Though it has its shortcomings (being locked into only a few choices, for example), overall it’s an effective learning tool. I’d estimate it would be appropriate for students in grades 5-12.

Give it a try and let me know if you think it would be worth using in your classroom. And here’s a hint before you begin: brush up on your typing skills.

The book deals with two important themes that are very important for children to grasp: first, the idea that everyone is important, no matter how little; and second, the value of self-giving love. Little Star would be an excellent choice for sharing with students in a classroom or religious education program, and would lead naturally to a meaningful discussion about true generosity.

How good is Little Star? I read it to the two resident experts on children’s books in my house: a daughter in Kindergarten and a daughter in sixth grade. The kindergartner became enamored with Mark Elliot’s beautiful illustrations and immediately began drawing her own pictures of Little Star. The sixth grader loved the story so much she was inspired to spend the rest of the evening writing her own Christmas story.

I have a feeling that reading Little Star has just become a family Christmas tradition in our house.

Little Star, by Anthony DeStefano. Waterbrook Press. Amazon Price: $9.35

From the back cover:

A king is about to be born! The stars in the heavens are competing to shine the brightest to celebrate his birth. But when they see the poor family, the donkey, the shabby stable, the stars all think, That can’t possibly be a king. We’ve been fooled.

All except one. The smallest, loneliest star in the sky, Little Star, is the only one to understand what the king was about to bring to the world. But what can Little Star do for him?

Certain to become a Christmas classic, this delightful tale connects the star atop our Christmas trees to the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus, in the hearts and minds of young children.

Anthony DeStefano is the bestselling author of A Travel Guide to Heaven, Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To, This Little Prayer of Mine, and I Just Can’t Take it Anymore!

Mark Elliott’s brilliant illustrations have appeared in many picture books and novels for young readers, including Gail Carson Levine’s ever-popular Princess Tales series. His acclaimed artwork delivers inspiration, wonder, and timeless beauty on every page.

Here is the promotional video from Waterbrook Press:

Finally, in this excerpt from EWTN’s BookMark, Anthony DeStefano explains the role Frank McCourt played in the writing of Little Star:

Praying the Rosary, by Megan Mckenna. Doubleday. Printed Length: 272 pp. Kindle Price: $9.99.

Internationally acclaimed author Megan McKenna gives this Catholic tradition enriched modern relevance in a completely up-to-date guide to praying the Rosary, designed for general readers and incorporating the recent additions made by Pope John Paul II.

As a speaker, teacher, and bestselling Catholic author, Megan McKenna has informed and inspired audiences both in- and outside of the Catholic tradition with her warmhearted, contemporary approach to spirituality. Now she turns her attention to the Rosary, revealing the universality of this ancient practice and how it can enrich lives today.

Praying the Rosary—the act of counting off prayers with a string of beads in a rhythm of focused spiritual contemplation—is a practice that has existed for centuries and is common to many faiths. For the world’s one billion Catholics it has become the most popular form of devotion. Though strongly associated with the Virgin Mary, the prayers of the Rosary are ultimately meant to bring those who say them closer to Jesus Christ, whose life and teachings are central to all branches of the Christian faith. This gives the Rosary an ecumenical dimension that is in sync with today’s emphasis on the common bonds, rather than the divisions, among all Christians. In 2002, Pope John Paul II updated the Rosary by adding a new section on the teachings of Jesus, further emphasizing the centrality of Christ and the biblical Gospels at the heart of the prayers. Embracing this ecumenical attitude in Praying the Rosary, Megan McKenna explores the Rosary and explains how to pray it, incorporating the Pope’s recent additions and revealing its relevance to a new generation. She breaks down the Rosary into its twenty components, prefacing each with a selection from Scripture that identifies the prayer’s source in the Bible. Combining practical instruction with meditative reflections on the prayer’s spirituality, she reveals the Rosary’s richly contemplative nature and shows how praying the Rosary can inspire peaceful, calm attitudes, and an awareness of the universal spiritual mystery that connects all Christians. –Amazon.com

The Rosary: A Path into Prayer, by Liz Kelly. Loyola Press. Printed Length: 174 pp. Kindle Price: $9.56.

An introduction to the rich tradition of rosary devotion, with new material on the recently added luminous mysteries.

The rosary is a central element in the prayer lives of countless people, though it is still often neglected and misunderstood. The Rosary, an updated and revised version of The Seeker’s Guide to the Rosary (Loyola Press, 2001), is a comprehensive look at the history, practice, and benefits of rosary devotion. Designed to introduce the reader to the mysteries of this simple meditative prayer, author Liz Kelly gently guides the reader on an exploration of this powerful prayer that is well suited even to this modern world.

The Shroud of Turin

Can you name ten significant Catholic scientists? Three? How about just one? And yet, according to Ian Maxfield at The Catholic Laboratory, “Over 200 religious and lay Catholics have made significant and notable contributions to our understanding of the natural world and our universe through research into astronomy, chemistry, physics, atomic theory, geology, meteorology, seismology, cosmology.”

The Catholic social justice tradition used to be the best kept secret in the Church, but it’s now been superseded by Catholic contributions to science. Many people today, including our own Catholic students, see faith and science as mutually exclusive, as if one has to abandon all reason to be religious. The Catholic Laboratory Podcast aims to change that by helping the world “rediscover the rich scientific heritage of the Catholic Church, to understand the Church’s stance towards modern science, and to inspire and give comfort to today’s Catholic scientists who may be struggling to practice their faith whilst pursuing their God-given talent for science.”

The Catholic Laboratory Podcast is a must-listen for every science teacher in Catholic schools. A new Catholic scientist is featured in every episode, along with discussions of current scientific topics and their relevance for Catholics. Past topics have included multiverses, Darwinism, the Shroud of Turin, Galileo, and the 35 lunar craters named for Jesuit priests. Since its beginning in May of 2009, the podcast has featured profiles of dozens of Catholic scientists.

Not only does Ian Maxfield give valuable background information about Catholic contributions to science, but he does so in an engaging, relevant and often humorous way. But watch out for his jokes–some of them are real groaners!

Science teachers (and catechists) can use the podcast in many different ways:

• Listen to it yourself as general background information for your teaching;
• Play excerpts from it to your students during class (especially the scientist profiles);
• Break students into groups and assign each group an episode; ask them to share what they’ve learned with the class, or have them research the featured scientist more thoroughly.

In addition to the podcast, The Catholic Laboratory also features several other resources of interest to Catholic educators:

• Suggested books and websites
• 2 Free presentations about Catholic scientists (in pdf format)
• A Facebook fan page and Twitter feed with daily tidbits about Catholics in science

Don’t miss this amazing and essential resource for Catholic science teachers and catechists.

Bible Geek Mark Hart

One podcast that I play for my eighth grade students every week is Lifeteen’s Sunday Sunday Sunday. The Bible Geek, Mark Hart, prepares young Catholics for Sunday’s Mass readings by highlighting the major themes and filling in background information.

Hart begins the podcast by reminding his listeners to get a pen and paper before he lists the readings for the week. For the next seven to ten minutes he helps teen listeners connect more easily with God’s word. His enthusiasm is contagious and my students always enjoy hearing what he has to say. Hart has an energetic, folksy voice that doesn’t get too preachy or overhanded.

One thing I like about the Lifeteen podcasts is how easily they can be incorporated into a class period. Each Friday morning, my Religion class begins by listening to Sunday Sunday Sunday. Students take notes, and after the podcast is done I ask my students if they have any questions or comments. I think Hart’s style and message would be understandable by students from 4th-12th grade, and the seven minute average run time is short enough for most student attention spans.

The only complaint I have is that a couple of months ago they changed the theme music. It used to sound like a monster truck commercial, which my eighth grade boys looked forward to each week. I don’t know if they were violating copyright, but they changed the opening theme, and the new music is much more generic. Still, I highly recommend playing this podcast with your students each week. You might even try pairing it with Lifeteen’s Catholic Movie Reviews podcast.

You can listen to Sunday Sunday Sunday at Lifeteen’s podcast page, or subscribe to it for free via iTunes.

Pauline Media

One of the biggest challenges facing Catholic teachers is how to help students live their faith in a culture that is increasingly counter to gospel values. Fortunately, the Daughters of St. Paul have been working to provide you with resources. The Pauline Center for Media Studies began in 1995 to “encourage and promote Media Mindfulness within the context of culture, education and faith formation.”

The Center offers teachers several important media literacy resources:

1. Film Essays and Reviews: Over forty essays about faith and film, including several discussion guides that could be used with students. Movies discussed include Prince Caspian, The Golden Compass, Cinderella Man, Hotel Rwanda, Bruce Almighty, The Da Vinci Code, Fargo and The Village.
2. Church Documents on Media: A convenient list of church statements regarding various issues in media
3. Media, Catechesis and Preaching: A short but impressive set of catechetical resources

I’m also intrigued by Pauline’s series of books, Lights, Camera, Faith! A Movie Lover’s Guide to Scripture. Peter Malone and Sr. Rose Pacatte use movies to illuminate the meanings of the Sunday lectionary readings. Each book takes a different year in the cycle of readings, with a fourth volume that uses movies to explicate the ten commandments:

1. Lights, Camera, Faith! Cycle A
2. Lights, Camera, Faith! Cycle B
3. Lights, Camera, Faith! Cycle C
4. Lights, Camera, Faith! The Ten Commandments

They appear to be excellent resources for youth groups or even adult formation classes. I haven’t had a chance to look at these myself, so if you’ve read them or used them, leave a comment and share your experience with other readers.

At less than seven minutes an episode, this would be a great podcast to play to your students each week to jumpstart a discussion about living the Catholic lifestyle in today’s culture. I listen to it myself to help weed out the worthless from the worthwhile.

You can find the audio reviews at Lifeteen.com’s podcast page, or you can subscribe to Catholic Movie Reviews via iTunes (will open up iTunes on your computer).

What Is It?

Pray as You Go is a daily meditation based on the scripture readings of the day, and is published by Jesuit Media Initiatives. Each day, Pray as You Go begins with the chiming of bells and a beautiful song, which ranges from Gregorian chant to contemporary worship music to international spiritual hymns. After the opening music prepares your heart for prayer, the scripture passage is read, followed by questions for meditation, a repeating of the scripture reading, and some closing comments. The entire podcast is never longer than thirteen minutes.

Why Catholic Educators Should Listen to It

As faith leaders, we need to have healthy, active prayer lives, and Pray as You Go is a sound, fruitful tool for personal prayer. It’s a beautiful way to incorporate scripture meditation into your day. If you’ve fallen out of the habit of daily prayer, or if you’re looking for a way to meditate on scripture, Pray as You Go is an excellent way to start. At less than thirteen minutes, it’s great for early morning prayer or daily commutes. It’s also a great way to prepare for daily mass, since the meditations flow from the liturgical readings of the day.

How It Can Be Used in Your Classroom

Teachers and catechists can use an episode of Pray As You Go as a weekly meditation for the whole class to participate in, or as an example of Christian meditation. After playing a few episodes to the class, have your students make their own meditations and record them as podcasts, using the Pray As You Go structure.

Any Downsides?

The only drawback to the Pray as You Go Podcast is that it’s only published Monday through Friday. I would love to listen to it on the weekends as well. However, one of the hallmarks of Jesuit prayer is the repetition of significant meditations, so the weekends could be used to repeat any meditation that moved you during the week.

Where Can I Find It?

Download audio files or listen to episodes directly from the Pray as You Go website, or have them delivered directly to iTunes using this link (will open up iTunes on your computer).