Marian Consecration for Children

I love the idea of this book, and I do plan to use it with my children. My family reads a lot, and many of the books alluded to in "Marian Consecration for Children" are among our favorites. I was disappointed, however, when I previewed the book, to find quite a few errors . I wrote notes in my copy so that I can make the corrections as I read it to my children. For the convenience of other readers, and possibly to help fix these problems in a future edition, I'll list the corrections here:p. 8 The Pevensie children are not related to Digory Kirke. They are complete strangers to each other; Prof. Kirke takes the children in during the London air raids, as many English country dwellers were conscripted to do.p. 31 In "Take it to the Queen", the villagers do not kill the prince. They attack him and leave him for dead, but he survives.p. 41 The author states that "we cannot be outdone in generosity" (paragraph 3) and that "our love cannot be outdone in generosity" (paragraph 4), but what she means is that MARY cannot be outdone in generosity.p. 73 Paragraph 2: "Course" should be "coarse."p. 82 Paragraph 1: "Upon visiting the pope" should be changed to something like "When Therese visited the pope". As written, the phrase "Upon visiting the pope" refers to Leo XIII, as if he were visiting himself.p. 101 Gollum calls himself, not the ring, "my precious" (at first, anyway). He calls the ring his birthday present. His cousin Deagol does not exactly own the ring; he finds it in his net while he and Smeagol are fishing together, and Smeagol kills him to get it. Smeagol is transformed into Gollum while he is in possession of the ring, not after he loses it. The second volume of "The Lord of the Rings" is "The Two Towers", not "The Twin Towers."p. 102 In "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", Veruca Salt does not want a golden egg; she wants a squirrel. The scene with the golden egg appears in the film adaptation "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". In Roald Dahl's book, Veruca demands one of the squirrels that Wonka keeps to discern good nuts from bad. The little creatures end up tossing Veruca down the garbage chute as a bad nut.p. 114 In "The Sleeping Beauty", the bad fairy does not cast her spell over the princess out of jealousy for her beauty but to get revenge on the girl's parents for neglecting to invite her to the christening. The statements that run from the bottom of p. 114 to the top of p. 115 make a sort of mixed-up conglomeration out of "The Sleeping Beauty" and "Snow White", so that some statements apply to one fairy tale and some to the other, but none apply to both (except the existence of a beautiful princess).I hope these corrections are helpful to others! Now that I have them noted in my copy, I am looking forward to using the book with my children.God bless all of you parents and teachers who are striving to bring your children into loving relationship with the Mother of God. :)

I have made my Marian consecration twice before, each time using different, excellent materials for adults. When I read a review about this little book, I felt drawn to it, and ordered it to have a look. I wasn't really planning to renew my consecration, but as I leafed through, I decided to renew, using this as my resource and guide.I know that sounds strange, but after all, we are all children in the eyes of our God, so I humbly started to read and pray with Professor Gress' book.It was a refreshing change from the books I'd used before because it is designed to be used by older children as well as their families, all who are busy. Straight forward and well-written, it successfully explains what Marian consecration is and how to grown in love for Jesus through loving His Blessed Mother.If you've made the consecration and seek to renew it during these challenging times, try this little book - you will increase in humility and child-like wonder at the beauty of our faith.

I read this to five of my children ages ranging from 4 - 13 years old. We gave ourselves two months rather than 33 days, because as a mother who likes read alouds, I know that we are not going to get to it every day. We used this book as a morning devotion after our prayers. The children enjoyed that each reading was short with three pertinent discussion questions at the end of each chapter. The kids found the references to familiar children's literature to be engaging and relatable. The few stories we were unfamiliar with were well explained enough that we understood the meaning.As a parent I appreciated the discussions about developing virtue. My kids were also very interested in the references about others experiences of spiritual life, such as scapulars, St. Therese and St. Joan of Arc.This Marian Consecration truly helped my children grow in faith and desire a closer relationship with Jesus. I think it would make a nice school year study where you read the literature used as examples (or watch the kid friendly movies) and then read this devotion.

A stunningly beautiful book and formula for children and their entire family to learn about, develop a deeper appreciation for, and make a commitment to our Blessed Mother. The book is practical, engaging, and meaningful for the whole family to read together or for an older child to pray through on his or her own. The cover is gorgeous and the short sections are accompanied inside by lovely line drawings which complement but don't distract from the purpose of the book.Dr. Gress has done her Mariology research and presents it in an accessible way for children. While our family is still working through the book, it's important to note that the book gives children the responsibility to DO something through reading the book, to consecrate themselves to Mary. It's not just a storybook but an activity and dedication, more than only spiritual reading. Each section comes with discussion questions, interesting facts, and prayers. Familiar children's stories like Anne of Green Gables, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The Chronicles of Narnia are used to impart lessons and stories of saints are also included.We received the book as a gift and I've already ordered three more for First Communion gifts. I absolutely love introducing others, especially children, to the idea of Marian consecration and there is no better way than through this book! As the cover says, the book should be "bringing Mary to life in young hearts and minds."

Great book. Really encouraged my son in his faith. Looks gorgeous inside with beautiful pictures. We really like it. It refers very much to children's literature to make it's points, which is fine, what I have seen mentioned is all appropriate literature. One negative is a lot of the references are clearly done from memory as there are a few errors in characters names etc. It's a minor annoyance, which will presumably be corrected in later editions.

Some very interesting facts and links to famous favourite stories. Fascinating, well-presented book. However, not for a young child to peruse on own. More for older... 11/12 year old? Or under direct adult presentation.