Books published by publisher Parachute Press

Released for the 5th Anniversary of the election of Pope Francis!"A heartwarming tale, which gives the papacy a human touch." –Christopher Lamb, Rome correspondent, The Tablet​Meet Margaret -- the Pope's cat!This is the story of a stray born on the Via della Conciliazione in Rome, how she’s adopted by the Pope, and then “rules” the Vatican from museum to floorboard! First in a new series. No one has a closer view of what’s happening in the world’s tiniest nation, Vatican City, than Margaret, the Pope’s new cat. But she wasn’t always Margaret, and she wasn’t always the Pope’s cat. She started out as a stray on the streets of Rome, and there are those in the Vatican who wish she’d never been allowed inside. This fun, adorable new character will appeal to all kids! Here is a cat who does what she likes regardless of what others, even someone like the Pope, expects of her—even when the Queen of England comes on a state visit!This new fiction series is intended for Catholic schools, elementary school teachers, Catholic librarians, superintendents of schools, reading specialists, educators, catechists, school principals, Catholic homeschoolers, and parents.

Pangolins and polar bears, olms, lemurs, and leopards. We share this beautiful blue-green globe with creatures magnificent, delicate, intricate—and now vanishing at a faster rate than at any other time in Earth’s history. Spend Lent with twenty-five of these wild ones. Vivid descriptions of their lives will fill readers with wonder—and grief at what they suffer on a planet shaped by human choices. Their stories thaw our stiff hearts and wake us to greater compassion—which is what Lent, meaning “springtime,” has always been for. These stories also wake in us a wild hope that from all this death and ruin, something new could rise. The promise of Lent is that something new will rise. In fact, as these stories also attest, our hope, though wild, is not impossible and is already loose in the world.“Wild Hope is the only book whose table of contents alone gave me chills. Here’s the deal: the living world, life on planet Earth, is sacred. Author Gayle Boss yearns to show us that we live in a miracle. And she succeeds in showing us that we are not alone on this holy planet. This is a beautifully elegant, deeply excellent book, pursued by grace on every page, in every stunning illustration.” —Carl Safina, ecologist, NYT bestselling author of Beyond Words and Becoming Wild; MacArthur Fellow and founder of The Safina Center

I Am God’s Storyteller invites children to use their gifts to shine God’s light and share the Gospel. Offering children examples of noted storytellers in Bible history (Sarah, Moses, Deborah, Esther, David, Isaiah, Mary, John the Baptist, and the Evangelists and early Church), this colorful and engaging picture book also looks at how Jesus used storytelling to teach and share his message of faith, hope and love. I Am God’s Storyteller concludes by asking children to be “God’s storytellers,” and helps them to understand that our world needs them now more than ever to shine God's light. Includes information for parents, teachers and caregivers, with suggestions and guidelines for building a love for storytelling in the hearts of children. With encouragement and empowerment, young storytellers are sent on a mission to engage the world around them with joy and creativity.

As a young roach, Francesca was warned against churches. They were disgustingly clean, barren of food, although sometimes you might find leftover rice from weddings under the pews, and they were dangerous. Francesca and Martin, a skunk, originally met in a trash can awhile back: He’d startled her by rising from the garbage, wearing a cap of coleslaw and a mustache of yogurt. As the Celebration of Creatures service approaches, Francesca yearns to be there, but Martin warns her against it: “I don’t think that we are meant to be included, Francesca. It’s for the respectables, the cute and cuddlies. We are outcasts. They’ll never let us in. Can’t you just hear the humans shrieking as we walk down the aisle? They’d be fainting left and right.” Kids and adults alike treasure this story about the value of all creatures and how all of creation has value, purpose, and God’s blessing.

A warm-hearted book for children of all ages This love story is not the kind with castles, dragons, and a princess trapped in a tower. But it has a special girl and a fluffy knight who rescue each other. The girl is Raven. She’s deaf. Children at school are hesitant to play with her, as if she’ll break. The fluffy knight is a dog, whose first owner, when he realized the puppy couldn’t hear or see, left him by the side of the road. From the moment these two meet, they understand each other. Raven asks her parents if she can adopt the dog from the local animal shelter. “She’d just read a book about an amazing woman who was deaf and blind named Helen Keller, so she called him Keller.”Raven teaches Keller sign language. Keller becomes Raven’s best friend. Together, they show those around them that it is OK to be different and that everyone needs a friend.

This graphic novel illustrates the life of St Nicholas from his beginnings as a young priest in Asia Minor in the late 3rd century until just before his death in the mid 4th century. As with St Francis and Brother Duck this story needed a 'set up character' for which the wisdom and early Christian teachings as shown in Nicholas' life can be revealed through dialogue. This secondary protagonist is a Greek-attired mouse named Cicero who is dressed to look like a little philosopher. His personality follows this image as well as his name as this philosophical critter questions much of Nicholas' Christian acts until the mouse's conversion late in the story. Unlike the childlike personality of Br Duck, the non-Christian Cicero will have an educated intelligence and wit that will act in playful fashion when placed against Nicholas' gifted wisdom.

Inspired by Pope Francis Thank you God for loving me...thank you that you hear me when I pray. This creative form of prayer has been around for a long time, and is often credited, especially today, to Pope Francis when he was the Archbishop of Argentina. Regardless of its origins, it is a powerful way to teach our children to pray that the Holy Father has often utilized in his ministry.

The gravity point of a life before God is that his followers are to love God and love others with everything they have. Scot McKnight calls this "The Jesus Creed." Now, he's worked it out with high school and college students, seeking to show how this double commandment to love makes sense and gives shape to the moral lives of young adults. The Jesus Creed for Students aims to demonstrate a simple truth—that followers of Jesus, follow Jesus. Also, it's practical, filled with stories, and backed up and checked by youth pastors.

A picture book to guide the reader through different emotions and reactions related to grieving. The text and illustrations of this lushly colored picture book guide the reader through different emotions and reactions related to grieving, including shock, tears, anger, and hope. My Favorite Color is Blue. Sometimes. is a children's picture book by design, but accessible to people of all ages.

The story of Margaret and her friend the Pope continues with Book 3 in The Pope’s Cat series. This adventure has Margaret experiencing the prayers, penitence, liturgy, and excitement of Holy Week in the Vatican and Rome—from the joy of Palm Sunday in St. Peter's Square, to foot-washing in a Roman prison, the solemnity of Good Friday, and the expectation of Easter. She learns about Jesus and the meaning of his Passion, visits important new places such as The Sistine Chapel, where she seems to pray beside the Pope, and the Roman Colosseum, where she learns that many early Christians were martyrs for their faith. Margaret's friends, the Swiss Guards, are watching over her, and she manages to eat (she still loves to eat!) some interesting foods, even though it's Holy Week. Oh yes, and she sleeps a lot.