All Hallows’ Eve

All Hallows’ Eve

by Anthony DeStefano,

Illustrated by Erwin Madrid

The triduum of All Hallows’ Tide is one of my favorite times of the year. It is full of so many rich traditions, prayers, and fun! We kick off these 3 holy days with All Hallows’ Eve (aka: Halloween). I had no idea about the Catholic roots of this holiday until I was an adult. Thankfully, Anthony DeStefano has come out with a new picture book, All Hallows’ Eve, to explain this day to children in an age appropriate, rich, and meaningful way.

Teaching Kids About the Catholic Roots of Halloween

The story begins with 4 children visiting a cemetery on All Hallows’ Eve. The book gently and clearly explains that visiting a cemetery to look for spooky encounters or ghosts is actually not respectful to the dead who lay buried there. Thankfully, a woman in the graveyard named Hulga May sets the kids straight. She tells them that the purpose of Halloween is not to get a fright, and that the dead here deserve our respect. In fact, we must pray for them! The story is rich, engaging, and catechetical, and I loved the ending (I won’t spoil it!).

Delightful Rhymes and Illustrations

The book is written in Anthony DeStefano’s delightful and musical rhymes that my children and I absolutely love. He truly has a gift with words and is a master at conveying all of the deep and beautiful parts of our Faith. Erwin Madrid is an extremely talented illustrator. He portrays the graveyard scenes in a way that is just spooky enough while not becoming scary or disturbing to children at all. Check out these images of Heaven and Hell! Gorgeous!

Teaching Children About Purgatory and Hell

This book masterfully teaches children about Purgatory and Hell in an age appropriate and truthful way. It focuses mostly on Purgatory and how souls need to be purified before entering Heaven. I thought the explanation and pictures for this were perfect. In the back of the book, there are resources from the Bible and Catechism of the Catholic Church to guide parents and teachers in their discussions of Purgatory with the children. What a great resource to share with Catholic kids!

Final Thoughts

All Hallows’ Eve by Anthony DeStefano exceeded my expectations for a Catholic Halloween book. We have already read it multiple times in our home. I suspect that the book is geared for ages 10 and up (that’s the age of one of the characters in the graveyard), but I think younger children would enjoy it too and it would not be too scary or frightening at all (especially compared to the truly evil and ghoulish secular Halloween books that they may have seen!). This book is great for kids who have never heard the concept of Purgatory, and also wonderful for kids who are familiar with these truths.

You can find All Hallows’ Eve by Anthony DeStefano at Sophia Institute Press.