After discovering this treasure of a children’s illustrated book, I purchased dozens of copies over the years, giving them away to family, friends and parishioners. And realizing I had no present copy, I just ordered another today. Yes, it is that good. I’m passing along Amazon’s synopsis. The story is of an imaginary kingdom where most everyone is Catholic and attends mass. Save one baker who is too busy preparing for the king’s wedding.
"When a poor devout widow begs for a scrap of bread from a rich faithless baker, she promises to participate in the king’s wedding mass as payment for the baker’s generosity. The baker writes “One Mass” on a scrap of paper and places it on his scale to determine how much bread it is worth. To his and the entire town’s surprise, nothing in the shop, not even the gigantic wedding cakes made for the king, outweighs the simple piece of paper representing the true worth of a mass. Luminous old-world watercolor paintings grace the interior of the book and gold foil artwork lends an air of solemnity and sacred beauty to the story. This has been a best-selling children's book since it was first published.”
One day, I decided to reach out to the author, Josephine Nobisso, to compliment her and found she is not only a practicing Catholic (little surprise there) but also a gifted and delightful person. We’ve since become occasional online friends, but this is not an advertisement for her; it is rather a story that you and your family will delight in reading and sharing for years to come.
This first I've seen this blog Fr. Atchley. I have that book, I used to read it to my children. Another good one by the same author is a book called 'Take it to the Queen'.