Catholic Gifts and More Review

Spread it around!

We’ve found a wonderful new place to find gifts, books, DVD’s and other religious items for the Christian home at an online store called Catholic Gifts & More.

We were sent a package which included the four items pictured above: The Bible: In the Beginning DVD, two board books entitled God Gave us You and Saint Francis and the Animals and a little paperback called Bible Stories for Children. Alice at Catholic Gifts & More included a very kind note which expressed her wish that our family would enjoy these items.

One of the first things the children wanted to do was look at the cute little book called God Gave us You. It uses a cozy polar bear family to illustrate how marvelous the gift of a child is. Catherine (8) and Joseph (9) were absolutely taken with the engaging story line and the soft, appealing illustrations. Catherine’s favorite picture was of the mother bear getting a lot of attention from the other forest animals as the baby grows in her tummy.

The children also loved the little paperback called Bible Stories for Children. It consists of short re-tellings of the most well-known stories and a colorful little picture to go along with it. Many of the illustrations are beautifully detailed paintings and have a very classic and traditional look.

My two youngest boys (Benjamin and Samuel) had a lot of fun looking at all the creatures in Saint Francis and the Animals. This short board book encourages children to show kindness to animals in the way that Saint Francis modeled. I was especially impressed by the high quality of the artwork in all of these little books, since so much of what’s on the market for children these days is poorly done, and in some cases, just plain ugly. That’s really a shame because children are so impressionable. It is good for their little souls to see things of beauty!

The fourth item we received, The Bible: In the Beginning DVD, was geared toward an adult audience. We spotted many famous faces (and voices) in this film which dramatizes early events from the Old Testament: John Huston as Noah, George C. Scott as Abraham, Ava Gardner as Sarah and Peter O’Toole as one of God’s messengers. Some parts of the movie, such as creation and the story of Adam and Eve, move slowly, but overall it was well done. Our favorite segment, hands down, was the portrayal of Noah and the flood. John Huston’s interaction with the animals was memorable and humorous.

There are so many beautiful things on the Catholic Gifts and More website that I can’t highlight them all here, but this will give you just a sampling:

Wall crosses