Anselm of Canterbury: Christian Biographies for Young Readers (Simonetta Carr)

Anselm of Canterbury

Christian Biographies for Young Readers 

While he would have preferred the simple, quiet life of the monastery—teaching, reading, thinking, and writing about God — Anselm of Canterbury spent much of his life dealing with powerful kings, consulting with popes, and serving reluctantly as archbishop of Canterbury.

Through Anselm’s story, Simonetta Carr teaches what life was like in medieval Western Europe. Young readers will learn of the tempestuous relationship between church and state during this era. The significance of Anselm’s writings about why God became man and the relationship between faith and reason is also addressed.

Table of Contents

Introduction

A Boy with a Dream
From Student to Teacher
The Will of a King
First Trip to Rome
New King, Old Troubles
Last Peaceful Years
Time Line
Did You Know?

Simonetta Carr’s Christian Biographies for Young Readers introduces children to important people in the Christian tradition. Parents and school teachers alike will welcome the excellent educational value it provides for students, while the quality of the publication and the artwork make each volume a keepsake for generations to come. Furthermore, the books in the series go beyond the simple story of someone’s life by teaching young readers the historical and theological relevance of each character.

About the Author

Simonetta Carr was born in Italy and has lived and worked in different cultures. A former elementary school teacher, she has home-schooled her eight children for many years. She has written for newspapers and magazines around the world. Simonetta has also translated the works of several Christian authors into Italian. Presently, she lives in San Diego with her husband, Thomas, and family. She is a member and Sunday school teacher at Christ United Reformed Church.

Illustrator

Matt Abraxas has traveled from California to France, studying different approaches to art. He enjoys creating and teaching art and currently exhibits his work at the SmithKlein Gallery in Boulder, Colorado. Matt lives with his wife, Rebecca, and two sons, Zorba and Rainer, in Lafayette, Colorado.

Endorsements

“Anselm, one of the most original thinkers of the medieval West, lived in a world that is in many ways very different from ours. Yet many of Anselm’s solutions to those timeless problems of how to deal with other people and how to speak about God are fresh even today, nine hundred years after he lived. Simonetta’s book is a very fine introduction for children to Anselm, his world, and his role in it.”  -— Dr. Samu Niskanen, research fellow in history at Helsinki University and author of a new critical edition of Anselm’s correspondence

“It’s delightful to see that an increasing number of Christian authors are bringing strong Christians in history to life in short biographies for young people. This short biography of Anselm of Canterbury is a good example of this wonderful trend. Young readers will become familiar with a man whom sadly few have ever heard of but who should be remembered for his witness of God’s work.” — Tom Garfield, superintendent, Logos School, Moscow, Idaho

Our own Grace & Truth Books endorsement:

“Simonetta Carr has again rendered a great service to lovers of church history and, perhaps even more, to those not yet captivated by that love. In her sixth biography for young readers, adults and youth alike will rediscover godly Anselm.  He’s a man rarely heard of today but whom readers will be pleased to get to know. With her usual grace, Carr fascinates us with her subject, making the reader yearn to know more. Though Anselm lived in times and church settings vastly different from our own, this delightful recounting of his story reveals to us a man facing trials and pressures we can identify with in his fervent pursuit of God.

Filled with their trademark beautiful artwork, this set is rapidly becoming one of the finest collections on the characters of church history to be published in many decades. Well done, Simonetta! I cannot recommend these volumes highly enough.”  — Dennis Gundersen, President, Grace and Truth Books and author of Your Child’s Profession of Faith