A Child's Rule of Life

How does a child learn to live as a Catholic—not only at prayer or in church, but from the moment he wakes in the morning until he closes his eyes at night?

In A Child's Rule of Life, Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson and illustrator Gabriel Pippet turn the ordinary course of a child's day into a charming little school of Catholic living. Twenty-five lively verses lead children from morning prayers through work and play, Mass and the Sacraments, and finally to bedtime—showing them how even the smallest duties and pleasures of the day can be offered to God.

Benson possessed the rare gift of speaking seriously to children without ceasing to remember what it is like to be one. His verses are reverent without being heavy, practical without becoming preachy, and sprinkled with just enough humor to make their lessons memorable. As one contemporary reviewer observed, children could learn the verses by heart and “almost unconsciously gain a deep knowledge of Christian doctrine, and a love and habit of Catholic practice.”

Gabriel Pippet's delightful illustrations are every bit as important as the verses. Children see other children actually living the Rule, while whimsical borders filled with all the familiar treasures of childhood surround every page. Together, words and pictures make the Catholic life seem exactly where it belongs: right in the middle of childhood.

For this edition, we painstakingly restored Pippet's original illustrations and decorative borders, including the red accents of the original printing, allowing modern families to enjoy the book much as Benson and Pippet intended it to be seen.

See more details of this book in our before-and-after photo post!

8.5" x 11"     hardcover     32 pages

“It is not every one that can keep his childhood. Father Benson has, and speaks to children bout the great, big eternal things in a child’s way. The little ones will be delighted to learn these verses by heart, and thus almost unconsciously gain a deep knowledge of Christian doctrine, and a love and habit of Catholic practice.

The Rule takes the little child from the moment it awakes…through his morning prayers; going to church; hearing Mass; saying grace; reciting lessons; practicing obedience; confessing his sins; receiving Holy Communion; evening prayers, and bed. Round them all Father Benson has put the fragrance of verse that will make them sweet and delightful to the child mind.”

--from a review in The Catholic World, May 1913