Women of Faith: Saints and Martyrs of the Christian Faith (Women in History)

Almost every single story emphasizes the women’s looks as the primary reason why she is adored/sought after. Virtues of faith, charity, etc are secondary, which is super disappointing. I had hoped this would be different from every other typical story whose women leads are simply objects of physical beauty. More than a few typos, too - obviously a cheap publication. Plus it’s not written on a level that young children can easily understand. Having to explain what “beheaded” means to a 4yo night after night does not make for comforting bedtime stories. Save your money and skip this one.

After seeing the lovely illustrations of this book on the children's shelf at church, I thought it would make a nice gift for my daughter. I have been very disappointed in the low quality of the writing and some of the very odd, misleading prayers.For example, from St. Agnes's page: "The love of Jesus is weak in our hearts, pray that we may be filled with faith and love like you." I find this misleading for a child. If Jesus and the Holy Spirit dwell within us, how is their love weak in us? That's just not possible. Do we human people sin and fail? Sure, but the wording here is confusing for the audience. It might have been better to say, "Our love for Jesus is not yet fully grown, please pray that faith and love may continue to grow in our hearts." Or it could have entirely skipped qualifying the current state of the reader's soul.I'm not opposed to sharing stories of martyrdom with young children, my daughter has been exposed to such stories from her earliest years, but the story of St. Dymphna, for example, is a story about incest that is just not appropriate given that this is a picture book written on a level for 5-8 yr-olds.I'm giving this a couple of stars for the illustrations and the attempt at a new collection of female saints.So close, Xist Publishing, but not quite.

So disappointed. The middle of the book is in the beginning. The first pages are in the middle. Can not believe it made it past the publisher, let alone they are having people pay for these.

I bought this book for my 4 year old, and for her 7 year old cousin. The illustrations are beautiful, and make this book completely worth the purchase in their own right. My daughter asked me to read it cover to cover tonight, prayers and all. The one-page stories of each saint are truthful, inspiring, and speak honestly about martyrdom, but the descriptions are not too scary for children (though I would recommend reading it through first, since each child is different). The focus always comes back to heroic virtue and love of Christ.The only cons were a few slight editing errors (punctuation, "though" instead of "through", etc). Hopefully these would be fixed in future reprints.Bottom line: this book is gorgeous and I will probably gift it to more people. Highly recommended.

The pics are beautiful, and the stories are good - not sugar coated. They portray the saints as they really are - sisters who have gone before us as beautiful examples of how we too should live our lives loving and serving God above all others. I gave it as a gift to my future niece for her first communion, and she loved it! She and her mother have been slowly working their way through it, and meanwhile, her mom is teaching her that she can pray to the different saints for their intersession.

This book is amazing!!! Absolutely beautiful and so inspiring!I hope there is another edition soon that includes some of our indigenous, South American, and African Saints!My book arrived with a cut on cover and first three pages ... maybe the person opening the case with box cutter slipped! I didn't notice it at first but my daughter pointed out so I'm sure the packer didn't notice either.

Lovely illustrations and wonderful stories of some female saints that I hadn’t read before today. A lot of the saints end in horrible ways, so it may be be for older kids, but the length of the book and the reading level is for younger readers. I bought it for a First Communion gift, and the person I bought it for will be able to handle it. The paintings were really gorgeous and inspiring.

The pictures were beautiful. I gave it away as a gift for a little girl's First Reconciliation, so I did not read all the stories.

I bought a few books for my daughters, and was blown away by this one. the luminous artwork was a perfect complement to deftly told stories that although short (only a page each) still managed to include the details that catch the ears and heart. I especially loved the story and picture of St Brigid. These are the bravest, strongest women and inspiring for all of us.

This book is really nice with interesting stories of women saints.