Mother Cabrini: Missionary to the World

Vision Books for Young Readers

by Frances Parkinson Keyes

Illustrated In 1946, Francesca Cabrini was canonized as the first saint of the United States. This Vision book for 9 - 15 year olds tells the exciting story of this missionary from Italy who came to America to spread the Faith. She founded a new order nuns, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, to teach the Faith and work with the poor in our country. She was a tireless missionary who crossed the ocean 37 times to expand her order across the world to France, England, Spain; in Central and South America; in the United States from coast to coast including New York, New Orleans, Denver, Seattle (where she took the oath of U.S. citizenship) and Chicago, where she died in 1917, a saint of our time. Cover art by Chris Pelicano

Genres: Biography, Catholic, Religion, Childrens, Nonfiction

165 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1997

About the author

Frances Parkinson Keyes was an American author who wrote about her life as the wife of a U.S. Senator and novels set in New England, Louisiana, and Europe. A convert to Roman Catholicism, her later works frequently featured Catholic themes and beliefs. Her last name rhymes with "skies," not "keys."

Reviews

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Mother Cabrini, Missionary to the World" is a sweet and heartwarming read that had me crying at times in the coffee shop! This book was intended for children but structured skillfully and uniquely from an author intending to teach. As someone studied craft during grad school, the form is done well and I deem it a beautiful way to share the story of Mother Cabrini through the seeking and intrigued heart of a child. So from a craft standpoint--well done!

Additionally, I believe the author intends to encourage the audience to be like the fictional character, Susan, who has a heart to learn more about Jesus as well as a woman who loved and served Him well. I would have loved reading this as a little girl but I think I get to enjoy it even more as an adult and honor the craftsmanship. Mother Cabrini is a strong woman of God who led well in the Faith and the book not only teaches about Cabrini but sneaks in little lessons about Jesus and the Faith.

[Jeannette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book very quickly just before I saw the movie from Angel studios. The book was an excellent companion to the movie but was not as well written as one might hope given the amazing life of this woman. The book is written as a series of recollections of Mother Cabrini from one of her novitiates from the New Orleans area. Two young girls have asked this elderly nun to tell them the story of Mother Cabrini and she does so over the course of many afternoons with the two young girls. The story timeline bounces around quite a bit and I found this format of recollections somewhat confusing. Still it really did help me to understand the movie and this book would be an enjoyable read for any young person wanting to know about the life of Mother Cabrini.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably a fine story for the intended age group, but I chose this biography because I wanted more information about Mother Cabrini's life and works after seeing the movie, though not necessarily 400 pages of biography. However, this is a story within a story and was lighter than I had hoped. A map and timeline would have been welcome additions.

[Aimée Henley · Rating 3 out of 5]

We have liked some of the Vision Series books, but Mother Cabrini was not our favorite, even though we love the saint! I think the storytelling style was overly didactic and my daughter described it as “cringe”. It was fun to compare the facts of her life with the recent movie, though.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

preread for Ambleside Online year 5.

[David Woods · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good biography, but written for children/youth.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is surely a product of its time, having been first published in 1959. The structure of a story being told by an elderly nun to two young girls leaves quite a lot to be desired. There are other biographies written for children that are much better, written as straight fact. Because these three fictional creations have been inserted, the biography of the Saint comes off like fiction. There is at least one inaccuracy, which should have been corrected just by reading a map. It doesn't really change the entire work, but it does call other facts into question.

I suppose this book was written for the children of the 50s and 60s, and indeed I remember books such as these. I know the author had a great reputation back then. She hasn't aged well.

If a young reader is interested in learning about St. Frances Cabrini, Cecchina's Dream is much better.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story of Mother Cabrini is very intersting, but neither my boys nor I liked the way the story was told.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

very good information, but unfortunately the later years and later foundations are sort of skimmed over, making it hard to understand the events of those years

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story itself is great, but I didn't care for the way it was told specifically in this book, which is why it did not get 5 stars.