Saint Valentine

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.

We used this book in our homeschool as part of Valentine's Day study. The illustrations are beautiful! The story is age appropriate for 2nd grade and under (Valentine's execution is simply alluded to, it's up to the parent how detailed to get into that). Also good if you're Catholic or Protestant...no mention of canonization in the story itself, so it's up to the parents to go in depth on that issue. Nicely done for a broad audience.

Wonderful book to introduce children to the roots of St. Valentine's Day. Perhaps qualifies as historical fiction, but well based on facts known. We have used the book to remind the children that Christians originally spent St. Valentine's Day in prayer for martyrs - not for sending love notes and chocolates. They also enjoy looking for glimpses of modern day Valentine traditions: notes, flowers, kindness. The mosaic illustrations are beautiful reminders of the ancient Rome in which Valentine lived.

This book is visually and verbally beautiful. And what a lovely story that captures a deeper and more real meaning of the man and the day we celebrate him. This is one of those rare books that is a delight for the preschoolers, the gradeschoolers, the adults, and even the teens.

This book is by no means religious. I was disappointed that there was only one line mentioning that Saint Valentine was a priest. The story also ended very abruptly. I realize it was written for children and is unpleasant that this holy man was killed, but he is a martyr. We teach children from a young age that Christ was put to death, so it makes sense that many of His followers were also. Especially now, with Christians all over the world being persecuted and executed for their faith, mentioning his martyrism would be appropriate. I bought for my 6 yr old Goddaughter, still waiting to hear if she enjoyed the book.