Recommendations for Mass book for children?

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PaulGH

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I would like to purchase a Mass book for my two oldest sons, ages 7 and 9. Essentially, I want something that contains all of the prayers and responses for the Mass (i.e., the prayers and responses that are standard for every Mass, but not necessarily the prayers that change from day to day). I want a book that is short, simple, and easy to use. But I don’t want a book that has cartoonish drawings and that is targeted to small children, because these two boys are already a bit old for that, and I want this to be something nice that they can continue to use for years to come. Also, if I could find a book that has the Latin prayers and responses side-by-side with the new English translation, that would be wonderful, so that we could try learning a few of the simple responses in Latin. (This is for the ordinary form of the Mass, not the extraordinary/Tridentine form of Mass.)

I’m not really looking for a missal that has all of the Sunday or daily readings. I am thinking that this would be a bit too complicated for the kids to follow, and this would make the book much larger, which I don’t want.

I considered a subscription to MagnifiKid (by Magnificat), but I probably will not go this route for two reasons:


  1. *]It is a yearly subscription, rather than just buying a book once and being done with it. In addition to the factor of cost, I think it would be more special to the kids to have their own books than to have their own magazine subscriptions.
    *]According to the sample pages on their web site, they show the priest’s parts in green, and the people’s parts in red, with no indicator other than color for which parts are which. This could be a problem for one of my sons who has some red/green colorblindness. (I guess I will have him look at the sample page, to see how well he can differentiate the colors, though the colors may look a bit different in print.)

    (On the plus side for MagnifiKid, each issue has all of the Mass readings for that month, without having to lug around a huge missal. And it has other good content too, like the short morning and evening prayers for kids. I guess I am still considering MagnifiKid.)

    Other than MagnifiKid, the best candidate I have found so far is this book from the Catholic Company:

    catholiccompany.com/mass-prayers-illustrated-4-by-6-inches-p1111728/?

    However, without being able to look inside the book, I am not sure if this one is really what I am looking for.

    One final point: I know that my boys could use the missals that are in the pews at church, but those books are so big that it can be a bit intimidating finding the right page. (Even for me as an adult, I can’t always find the right page immediately, without quite a bit of flipping around.) Also, if they have their own books, they can take them when we visit other parishes, and they can practice the responses with me at home.

    Any suggestions for a book that fits what I am looking for?
 
After posting, I found this book:

catholicbookpublishing.com/products/665

It doesn’t have the Latin responses, and it’s maybe a bit more geared toward younger kids than I would like, but it looks like it is fairly close to what I am looking for. Considering the low price, I may order one or two. But any recommendations would still be appreciated.
 
Google “Blessed Trinity Missal.” I think that it is what you might be looking for. I just purchased on as a First Holy Communion gift, and both my young friend and her parents were very pleased with it.
 
Marysann said:
Google “Blessed Trinity Missal.” I think that it is what you might be looking for. I just purchased on as a First Holy Communion gift, and both my young friend and her parents were very pleased with it.
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Thank you for the recommendation. I found that missal here . . .

aquinasandmore.com/catholic-books/blessed-trinity-missal-and-prayer-book-black/sku/21427

. . . and it looks nice and has good reviews. I do wish I could see some sample pages, but I will definitely consider this one.
 
The Mass For Children by Rev. Jude Winkler is perfect for the age group you mentioned.

amazon.com/Mass-Children-Rev-Winkler-Conv/dp/0899424899/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370885506&sr=8-1&keywords=the+mass+for+children+by+rev.+jude+winkler

Magnifi for kids, you mentioned, is good but it adds up dollar wise. There are a lot of good web sites geared for kids that can assist you: Here is one:

ewtn.com/ewtnkids/home.asp

Also, EWTN has a good show on tv around 5 called Truth in the Heart and is geared for different grade levels. Check them out:

ewtn.com/series/2006/Truth_heart.htm
 
peace2u2 said:
The Mass For Children by Rev. Jude Winkler is perfect for the age group you mentioned.

amazon.com/Mass-Children-Rev-Winkler-Conv/dp/0899424899/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370885506&sr=8-1&keywords=the+mass+for+children+by+rev.+jude+winkler

Magnifi for kids, you mentioned, is good but it adds up dollar wise. There are a lot of good web sites geared for kids that can assist you: Here is one:

ewtn.com/ewtnkids/home.asp

Also, EWTN has a good show on tv around 5 called Truth in the Heart and is geared for different grade levels. Check them out:

ewtn.com/series/2006/Truth_heart.htm
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Thanks very much for the recommendations. I did consider the “Mass for Children” book that you recommended. But I think that it may look a bit too much like a little kids’ book. I want something that they can still bring to Mass when they are 10 or 12 or even 14 or 16, without feeling like they are using a book for small children. So I guess that even though I am asking for a Mass book for children, a book for adults might fit my needs just as well – provided that it is simple and easy to use.
 
PaulGH said:
(On the plus side for MagnifiKid, each issue has all of the Mass readings for that month, without having to lug around a huge missal. And it has other good content too, like the short morning and evening prayers for kids. I guess I am still considering MagnifiKid.)
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Actually, the MagnifiKid is a group of monthly pamphlets. One for each Sunday or Holy Day.

For example for June, you would receive a mailing that contains 6 pamphlets, 1 for each Mass and one “Parent handout.”

They are pretty good. In addition to having the Mass there are also word definitions, activities for the week based on the readings and a paper activity like a word search.

If you want to see a real one, for a week that has past, I can send one to you. If you would like to buy just one month (July), let me know and I can send it to you. I run a small Catholic Store and I carry them.
peace2u2 said:
The Mass For Children by Rev. Jude Winkler is perfect for the age group you mentioned.

amazon.com/Mass-Children-Rev-Winkler-Conv/dp/0899424899/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370885506&sr=8-1&keywords=the+mass+for+children+by+rev.+jude+winkler
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As far as I know, this has not been updated with the latest text. 🤷
 
maryjk said:
Actually, the MagnifiKid is a group of monthly pamphlets. One for each Sunday or Holy Day.

For example for June, you would receive a mailing that contains 6 pamphlets, 1 for each Mass and one “Parent handout.”

They are pretty good. In addition to having the Mass there are also word definitions, activities for the week based on the readings and a paper activity like a word search.

If you want to see a real one, for a week that has past, I can send one to you. If you would like to buy just one month (July), let me know and I can send it to you. I run a small Catholic Store and I carry them.

As far as I know, this has not been updated with the latest text. 🤷
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Thank you for the information on MagnifiKid. I just assumed it was a once-a-month booklet format similar to the Magnificat publication. (We used to subscribe to Magnificat.) The format you described sounds promising. I also very much appreciate your offer regarding sending me an old one, or letting me buy the pamphlets for just one month without committing to a full subscription. Let me think about it, and I will get back to you by private message if I am interested.
 
PaulGH said:
Thank you for the information on MagnifiKid. I just assumed it was a once-a-month booklet format similar to the Magnificat publication. (We used to subscribe to Magnificat.) The format you described sounds promising. I also very much appreciate your offer regarding sending me an old one, or letting me buy the pamphlets for just one month without committing to a full subscription. Let me think about it, and I will get back to you by private message if I am interested.
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I just went to the MagnifiKid site and it looks like they will mail a sample to you as well. 👍 I don’t know if it will be a past week or a current one, but you could try that as well.

magnificat.net/magnifikid/exemplaire_gratuit1.asp
 
PaulGH said:
I did consider the “Mass for Children” book that you recommended. But I think that it may look a bit too much like a little kids’ book. I want something that they can still bring to Mass when they are 10 or 12 or even 14 or 16, without feeling like they are using a book for small children.
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That is true that the book has the feel of a younger age level, but the contents are really beautiful. Does your Parish have Missalettes in the pews? I think once children are middle-school age level they can follow along in the Missalette which has the benefits of the Readings so they can follow along.
maryjk said:
As far as I know, this has not been updated with the latest text. 🤷
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The book, The Children’s Mass by Rev. Jude Winkler has the new translation, but if you order make sure that you are ordering that one by checking the date of publication (it should say 2011) as I have mistakenly ordered the older version.
 
peace2u2 said:
Does your Parish have Missalettes in the pews? I think once children are middle-school age level they can follow along in the Missalette which has the benefits of the Readings so they can follow along.
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Yes, our parish does have the missalettes in the pews, but so far we have not had much success getting the boys to use them, partly because the books are very long, and they get confused about which page to turn to. (And my wife and I are usually busy getting the younger children to behave, so we aren’t always able to help the older boys find the right page.) Also, you mentioned middle school age, and they are not quite there yet – the oldest boy (9 years old) is going into fourth grade this fall.

I want my two older boys to participate in the Mass by saying the prayers and responses, and I think that maybe having a shorter book that concentrates just on the standard prayers and responses might make it easier for them. Having them follow along with the readings would be great too, but as a first step I will be happy if they can just follow along with the standard prayers and responses.
 
The following might be helpful for you, PaulGH: a list of Children’s missals at Adoremus Books. They seem to have some very nice Latin Mass booklets.

It’s interesting to find this post as I have been researching something similar for a friend who is looking for a Mass book for her first grade daughter – something with simple sentences her daughter can read herself. We don’t have the Latin Mass at our parish, so, while those books are beautiful, they would only confuse my friend’s daughter.

May Christ’s peace be with you.
 
siena_avila said:
The Mass Explained for Kids! This one includes explanations. Has an Imprimatur.

store.pauline.org/English/Books/tabid/126/List/0/productid/3658/Default.aspx?txtSearch=%22the+mass+explained+for+kids%22&SortField=ProductName%2cProductName#.Ube82uszLco
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This book looks good for young children. The text is very simple and easy to follow along with. This is another good one, The Mass Book for Children by Rosemarie Gortler and Donna Piscitelli. This link offers an inside look:

amazon.com/Mass-Book-Children-Donna-Piscitelli/dp/1592760759/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371043688&sr=1-1&keywords=the+mass+book+for+children#_
 
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