Review of Catholic Readers
I have the American Cardinal Readers, the Catholic National Readers and the 4 vols of Catholic Stories for Boys and Girls. I would really like to get rid of all the storybooks in the house that are cartoon/toy related (like Barbie in Hawaii). I would much rather have the kids reading Catholic literature than secular junk. You may pass this on to whoever you think would be interested in an opinion on these books. Just make sure they know the reviewer (me) is not known for her intelligence or experience at homeschooling and that it is just my humble opinion. I read through all three sets of books in the weeks after I received them. A definite must buy is the Catholic Stories! They were wonderful! I learned so much about saints from reading them. Really beautiful stories. Now to compare the CNR and the CARs:
+++++ The Catholic National Readers - Seven books ++++
Book One - It is actually two books in one binding. Book One contains the Primer and Book One. The Primer is 32 pages and the Book One is 98 pages. My daughter dove into the Primer right away and is working her way through it. Each lesson begins with the new words listed with phonetic notations. Most of the lessons have some of the text reproduced in cursive writing. The pictures are beautiful and the stories are wonderful and steeped in Catholic culture. The stories in these two are very short and not really full stories.
Book Two - It is 168 pages. Some of the stories in this one I have seen in the "Rare Catholic Stories and Poem" book from CHC. They are delightful. Not all of the lessons in this book have the new words listed. But almost all have a language lesson after the story. It is like reading comprehension or teaching parts of speech.
Book Three - It is 260 pages. This one contains stories like "St Elizabeth" and "Our Lady's Flower Society". This book contains dictation exercises with some of the lessons, as well as vocabulary, and comprehension.
Book Four - It is 286 pages. This one contains stories like "St Agnes" by Cardinal Wiseman and "Pope Leo XIII". Besides dictation, vocabulary, and comprehension, this book contains also contains pronunciation and vocabulary lessons.
Book Five - It is 386 pages. This one contains stories like "The Power of the Blessed Sacrament" and "Rip Van Wynkle". This book contains also contains pronunciation, dictation, vocabulary, and comprehension with the lessons.
Book Six - It is 482 pages. This one contains stories like "King Solomon and the Bees", "Joan of Arc", and "Paul Revere's Ride" by Longfellow. This book does not seem to contain as many additional lessons like vocabulary.
New Speller and Word Book - It is 148 pages. I am honestly not sure how to use this particular book. It does have spelling words and vocabulary. There are also lessons on Latin Roots, dictation, parts of speech (like synonyms) and abbreviations. I am not 100% sure how the Speller is to be used. I don't think it has to be tied into the Readers. It seems to be independent of them.
Pages 5 to 9 are the only places I saw cursive writing at all and there it is along side of typed print. The Preface of the speller states that it "has been prepared with the idea of making a pleasant task of a usually dry study, and , with this end in view, a variety of interesting exercisers are given. As it is only by constant practice that the habit of correct spelling is formed, few rules will be found herein." The lessons have "Familiar Words" that every Catholic should know from home or church; "Synonyms - valuable intellectual training, which teach nice distinctions in the meaning of words"; "Homonyms" ignorance of which is the source of many spelling mistakes; "Words Commonly Mispronounced"; "Dictation Exercises" and "Definitions" so that meanings of words as well as their spelling and pronunciation are learned.
Lesson I. contains the following words in type with phonetic markings: of, as, one, our, are, lamp, now, did, pet, but, fat, day. Lesson II contains the following words written in cursive from the above lesson: of, one, are, now, pet, but, day,lamp. "Lesson XXI - Review Short Sound of Vowels of, fat, as, his, book, did, but, tell, man, lamp, Him, that, dogs, head, twelve, with,went, rung, must, much, have, very, will,bell,them. Home is one of the sweetest words we know. When we hear the word home we think of those we love. We think of mother, father, sisters, and brothers. Tell us what you think of when you hear the word home." lesson C is on common contractions. Lesson CCIX is Titles (Mayor, Reverend). Lesson CLXXIX is Words relating to Holiness (godly, humble, edifying). All that info is from the first 54 pages of the book.
+++++ The Cardinal American Readers - nine books +++++
Primer - 98 pages - This book is a chapter story about a family that goes to visit the grandparents on the farm. The parents tell stories of Jesus and Mary. Some of the chapters are "Baby's Angel", "The First Christmas", "A Ride to the Farm". There are twenty chapters total. So each chapter is about 5-10 pages. There are black and white pictures with the stories that are lovely. The type is easy to read.
Book One - 177 pages - Continuation of family stories from Primer. Twenty-three chapters like "What Father Kelly Told", "The Snowman", and "A Prayer". Also has black and white pictures.
Book Two - 217 pages -Thirty-eight separate stories including " The Flag of Our Country", "St Francis and The Wolf", "The Christ Child" by GK Chesterton, "St Teresa the Little Flower". There are some black and white pictures.
Book Three - 249 pages - Fifty-two separate stories. Stores include "The Annunciation", "The Babe Moses", "What Broke the China Pitcher", "St Tarcisius", "Abraham Lincoln's Education". There are some pictures.
Book Four - 282 pages including glossary - Fifty-three separate stories including two stories of Christopher Columbus, "Three of Our Lord's Miracles", "The Story of Daniel", "The Angel of the Resurrection" by St Teresa of the Child Jesus, "The Children's Hour" by Longfellow and "The Church Underground". A few black and white pictures.
Book Five - 337 pages including glossary - forty-seven stories including "The Star Spangled Banner", "Our Lord and Our Lady" by Hiilaire Belloc, "St Martin of Tours" and "St Brigid". A few black and white pictures. Includes study suggestions for each story.
Book Six - 390 pages including glossary - fifty-nine stories including "Bethlehem 1918", "Daniel Boone" by Teddy Roosevelt, " St Aloysisus", "O Captain! My Captain" by Walt Whitman","St Isaac Jogues", "The Address of the Roman Catholics to George Washington, Esq. President of the United States" . Includes study suggestions for each story. A few black and white pictures.
Book Seven - 452 pages including glossary and home reading list - forty-four stories including "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", "The High Tide at Gettysburg", "The Martyr of Molokai", "Holy Ireland", and "Malchus the Monk". Includes study suggestions for each story. A few black and white pictures.
Book Eight - 556 pages including glossary and home reading list - sixty-one stories including "A Christmas Carol" by Dickens, "At High Mass" By Msgr. Benson, "The Names of Our Lady", "The Sign of the Cross" by John Henry Cardinal Newman, and "The New School" by Joyce Kilmer. Includes study suggestions for each story. A few black and white pictures.
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My opinion is that I like the Cardinal American Readers better. They just seem more enjoyable to read. Not that the material is easier, just more stimulating to my taste. The language in the Catholic National Readers can be stilted at times. The Cardinal Readers sell for about $140 for the set and the Catholic National Readers for about $120 for the set. You may want to check those prices. I ordered all three sets of books from the Catholic Shopper.
Reviewed by Nannette Halliwell 7/2000