BOOKS: Picture book encourages traditional Marian devotions

Local publishing house Rafka Press is starting to make a name for itself by releasing quality, Catholic children’s books. Their first offering came a couple of years ago with “Bank Robbery,” a mystery story for older children and young teens that I reviewed in this paper.

Now, they’ve put out “Violets for Mary,” a picture book for young children that encourages traditional Marian devotions in May.

The brief story concerns Anna and her brother Joe, who are enjoying the advent of spring and looking forward to their summer vacation. At school, Anna’s teacher gives a lesson to the students on Mary, and how the month of May is dedicated to her.

“Mary is also our Heavenly Mother,” the teacher says. “She is eager to watch over us and guide us. With Mary’s help, she will keep us close to Jesus.”

At the end of class, the teacher leaves the children with a question: “How can we honor Mary during this lovely month?”

Anna races home to ask for her parents’ help. They suggest arranging a prayer corner featuring a statue of Mary in a quiet place in their house. The children are encouraged to pick flowers from their mother’s garden to adorn the statue.

The mother also encourages them to share some flowers with an ill neighbor, Mrs. Smith. Anna and Joe begin to see flowers wherever they go and start collecting them for the prayer corner and their neighbor.

“The violets are God’s gift to us,” Anna tells her brother. “By sharing them with Mary and others, we will make Jesus happy!”

It’s a simple message that can be taught to young children, and it’s presented succinctly at one point in the book.

“Will you follow Anna and Joe’s example?” author Norma McCulliss asks her readers. “The best way to honor Mary is to share flowers, prayers and time with others.”

“Violets for Mary” is notable for its vibrant illustrations by Sally Bedrosian. They’re colorful and interesting enough to linger over, which is how it should be for a picture book.

The book’s a great way to introduce a natural devotion to Our Lady during May, and the publishers promise more books like it. They included a letter of introduction at the end of the book.

It explains that “Violets for Mary” is the first offering from their new series Rafka Readers, which is aimed at 4- to 8-year-olds.

“The series draws the young child’s mind to the realities of the faith and the importance of family life,” the letter reads. “These books could have been written 100 years ago and will be just as fresh 100 years from now as they are today.”

It’s a great idea and wonderful to see it coming from a local Catholic publishing house.

Media critic Andrew Junker is a staff writer for The Catholic Sun. Comments are welcome. Send e-mail to letters@catholicsun.org.

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