I teach first-grade faith formation, and I love teaching my students about different aspects of the Catholic faith. Lately, we have been talking about the gospel message, but I could tell that the idea of Christ dying for us was one they (understandably) couldn’t really grasp. I was very excited to find The Stations of the Cross for Children by Jerry Windley-Daoust so I could talk about Christ’s suffering in an age-appropriate way.
Disclaimer: I was given a gift card to purchase this book. I am under no obligation to review this book. I am reviewing it because I genuinely enjoyed it. All opinions are my own.
I loved this book. Each station has a short description, a prayer, and a beautifully illustrated image. The message conveys the meaning in an age-appropriate way without watering down the difficult truth. The message also used very familiar language for the students, and I found it easy to come up with questions to ask them as I read through it. The prayers were also a nice complement: they connected well to both the Station and the children’s lives.There were even recommendations on different ways to use the book at the end.
My students also seemed to enjoy it. They all sat silently and listened intently. Their only complaint was that I said it was a short book when it wasn’t. That was definitely a criticism on my own judgment of book-length and not lack of interest on their end.
Personally, my only concern is that it is different Stations than the traditional ones. My concern is it could be confusing to children who regularly do the Stations of the Cross in other contexts. However, Gracewatch Media did a great job explaining the difference, and I think this criticism can easily be moved past with a quick explanation to the kids.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and hope to continue using it both in the classroom and if God blesses my husband and me with children of our own.
