Saint Spotting

Gr 3-5–Raschka’s engaging and expressive watercolors take readers on an adventure examining a towering church full of the images and symbology of many saints. As a child, Raschka explains in the text, he and his mother would explore the visuals of a church and go “saint spotting.” The rest of the text focuses on the different saints who might be seen and the symbols that accompany them, which further illuminate their role in the development of the Christian faith. The book relates that the images were an entryway for those who couldn’t read to learn the stories of the Bible and the early church. The author acknowledges that the lives of some of the saints (and particularly their deaths/martyrdoms) were not always pleasant and that the imagery that might be seen in a church is better understood with additional context. Balanced between respecting the faith that keeps these stories alive and the history of the Christian church, this book is a welcome resource for readers going on a “saint spotting” adventure of their own. While there is not enough information in the text for research purposes, this title has the potential to make church visiting, particularly for those young people who do not attend a church with such imagery, a much more engaging and informative experience, with the caveat that not all saints are in all churches.