Saint Francis of Assisi
Recommended. Age: 9+. A Catholic review of this book for parents.
Our review
Francis gives up his father's money to follow Jesus, and Demi shows it plainly. The gold-bordered pictures look like a medieval prayer book. Poverty, the poor, the Pope, Clare, the crib at Christmas and the stigmata are all here. One reservation: legend and history are mixed without labels, and one reader reports a line that seems to call Christ a saint.
For parents
Read aloud from 6. Independent reading from about 9, since the text runs at a middle-grade level. Ask why Francis chose to be poor when he could have been rich. Tell your child plainly that Jesus is God, not the greatest of the saints.