about Saints who were friends. I love that there are 2 reading levels to the text. If you have a baby you can read the short sentence. For preschoolers you can read all the text! This is so important when trying to engage kids in the story. You want it to be the perfect amount of text to keep their interest. The illustrations are simple and pretty. This book would be a great gift for a new baby or for a liturgy bag of books.
Traci Rhoades –
A wonderful introduction to the saints. I kept thinking, it’s a child’s first church history book. Gorgeous illustrations.
Elina G Pelikan –
Such a beautiful and approachable book… the illustrations are lovely, and it has some of my favorite saints! A perfect book for a baptism or new baby or godbaby’s birthday or namesday or St Nicolas day….
Kara M Zampetis –
This adorable, little board book would be a great edition to any little ones library, Church book store or Sunday school. It mentions specific saints and their attributes. What is extra special about this book is that it will motivate children to learn more about each of the Saints featured and their stories! Because this book is small, it’s the perfect book to pack in a purse or diaper bag for your little ones to read at church. Perhaps, they can look around their church to find icons of these saints as well!
The pictures are simple, yet easily understandable as they match the bold/artistically highlighted words on each page.
Sarah Gingrich –
Oh my. This is a beautiful book for both introducing our littlest kids to Christlike conduct in their friendships and also teaching them about saints whose lives embodied these virtues. Isaac was really drawn to the illustrations and wanted to know more about these new friends. I love any work that presents the lives of the saints in an approachable way for kids, but this is especially good for the smallest of hands, focusing on what a Christian friends ought to do and be. This sort of topical focus with simple and direct examples really connects with young children! I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Sarah Bartmann –
This is a charming board book. The saints represent wonderful values to teach to your children. Beautiful illustrations.
Chelsea G –
A warm, wonderful and BEAUTIFUL board book! In addition to bringing to mind the lives of specific Saints, it highlights the relationships the Saints had with one another as Saintly Friends, and indeed the need all of the Saints had for support and encouragement from others to become refined in the Faith. What a beautiful way to share this with our children and to remind ourselves of the need for more Saintly Friends!
Kelsey Moore –
This is a sweet book about what saintly people do, focusing on their relationships with others. The beautifully simple line-drawing illustrations focus on the main characters; the color palette is gentle and pleasing. The theme of describing what a saint is like is clear throughout the eight stories in the book, and is made understandable with relatable concepts. My kids love it, and we’re excited to add it to our collection of Christian kids’ books!
Chelsea Greeson –
A warm, wonderful and BEAUTIFUL board book! In addition to bringing to mind the lives of specific Saints, it highlights the relationships the Saints had with one another, and indeed the need all of us have for support and encouragement from others to become refined in the Faith. A reminder that “no one is saved alone”! What a beautiful way to share this with our children and to remind ourselves of the need for more Saintly friends!
Phoebe Farag Mikhail –
God’s Saintly Friendsis one of those beautiful children’s board books I plan to keep multiple copies of as gifts for families with children. It’s one of those amazing books that acts much more than it appears, for each page gives us just a taste of who the saints are. When you read it to your children, if they know who the saint is, it sparks a discussion about how that saint demonstrated a certain virtue of friendship. And then if they don’t know the saint, it sparks a discussion about the story of that saint. For my older children, it opened discussion about what good friendship actually means, an important and relevant conversation as children navigate those paths with their peers. It’s a book to be read over and over again. The illustrations are beautiful and the binding strong and long-lasting. I highly recommend this book and I look forward to more from this author!
I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Elizabeth –
God’s Saintly Friends
Such a short and sweet book for little ones! Short and engaging, our Sofiya (2.5) loves to look at the artwork, which is phenomenal! We love that there are a bunch of female Saints, which is amazing for little girls to see. I cannot wait to see what the next volume has to offer. A perfect introduction into Saint stories, in a board book!
Jocelyn Abyad –
My girls and I all enjoyed this sweet board book together! Makes a great baptism gift too!
Carly Steele –
My toddler loves this book! It’s beautifully written and illustrated. A great intro to our Holy Saints.