Loyola Kids Book of Catholic Signs & Symbols: An Illustrated Guide to Their History and Meaning

by Amy Welborn

2019 Illumination Book Awards, Education 
2019 Independent Press Awards, Children’s Religious Non-Fiction 
2019 Catholic Press Association Book Awards, First Children’s Books and Books for Children’s Books 
2019 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards, Religion/Spirituality 
2019 Best Book Awards, Children’s Religious 
2020 International Book Awards, Children's Religious 
Understand faith in the symbols that surround us.

For centuries people learned about the Christian faith through paintings, sculptures, objects, and gestures. Simple images still convey deep messages if we learn how to see and understand them. Award-winning children’s author Amy Welborn has created a friendly and fascinating sourcebook on the signs and symbols of the Catholic faith. The exquisite illustrations throughout will inspire conversation and prayerful reflection for readers of all ages. Each image appears with a brief, child-friendly explanation coupled with a more detailed description on the opposite page.

From the sign of the fish to the Stations of the Cross, from the palm branch to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Loyola Kids Book of Catholic Signs and Symbols will enable children and adults to experience faith with curiosity and wonder.

192 pages, Hardcover

Published July 15, 2018

Reviews

[Julie Davis]

I can't praise this book highly enough.

I originally was interested in this book so I could recommend it to young mothers I know. However, looking through it, I realized I have someone much closer who is going to be interested. My daughter, Rose, is helping teach religious education to fifth graders this year (that's Sunday School for any Protestants reading).

She's well catechized but it's been a long time, if ever, since she's had to make complex concepts simple without being dumbed down, interesting without being obvious. This book is the perfect resource for those needs. It doesn't only explain the basics, but gives broader context for other encounters the reader might have.

For example, after covering John the Baptist's symbols, we get a little art appreciation also:

John appears in some portraits of the baby Jesus and his mother. You know the other child is John because, even in these pictures, the little child is dressed in camel's hair and holds a staff or a lamb! The artist does not mean that the baby John was present at Jesus' birth. The image of the two babies reminds us that John's holy purpose was to share the Good News of Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Which is a nice reminder that knowing about the symbols is fine, but finding them in your church, art, and around the house are how they provide a lived experience of faith

While Rose and I randomly flipped pages we were impressed time and again by the beautiful simplicity with which Amy Welborn explained not only the symbols but the deeper messages to be taken away.

Reading about the Burning Bush in the Old Testament section, we learn:

As a sign, so the people would trust Moses and know it was God who had called him, God revealed his name from the bush: I am who I am. This means that God has not been created—God is existence.

Beautifully put. The children have an explanation to ponder. It is followed by a bit of insight to fall like a seed into young hearts:

When we see the symbol of the burning bush, we remember God's love, always ready to save. We remember that he called Moses and gave him the strength and grace to help others. And we remember how great God is, and we thank him for the gift of life—all that was, all that is, and all that is to come.

These things aren't bad for us to be reminded of either, so the benefits go to both the teacher/parent and child.

This is a book which I will give to my goddaughter (and grandchildren when they come along) when she is old enough to understand it. Which won't be that long from now!

Addendum:
For adults wanting more, I recommend Signs and Mysteries: Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols by Mike Aquilina. Really wonderful.

[Wayne Walker]

For centuries people have learned about the Catholic faith through paintings, sculptures, objects, and gestures. These images are intended to convey deep messages to those who wish to learn about and understand them. Award-winning children’s author Amy Welborn has created a fascinating sourcebook on the signs and symbols of the Catholic faith, which are divided into seven categories, with exquisite illustrations throughout. The sections are God, the Nativity of Jesus, the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus, Mary, the Saints, the Old Testament Story of God’s People, In Church, At Home, and In the Sacraments. Do you know what a trefoil and a triquata are? Why are palms used to symbolize the Passion of Christ? How do a rainbow and a dove represent an Old Testament event?

Welborn, who is also the author of Loyola Kids Book of Saints, Loyola Kids Book of Heroes, Loyola Kids Book of Bible Stories, and more than twenty other books for Catholic children, teens, and adults, discusses each image, from the sign of the fish to the Stations of the Cross, from the palm branch to Our Lady of Guadalupe, with a brief, child-friendly explanation coupled with a more detailed description on the opposite page. Some of the signs and symbols are drawn from the Bible, while others come from later traditions. As you can imagine, there are several references to Catholic theology, such as Peter as the first Pope, the role of Mary, the prayers of the saints, and the bread and wine becoming the actual body and blood of Christ, with which Protestants will not agree. But Catholics and those interested in learning more about Catholicism will find it instructive. Did you know that, “Every altar in a Catholic church must have relics of a saint embedded into the altar stone”?

[Mary Louise Sanchez]

This illustrated guide to the history and meaning of Catholic signs and symbols is very informative for adults as well as for children, which is the intended audience. When I go to mass I will now focus some of my attention on the symbols I see and ask the priest what relic we have on the altar stone.

Every parish should integrate this book into its religious education program.