Author Katie Warner has the gift of knowing how to make reading an interactive experience. In Father Ben gets ready for Mass, children are invited to do more than just look and listen: they count, pray, search, and learn. All the while, they learn about the Holy Mass.

Sister Clare gets ready for Prayer is another interactive book by Katie Warner. It teaches children about the hidden yet joyful life of a contemplative sister.

The Tiny Seed is a lovely book with charming illustrations and a beautiful message. This is a book to share with your littles again and again until its message takes root in their hearts.

Catholic Children’s Treasure Box is a wonderful series of books from the 1950s that appeal to various ages. Each book has a story for toddlers, poems, crafts, games, and a story for bigger kids. The stories, which continue from one book to the next, are the best part. They teach the faith while inspiring virtue. This series has 20 books in total.

What Did Baby Jesus Do? This sweet little board book invites babies and toddlers to think about the life of Baby Jesus. The rhyming text and vibrant illustrations make it an attractive book for young children.

Joseph’s Workshop. I love this book for its rhyme, rhythm, and repetitive text, and for the realistic illustrations, which so beautifully portray St. Joseph as hard working, quiet, prayerful, and strong. I wish there were more books like this.

Kuddos to the Pauline Sisters for creating a series called Theology of the Body for Tots! Everybody has a Body teaches toddlers that both boys and girls are wonderfully made.

The second book in Theology of the Body for Tots, Every Body is a Gift introduces the idea that God made us to love through service and acts of kindness.

Light of the Sacraments is an ingenious interactive book that literally sheds light on each of the sacraments. By shining a flashlight behind various pages, children see what each sacrament is really about.

I love the tastefully simple and reverent illustrations and the rhyming text. My son loves seeing the illuminations when we shine a flashlight behind the pages.

Light of the Saints is very similar to Light of the Sacraments: children flash a light behind the pages to reveal hidden images. Again, the illustrations are simple yet beautiful, and the text rhymes. A wide variety of saints from different cultures and time periods are featured, and children are encouraged to imitate their virtues.

All of my children have enjoyed this Illustrated Gospel for Children tremendously. This presents as a graphic novel, but the illustrations are sweet and wholesome. Also available in this series are: The Illustrated Miracles of Jesus for Children, The Illustrated Acts of the Apostles for Children, The Illustrated Parables of Jesus for Children and The Illustrated Bible for Children. All are beautifully written and illustrated.

Princesses of Heaven. If you have a daughter who loves princesses, this attractive collection of saint stories with Disney-style illustrations will delight her. These saints are wonderful models for young girls to imitate. I wish there were a similar volume for boys.

Brigid and the Butter. This sweetly illustrated picture book tells a tale of generosity and God’s Providence.

Christopher The Holy Giant. A giant named Reprobus seeks to serve the greatest king of all. He looks in all the wrong places until a hermit tells him about Christ the King. Tomie dePaola’s illustrations, as always, are marvelous. And there is the right amount of text per page.

Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland is another wonderfully illustrated picture book my children have enjoyed. Tomie dePaola has written and illustrated many Catholic children’s picture books.

I do love Fabiola Garza’s illustrations in A Boy Who Became Pope. They are colorful, vibrant, and so appealing to children. The story, of course, is inspiring.

This is a touching story of Saint Valentine, a physician who tries to heal the eyes of a young blind girl. The beautiful illustrations are intricately crafted mosaics.

The Weight of a Mass is a legend about an impoverished widow who begs for a crust of bread in exchange for a Mass she will offer up for the baker. What happens when the baker tries to weigh “a Mass” against an assortment of baked goods astounds everyone in the bakery. This is the first book in a series called The Theological Virtues Trilogy. The other two books are Take it to the Queen: A Tale of Hope and Portrait of the Son: A Tale of Love.

The Adventures of Loupio is a series of comic books about the orphan Loupio, his friendship with St. Francis (of Assisi), and his many adventures. My kids have loved this fun and exciting series, especially my youngest. This series has many tales about compassion, kindness, forgiveness, and God’s Providence. Currently there are 7 volumes available in English, and we can’t wait for more volumes to be translated from the original French into English.