Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick by Ann Tompert
Illustrated by Michael Garland

Pages: unpaginated
Finished: Mar. 13, 2009
First Published: 1998
Genre: Christian
Rating: 5/5

Reason for Reading: We read this on Friday, the last day before March Break, as Saint Patrick's Day was coming up today.

First sentence:

Long ago in the fourth century, a boy was born in southwest Britain near the Irish Sea.

Comments: This is a wonderful picture book! It was the only one available in my library system so I was just hoping it would turn out to be ok. But instead it was great. Everyone knows the story of how St. Patrick got rid of the snakes in Ireland, but this book does not relate that story. This book tells the story of St. Patrick's life as a boy, his days of slavery in Ireland, how he escaped, went back home and was called by God to go back to Ireland and convert the pagans to Christianity.

The book is from a secular publisher so it is suitable for both Christians and non-Christians alike. The artwork is divine. Each page is lush and full of colour, the text is even written within the illustration in a few places but mostly every left-hand page has the text with a gorgeous frame of golden Celtic knots, with the illustration being on the right-hand side. At the end of the book there is an Author's note which briefly tells the legends of Saint Patrick, including the one about the snakes. I really like how the main part of the book stuck to the few facts we do know and left the legends for consideration at the end.


Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Did you know the shamrock is a symbol of the Holy Trinity? One leaf each for the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!