Philo, Shifo, and the Love SuperHoly by Mireille Mishriky and illustrated by S. Violette Palumbo is the seventh volume in the “Philo and the SuperHolies” series about the fruit of the Spirit, reimagined as superheroes. This one may be my favorite one yet, because it’s the first one written from Philo’s perspective. He shares the experiences every child goes through when confronted with an annoying younger cousin or sibling, someone who does everything wrong but somehow gets all the attention and is easily forgiven. I read this as a Kindle version and immediately purchased the print copy so I could share this with my children, who loved it. You can also add a “Peace SuperHoly” pillow to a child’s gift from We the Copts.

Purchase from: Mireille Mishriky | Amazon

My Saintly Family: A Book on Christian Family Life for Toddlers and Young Children by Creative Orthodox reimagines Sts. Emmeline, Macrina, Basil, Gregory and Peter’s ancient Christian holy family for modern times. Basil loves nature, Gregory writes books, Macrina teaches, and together with their parents they make their family a church and the church their family. At the end of the story, the author provides profiles of each saint’s life so we can get to know them more. The full color illustrations are in Creative Orthodox’s signature style.

Purchase from: Creative Orthodox | Amazon

Come, Stay, Fetch written by Summer Kinard and illustrated by Kathryn Tussing is a brightly colored board book that, in 12 words, managed to make me cry. In 12 words it tells the story of Christ in the terms one would use for a dog. “Come,” it starts, and a dog laps onto the shore as the Lord Jesus also calls His disciples to come and follow Him. “Stand” Jesus commands, and the daughter of Jairus stands up from her bed, alive. The illustrations say what the words don’t say, and each page includes references to the Gospel story. In addition to Christmas, this makes a wonderful baby shower gift or even a gift to any dog-loving family you know.

Purchase from:  Park End Books | Draw Near Designs | Kathryn Tussing on Etsy

Brave, Faithful and True: Children of the Bible by Katherine Bolger Hyde includes twelve stories of children from the Bible—six from the Old Testament, six from the New. The stories are told through the eyes of the children themselves. It’s a beautiful and giftable volume, serving well as an at-home read aloud and also a Sunday School resource. It connects each story to the Eastern Orthodox liturgical cycle, so readers in the Oriental Orthodox church will need to do a little research to find out how these stories connect to their specific feast days. Each story also includes an explanation of its significance for us. For example, after telling the story Jesus being found in the temple when he was young, the author explains why the Gospel writer, out of all the stories of Jesus’ childhood, chose this one to tell.  There are illustrations for each story by Gabriel Chaplin, drawn in the Byzantine iconographic tradition.

Purchase from: Ancient Faith Publishing | Amazon

All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings Children’s Edition by Gayle Boss is a beautiful adaptation for young children of her bestselling Advent book, which I reviewed here. This children’s edition has fewer words, and each day is color illustrated by Sharon Spitz. The pages describe how each animal lies in wait during the dark months of winter, as a metaphor for how all of creation waited for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. At the end of each page is the hopeful refrain, “The dark is not the end. It’s a door. It’s the way a new beginning comes.” It’s meant to be read slowly, one each day for 25 days, and there are more details about each animal with discussion questions at the end of the book. My only complaint as an Orthodox Christian who never speaks of Christ’s humanity without also speaking of His divinity is the last line, “they saw what creation is waiting for—a human at home with all creatures as kin.” Considering the verse that inspires the title, Romans 8:19, I would change it to “the Son of God, at home with all creatures as kin” when reading it aloud, or just have a discussion about how this “human at home with all creatures” is the Son of God himself who created them. This book makes a lovely gift for any animal loving children in your life. I received a review copy from Paraclete Press for an honest review of this title.

Purchase from: Paraclete Press | Bookshop | Amazon

Holy Night and Little Star: A Story for Christmas by Mitali Perkins is a gorgeous Nativity book to give as a gift. Along the same vein as her Holy Week book Bare Tree and Little Wind which I reviewed here, Perkins imagines the Nativity story through the eyes of a little star tasked with a big job. The lush illustrations by Khoa Le themselves twinkly brightly like stars, and the gold foil details on the cover make this a truly giftable addition to any child’s bookshelf. My favorite moment in the story is when Little Star, sent by Maker to Bethlehem, looks into the eyes of the baby boy in the manger, and recognizes them as the eyes of Maker, too. The publisher has also created some free Advent resources to go along with this book that can be found here.

Purchase from: Bookshop | Amazon

For the fiction lover in your life, The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese is a doorstopper of a book and worth every page. It is a historical fiction family saga that is ultimately about love. I cried several times throughout the book and cried again when I finished it, so be sure to tell your giftee to brace themselves. The story is mainly set in Kerala with a family of Indian Christians (likely Orthodox, but Varghese doesn’t specify as St. Thomas Christians in Kerala belong to Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant communions) with what seems a strange and mysterious condition—every generation, someone in the family dies drowning. The mystery is unraveled by the end of the story, and although she doesn’t solve it herself, Big Amichi is my hero. I had a book hangover when I finished this one.

Purchase from: Bookshop | Amazon

Africa & Byzantium, edited by Andrea Myers Achi, is an excellent gift book for any adult in your life, especially the ones who are difficult to buy gifts for. This important book was written alongside the groundbreaking Africa & Byzantium exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which I wrote about in great detail here. The book contains important articles about each of the exhibition objects, including an article by Mary Farag, who has a guest post on this blog here. The objects include icons, sacred objects, and cultural artefacts from Egypt, Tunisia, Nubia, and Ethiopia during the Byzantine historical period.

Purchase from: The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Bookshop | Amazon