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This week is a busy one in our family. My father-in-law, Godson, and daughter all have birthdays this week. Plus, it is the feast day of Saint Pope John Paul II so we get to do our SaintMail package & read a good book, too!

Our primary book for this month was Karol: The Boy Who Became Pope. Karol is a delightful picture book that is more story than picture :). It’s a smallish hardcover that is intended for older kids, ages 5-10. If you are a Charlotte Mason fan, this is one of those living books with a story that gets stuck in your heart so you don’t forget it.

You become engaged in the story and begin to like Karol and want to know more. This book tells about the life of Karol Wojtyla as a young boy, from his devotion to Mary, his devout Catholic family, and his love of nature and the outdoors. I really enjoyed Karol: The Boy Who Became Pope and we will be reading it all week.

I also recommended John Paul II: The Journey of a Saint. You can read more about this comic book for older children at the Saint Picture Book Club intro post.

Food & Fun for the Feast Day of St. Pope John Paul II

If your week happens to be less busy than ours, try these ideas for adding an extra element of food or fun to your feast day observance.

Food

Papal Cream Cake @ Catholic Cuisine
Polish Sausage — find good stuff if you can (Hillshire Farm doesn’t really count). I buy my polish sausage from here and every family in town claims it as their family recipe, including mine :D. They will even ship it frozen to your house and vacuum pack it for you.
Any other polish food will do. I’m kind of a disgrace to my heritage, but I’m not a fan of Polish food. Deconstructed Glomki, Pierogis, Potato Pancakes, or even Potato/Bacon dumplings would be good. I have no particular recipe for these, but your trusted recipe site or Pinterest will probably serve you well.

Saint Pope John Paul II Activities

Printable Peg Dolls @ Catholic Icing — these are so easy to do!!
Fun Felt Ornament @ Catholic Inspired
JPII Quote Printable @ CatholicAllYear
JPII Coloring & Activity Book Download @ Catholic Playground $$
Or just get outdoors. JPII loved nature–walk, hike, snowshoe, swim. Whatever you can do in your climate :).

Do you have a connection or devotion to Saint Pope John Paul II? What are your favorite traditions?