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The Saint Picture Book Club saint for July is St. Joan of Arc. Her feast day is May 30. If you are unfamiliar with the virtual saint picture book club, each month I share a saint picture book to help you observe the liturgical year.
I’m not a crafty mom, but I do love to read-aloud and to make it easy, I try to share books easy to find on Amazon. If you have Amazon Prime, you actually still have time to get your copy before her feast day! If YOU are a crafty mom or are feeling a little more inspired this month, I have a few extra ideas for celebrating Saint Joan d’Arc!
St. Joan of Arc Children’s Books
Earlier this month, I briefly shared the featured selection Joan of Arc, but also wanted to share the other book I bought, The Story of Joan of Arc.
The Story of Joan of Arc
I had actually read the featured selection first because, I’ll be honest, I liked the pictures better :). At the end of Joan of Arc, the author included a bibliography. From what I can tell, she used much of the information from The Story Joan of Arc when she told her tale. So, if you want the book sourced from a Frenchman about a local hero, The Story of Joan of Arc, is the way to go!
I purchased the Dover Thrift Edition which includes the original illustrations. If you have younger children, this book might actually be better for you. There are two pictures (or one large one) with a lot of detail that can help keep a child engaged while you are reading the text.
The story is very well told. It is factual, yet personal and I like the urgent pace of the battle scenes and the slower pace where Joan communes with God. It also shares a high level overview of the trial and her death.
Joan of Arc
The Joan of Arc that I featured in my teaser post is a beautiful book illustrated in the style of the paintings of the day. The colors are very rich and vibrant and are beautiful to look at. The pages are thick & glossy, making this a book that will last a while. It is intended for an older child though. Perhaps 6-10. There is a LOT of text on the opposing page and may be better off as a page per sitting read-aloud for the younger crowd.
I’m not a student of the story of Joan of Arc, but Joan of Arc seems to be very factual, but not written in a textbook, just-the-facts-ma’am kind of way.
I do have a bit of a bone to pick with the detail of the trial, because they really made the Church look like a bunch of jerks. They were and corrected it 20 years later which she shared, but at 4 it might not be the time to explain that the church is made up of imperfect people, you know? It just had an unfriendly tone and I would skip portions of it for the younger readers.
My daughters, 4.5 & 7.5 did enjoy this book, though. Once they got into it, were no longer content to have it read in pieces. They insisted on finishing it. High praise from them indeed.
Food & Fun for Saint Joan of Arc
St. Joan of Arc was known as the maid of Orleáns and has a fairly large following in the city of New Orleans. As such, any French or N.O. fare could work. A few ideas that come to mind are:
- Red beans & rice (and sausage because I honestly don’t do vegetarian)
- Beignets (if you can find Cafe Du Monde mix, jump up & down!)
- French picnic (French baguette, pastured butter, French cheeses, grapes)
- Fondue
- Flag cookies or cupcakes with a banner in them
For crafts, I found the following projects courtesy of Pinterest:
- Make a shield (no directions…I linked to the pin for inspiration)
- St Joan of Arc outfit for 18 inch dolls (also, no directions. Linked to pin for inspiration.)
- Ribbon bracelet with carnation (closed blog — again linked to pin for inspiration)
- Chain mail from pop tabs
Or maybe some sort of fleur dis lis craft in whatever medium draws your fancy — embroidery, paper crafting, button pictures, painting, sewing, jewelry or even perler beads :).
What is your go to way to celebrate holidays? Craft, decorations, food, books, printables…
