Colorful and vibrant stories about the saints, presented in a simple but educational way.

Board books perfect for little hands to flip through with ease. 

That’s the aim of Theotokos Kids, which focuses on helping parents and caregivers teach children about the Catholic faith with help from the saints. Veronica and Allan Caballero noticed a need for stories about the saints shortly after having their first child.

“Two things were important for us in raising our little ones: sharing the beauty of our faith and our Latino culture,” Veronica Caballero, who also works for EWTN, explained. “We didn’t find anything that specifically shared the beauty of holiness, especially not in Spanish, which was essential to us since we chose to speak to our daughters in Spanish at home.” 

According to the U.S. bishops’ conference, 60% of U.S. Catholics under the age of 18 are Hispanic (USCCB Secretariat of Diversity in the Church), and there is a definite lack of resources for them in the Spanish language. The resources are even more scarce for children. The founders of Theotokos Kids are on a mission to change that, as one of the only Catholic companies in the U.S. that is committed to offering all products in both English and Spanish.

“Since we had that need, we knew there had to be other families in the Church with the same need,” Caballero told the Register. “Our love for our daughters, family experience with entrepreneurship, and passion for evangelization led to the birth of Theotokos Kids.”

Books about St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Gianna Molla and Blessed Carlo Acutis are available now, including through EWTNRC.com, as well as a planned “Marian Collection” currently on Kickstarter. 

The Caballeros’ daughters, Gianna, 5, Luciana, 3, and Isabella, 2, like other children who enjoy Theotokos Kids books, have learned about prayer, heaven, the lives of the saints and God’s unending love for all of us through these stories. These books and this project have provided the Caballero family another way to grow together, too.

“My oldest loves them and everything on the business side,” said Caballero. “She wants to come with me to all the events we have. And my youngest two choose them independently over all the other books in their library. I love this because they don’t understand that their parents created them and freely chose them solely because of their beautiful illustrations and stories. Theotokos Kids has given my husband and me a new shared passion and funnel for our love of evangelization and serving other Catholic families. We love working on our family business together.”

The fruits from this family endeavor have been abundant. While giving children a greater understanding of God and his saints, Theotokos Kids has fostered within families the gift of evangelization. Parents have shared stories about how, after reading the books, their children chose to exemplify virtues featured in the stories. 

As reader and mom Lauren Dempsey of Evansville, Indiana, told the Register, “Theotokos Kids has given us a way to share the saint stories we love with our daughter in a way she understands. They are beautifully written and in a way that makes the saint shine but also includes the hardships they went through.” 

“I appreciate the St. Thérèse book talking about how she lost her mom at an early age but how, with the support of her family, she came to know how much Jesus loved her,” Dempsey added, “or how St. Gianna tried to love all her patients as Jesus would and protected her unborn baby at the cost of her own life. The pictures are so inviting and detailed. We talk about each detail in the picture and its significance. I also have the Gianna print in her room, in a pink frame; it gives us something to look at, and we ask St. Gianna to intercede for us. I do not have Blessed Carlo yet, but I can’t wait to add it and the other new ones to our collection.”

Another mom, Andrea Arango, of Coconut Creek, Florida, agreed. 

“TheotokoKids has been a blessing to my family,” she said. “My family really enjoys these amazing, colorful, bright and inspirational books. It has taught us to love these saints. My family is very devoted to Blessed Carlo Acutis; and after reading St. Gianna’s book, we started praying to her and asking for her intercession every day for our health and the health of all our family.” 

“I have given these books as birthday gifts on several occasions,” Arango added. “Every Catholic family with small children should have them. They are a great and easy way to help work towards holiness and to get closer to God. Whenever someone is sick, my kids will say: ‘Let’s ask St. Gianna for his healing’ or you would hear my kids say, ‘Carlo Acutis loved animals’ or ‘Let’s help the homeless like Carlo Acutis.’ Absolutely adorable. Praise the Lord and God bless in abundance Theotokos Kids.” 

And as writer-publisher Veronica Caballero said, “It is truly an honor for us to be able to create these stories for our own children and little ones around the world.”

LEARN MORE EWTN News In Depth will feature a related segment this week.