A couple of Catholic children’s books today, before I nipped off to have coffee with my cousin (we have an English branch on my father’s side). Tomorrow is the last day before I begin officially conferencing.
J. J. Kelly, With Lance and Shield: A Romance of the East (Washbourne, 1895). A boy’s adventure book set during the Crusades. An awesome Spanish knight who is the exemplar of chivalry (etc.) wants to marry Berengaria, niece of Conrad of Montferrat. Alas, Conrad is kind of a jerk, and so the knight keeps winning Berengaria’s hand, then losing it, then winning it, etc. Then Conrad is assassinated, which solves the knight’s problem. Meanwhile, there are various undertakings against Saladin. Less overtly religious than most of the novels put out by Washbourne, but the reader is invited to contemplate the workings of Providence.
Edward Cox, The Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary! Tales for the Young (Washbourne, 1889). Various short stories centering on the importance of prayer and/or the rosary, including a dream vision and a couple of historical tales set during the Reformation and Elizabethan periods.
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