I had a lot of fun putting together a new unit today (uploaded stories, did navigation, proofread, added images): it's about
saints and their animals, based on a lovely book by Abbie Farwell Brown,
The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts, published in 1900. The book contains some famous saints, such as Francis of Assisi of course, but there are also some less famous saints from Ireland and Wales (like
Saint Ailbe = Saint Elvis!) which will make a fine prelude to the Celtic week coming up later in the semester. Most of the stories in the book were really too long for my purposes, but I was able to find enough stories on the short side, along with a few lovely stories in ballad form, to end up with a complete unit just from this book.
I also found some delightful illustrations; I especially liked learning about
Saint Kentigern who is the patron saint of Glasgow. As a young boy, he miraculously brought a robin back to life, and you will see that robin in the
Glasgow coat of arms: wonderful!
