Saint Valentine

This is a beautiful book that I enjoyed reading to my children. Had to go out to buy a crocus after! Just a note to parents of children who are sensitive that this is the story of the persecution and execution of St Valentine as well as the story of the blind girl who he cured, if you’re not ready for that this one needs skipping.

This is the perfect book to read your child. In it you read a story about Saint Valentine. It explains how he was a physician that lived in ancient Rome about two hundred years after Christ. That he was a very kind and giving man. He was a physician and a Christian priest at a time when they were persecuted. His faith and dedication is told as he treats his patients during the day and prays for them all night. The incident the author tells of Saint Valentine ministering to the small blind child is what is purported in this book to be the beginning of the giving of flowers on his feast day. This is a wonderfully told story.

Dissappointed

While many saints lives are fantastic to the point of being unbelievable, this modern narration of one of the healing miracles attributed to the third century martyr Valentinus is told with a simplicity that captures Valentinus' humility and compassion in his relationship with a blind girl. The illustrations gives the reader the feel of 3rd century Rome because they are done as mosaics. My children enjoyed the book from about age 6.

Wonderful book. Rich artwork and wonderful story explaining who the real Saint Valentine was in a creative way without distorting the truth. Said in a way that is appropriate for children. Bravo!

This book is written extremely well. The writing is poetic, lyrical, and simple. It something I could read to the kids 100 times. The pictures are in 'mosaic' style. In composition, they are very emotional and tell the story very well, with the right amount of movement and how the characters are presented. The mosaic style was at first not my favorite (I like more photographic like realism) but they began to grow on me, they are very well done, and give you the feeling that you are looking at a story that happened a long time ago, glimpsing at it as if through mists of time, putting the pieces together, seeing the whole. It's a book that gets better and better every time you read it. I'll admit, I cry when reading it to the kids. Extremely well done.

Reading Level: 5.4 *SPOILER ALERT* Valentine is a doctor who works for whatever his patient can afford which sometimes is nothing at all. However, he hides a dark secret: instead of following the Pope, he is a Priest of the Christian faith. One day, a jailer brings his blind daughter to him for assistance. Valentine refuses payment as he cannot guarantee that his treatment will work. His faith ultimately leads to his death when the Emperor orders that Christians be executed. The jailer comes to visit and says there is nothing he can do to help. He sends a letter home with him to his daughter that simply reads "from your Valentine" along with a Crocus. The child can see the flower for the first time and realizes she is cured. A historical note at the end of the story details the reason behind Valentine's death, his rise to Sainthood, and how the holiday came to be. My Opinion I am always leery of religious materials in the classroom but the religious aspect was more of a side note relating to the reason for his death rather than an emphasize of the book. The tile mosaic pictures are interesting and colorful. Due to its length, the book can be read in its entirety very quickly. 'I like lots of details and would have liked to see more in the story. I think this is a great read-aloud story for 1-3 graders; the vocabulary is too difficult for them to read on their own. When I read this with my 4&5 graders, they thought the story was merely okay. We used cut-up paint chips (free from Home Depot, etc) to create mosaic valentine pictures that came out cute as an extension to the story.

I thought this was going to be a beautiful book but the artwork seemed really dim and uninteresting. The mosaic idea would have been nice with vibrant colours and good layouts. But this book fell quite short of that. My kids were barely interested in the pictures.