Francis and the Whole Wide World: A Saint Francis of Assisi Picture Book for Children (Little Saints, Big Hearts)

Long ago, in the sunny hills of Italy, a boy who had everything discovered the one thing that finally made him happy.

Meet Saint Francis of Assisi — the boy who gave away his riches, embraced the outcast everyone else feared, and preached to the birds. Francis and the Whole Wide World gently shows little hearts that the greatest treasure of all is a life full of love: for God, for people, and for every creature under Brother Sun.

Written for ages 4 to 9, this is a warm story to read aloud to the youngest and to read alone as children grow. Each page pairs a simple, true scene from Francis's life with soft watercolour illustrations, and the book closes with a short prayer in a child's own voice and a Be a Little Saint challenge — three gentle, doable acts of kindness to carry into the week.

Francis and the Whole Wide World is the first book in Little Saints, Big Hearts , a picture-book series that introduces children to the saints as real heroes with big hearts. Every story is told gently and kept true to history — written to be trusted for a lifetime, so a saint a child loves at five can still be a friend at fifty.

A beautiful gift for a baptism, First Communion, name day, or feast day — or simply for any family raising little ones with big, brave, loving hearts.