New-translation Sunday missals for children and pre-teens

[DannyBoyP]

I am looking for new-translation Mass booklets for children that do not have the cutesy post-VC2 illustrations (I’d prefer it have more attractive art such as the missals for the Extraordinary Rite have, or Renassiance art), and a good Sunday missal for pre-teens/early teens that, again, have more traditional Catholic artwork.

Catholic Book Publishing produces some booklets for children which have the cutsey post-VC2 illustrations and I haven’t found any with the new Mass translation. And, on the pre-teen/early teen front, there’s the St. Joseph Sunday Missal that does contain the new translation, but I understand from Amazon reviewers these are hard to follow.

Recommendations, please.

 

[kkollwitz]

I can’t help you, but commiserate over the notion that kids/teens require some kind of coddling when it comes to illustrations. I was raised with my parents’ missals, and had no trouble with the very-adult art therein.

 

[superamazingman]

I can’t help you, but commiserate over the notion that kids/teens require some kind of coddling when it comes to illustrations. I was raised with my parents’ missals, and had no trouble with the very-adult art therein.

This is so true. Kids won’t learn to appreciate the art and beauty if they aren’t exposed to it, and we get them hooked on the cheap stuff. For example, at my parish, nearly all the kids love our sacred music. Traditional hymns, some chant, organ, rennisance polyphony, some tasteful new choral music (such as Prolux’s music), and never a guitar in sight. Do you think that they’d have that same appreciation for sacred music if the parish had a youth Mass, and they went to it? Probably not.

 

[Cavaille-Coll]

… and never a guitar in sight. Do you think that they’d have that same appreciation for sacred music if the parish had a youth Mass, and they went to it? Probably not.

Why would today’s young people want “contemporary” music that was played in elevators when their parents were teenagers?

 

[NorthernAdams]

I’m not having any luck at all finding a children’s missal–irrespective of artwork–that was written/published after Vatican changes in 2012. Why wouldn’t this information have been updated in all this time? Anybody know something I don’t know? Where can I find a new children’s missal?

 

[bcuster]

At our parish we place The Mass Book for Children in the pews. It does have colorful pictures. The priest in the book actually looks like our pastor! It is put our by Our Sunday Visitor.

 

[Marysann]

Take a look at the Blessed Trinity Missal. I recently ordered one on-line for a First Communion gift for a very bright little girl. It uses the new Mass translation. She loved it, and her parents, who are very orthodox Catholics, were very pleased. It is not too babyish, and can be used by a young person until they are old enough for an adult missal. It also contains features about how a child can live a Catholic life, like I remember from pre-Vatican II children’s prayerbooks. This missal, however, is for the Ordinary Form of the Mass. It can be found at many on-line Catholic sites by googling Blessed Trinity Missal. Once a child gets to the sixth or seventh grade, you might consider a Sunday missal such as the St. Joseph Sunday Missal. It is easy to use, and has all of the Sunday Mass readings, and has lovely illustrations of the rosary and stations of the cross. I recently gave one as a gift to a young girl who was being confirmed. She said that she now enjoys reading the Mass readings before she goes to Mass. That is a good habit for anyone to get into.

 

[NorthernAdams]

I contacted the Catholic Company, and they tell me this book has been updated to reflect third edition changes to the missal: My First Missal.

Beware–I looked for it on Amazon, and though the covers are the same, Amazon is still carrying the 2006 edition. As far as I know, you must order through the Catholic Company in order to get the current translation.

You can send questions and inquiries to the same email I did, which is customerservice@trinityroad.com. The person who responded to me was Cheryl in Customer Service.

As to the artwork, books written for children will invariably contain illustrations that the author and publisher believes will be attractive and interesting to child readers. You just won’t find Michelangelo in a book intended for children aged 6-8. I prefer the traditional as well–in the artwork, the music, everything in the liturgy. But a child’s book will be illustrated to be visually appealing to small children. That means simpler drawings as opposed to finely detailed artwork, and lots and lots of bright, basic colors.