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mellyrose
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Months ago, I pre-ordered
Take It To The Queen and it arrived a week ago.
It is a companion book to Weight of the Mass and I'm just thrilled with it. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is one of riches and misuse and redemption. I'm happy to add it to our shelves!
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Melanie in AZ
Colin (11/00), Nate (05/02), Lydia (04/07)
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Pictures of our Life
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Angie Mc
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Ooooooooooooooooooo, you have it! Another thumbs up here  . I should have my copy within the week. I'm really looking forward to receiving it.
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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NavyMom
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Just ordered it as a gift for a friend's baby, but looking forward to reading it first with my own kids!!! Thanks for sharing Melanie. I had not heard about it until I read your post.
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Cay Gibson
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I haven't blogged it yet but with the boards closing I wanted to give you all a heads up. Josephine Nobisso has kindly donated a free, autographed copy of Take it to the Queen for this week's Book Walk.
What a lovely Christmas gift. Josephine is so kind! 
When I get the blog post up, you will be able to leave a comment in the comment's section and the winner will be drawn Friday, Dec. 26th.
Merry Christmas!
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
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Sarah M
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I just received my copy last week! It is absolutely lovely.
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Jen L.
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So glad to hear these great reviews - I am giving it to my 11 dd for Christmas!
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Jen
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Rachel May
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I'm glad to hear the reviews too. The Amazons reviews made me want to look at the book first hand before giving it. I know it will be lovely, but will mine understand it is the thing I want to figure out.
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Rachel
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St. Ann
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My 9 yr old is receiving it Christmas day!
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Cay Gibson
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Don't forget...
You can win an autographed copy!
Drawing is tonight!
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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donnalynn
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My friend lent this book to me a couple of weeks ago - I've read it and reread it several times - I really *want* to like this book but I find it hopelessly confusing.
Aidan (age 6) wants to know who the mayor is? I have no idea what to say!!! 
He recognized the Queen as Mary and the son as Jesus but the character of King and the mayor have him very confused.
I know the author states that she takes liberties but it is all a little too mixed up for me - so much of symbolism is familiar but in such an out of context way that it made me uncomfortable. For instance - the gold faucets - it seemed like this could represent the grace of God but then I had a hard time time with the horses drinking the overflow and the women wringing their wash in the waters.
Maybe I am looking for more than there is?
The illustrations are lovely.
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CrunchyMom
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I guess I didn't see it so strictly allegorical as to make everything mean something so specific. I think a lot of the details are just there to make it a pretty story. Jmo.
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CatholicMommy
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We got our copy about 3 weeks ago. I admit that some points are a bit confusing at first, but I decided that is just makes us think about things a bit more. Our hardcover copy had many (and I mean MANY) of the symbols explained on the back of the wrap-around flaps.
(I've lent it out now so can't look these up specifically)
I am pretty certain the King is God the Father; the mayor is the steward of the community (so could represnt any of the Biblical leaders). I liked my interpretation of the hand-less clock representating "all time" - eternity. I forget how the author explains it on the flap, but I'm sticking with my own interpretation :) My 4 year old had some questions too, but he's 4 and it's an allegory so we just discussed it a bit and will come back to it when he's older. The children in our parish sacramental preparation program got into some great discussion about it, leading them to looking up Church teachings on certain things (like going to Mary with our intercessions, and how did God KNOW that Mary would say "yes" - that sort of thing).
I forget now about the gold faucets - if the author explained them or not...
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donnalynn
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There's more info on the flaps???
Ah ha - am I the only one who didn't know to flip the flap back to find more info? 
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CatholicMommy
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I wouldn't have known except that my son takes the paper cover off while we read and replaces it when we're done. That's when I saw it! (but then I read the flaps themselves and it even says to flip it over... but who EVER thinks to do that?) So no, you're NOT alone!
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VeronicaB
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I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds it confusing. Also the info at the back has got me worried - mentioning Luisa Piccaretta as inspiration which might explain the oddness of the symbolism. I can't find my copy here, but I was wondering if this bugs anyone else. I guess the search for the ultimate Catholic Picture Book goes ever on...
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CatholicMommy
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VeronicaB wrote:
| Also the info at the back has got me worried - mentioning Luisa Piccaretta as inspiration which might explain the oddness of the symbolism. I can't find my copy here, but I was wondering if this bugs anyone else. |
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This seems to be one of the (many!) issues I am utterly naive about. The only information I can find on Luisa Piccaretta are about Jesus' Divine Will and that a canonization investigation has begun... I know I am missing something - can someone help me out?
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VeronicaB
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Catholic Culture's article or Is It Catholic?. I just read the wikipedia article which describes the cause for her beatification. It's still under debate. I have found Catholic Culture's website to be very reliable and the rest of the 'Is It Catholic' chapters seem sound. I haven't looked into the arguments in any way, who has time? But it does seem dubious and there's so much real approved stuff to read. I guess Jo Nobisso herself would be the one to explain the gold faucets and so on - that might give us more to debate - but as homeschooling mothers we aren't called to devote ourselves to public debates - okay that's a little broad, but I hope you know what I mean.
Was it a JPII quote - test everything?
Anyway, hope that gives some background.
And I'll try to be clearer in future - try not to assume too much. I can't remember where I first hear these things - my family has been having debates on just about every private revelation since i can remember. One uncle or other has tried every odd devotion and my Grandfather did his utmost to keep us all on track.
Reminds me of G K Chesterton's Orthodoxy - it's like staying on a horse galloping at full speed, trying to keep the faith.
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Cay Gibson
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Josephine Nobisso is composing a detailed and, what she hopes, a helpful reply to your questions and concerns.
Stay tuned...
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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JoiNobisso
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Josephine Nobisso here, jumping into this discussion. Thank you for bringing your thoughts on Take It to the Queen, A Tale of Hope to light. What a wonderful opportunity this affords me, as its author, and Maria (my daughter and business partner), as its art director!
With this book’s very first review, Maria and I became aware that it raised questions, and so we are grateful to have a forum where we can offer behind-the-scenes insights into its creation and message, for the reader’s kind consideration.
During the writing and art direction of this title about Our Lady, we composed over 6,000 words of theological thoughts, and could have written much more.
Unfortunately, we could fit only about 1,000 words onto the undersides of the flaps. Our musings ended up being, of necessity, in “telegram” style—truncated “blips for the reader to ponder”--so, do not blame yourself if you are left with the feeling that you are confused or missing something! We beg your patience with this book, and promise that repeated readings of it will reward you--and the children to whom you read it--with ever-deeper satisfaction.
To give an example of the difficulties we faced in fitting everything in: did you know that Saint Joseph appears twice in the book? You won’t find him mentioned in either the text or the tips, however. He is in the art, as the coachman. Now, of course we understood that Saint Joseph is not physically present during the Gospel accounts in which the book references him, but we also know that he participates in a very special way in the Communion of Saints, and that, as such, he is mystically present. In the illustrations of Take It to the Queen, he is portrayed as silent, strong, obedient, and serviceful, “driving” Our Lady and Jesus toward whatever the Father requires, because we know that he was like that when he was, indeed, physically present in the Gospel, and that his dignities could not be less in Heaven.
We classify some of Gingerbread House’s books not by an age level, but as “cross-over” titles, meaning that they speak to all ages, at the appropriate level for each age. Like parables, allegories take on a life of their own when they enter the reader’s mind, and they are understood on vastly disparate levels each time they are encountered, according to the disposition, knowledge, and understanding of that mind at the time of each encounter. (We’re depending upon the gifts of the Holy Spirit!) We employed the allegorical fable platform to offer readers a way of exploring meanings that are larger than our little story itself. And since this book deals with a story that is not only limitless, but that is the ONLY story, as far as we are concerned--that of salvation--it seems fitting that it have this quality of “mystery,” this sense that every time its depths are plumbed, one emerges with a different “reading.” We hope that you will not be put off by this quality, but that it will endear the book to you. (Some members of this forum seem to already be using the book for finding jumping-off points from which to broach theological questions with children.)
All that said (and we thank you for your patience in getting this far in our post!) we address the specific concerns voiced in this forum. (And we thank those members who gave great explanations of the book!) The key to cracking the code of this book (and we use that word “code” consciously, in response to the nonsensical “theology” found in another book, which shall remain title-less here, but which is the impetus behind our having referenced several of Leonardo da Vinci’s compositions), is that the imagery in Take It to the Queen stands for many things at once, because this story encompasses all eras, as does, of course, salvation history, the book’s very subject. Creation itself can be viewed both as simply mundane and as a Sacrament. So, to “donnalynn’s” (sorry I don’t know members’ names!) concerns about the faucets and the water: the water coming from the villagers’ fountain represents EVERYTHING that God gives that has to do with both physical, literal water and figurative, imagistic water--from drink for livestock, to physical sustenance, to the dignity of cleanliness, to every form of grace, to the Living Water that is Jesus Himself, to the waters of the Kingdom, as portrayed in The Book of Revelation, etc. In short, the water in the book stands for “water” in every sense, because water is given to us from God in every sense!
The gold faucets represent not only actual material gifts, but also graces, and The Sacraments, and so many things that we, the publishers of this book, have probably not even recognized, and which we are confident will be revealed through the insights of others. (We welcome and invite any thoughts from you! Discussions about salvation can only enrich us all!) The idea of using the coachman, for instance, was not ours, but the illustrator’s. Once we saw him, Maria and I recognized him as Saint Joseph.
In our story, the villagers’ defrauding each other of gold faucets by trading them for those of bronze speaks of the past and current ages of paganism and idolatry. We all know, for instance, that gold can be both “bad” and “good,” in that it can be crafted into an idol, or it can glorify God when used wisely.
So, you see, children and adults may read this book as deeply or as lightly as they like, because no matter how it is read, Take It to the Queen will offer Catholic sustenance.
As for the mention of Luisa Piccarreta, I hope you’ll indulge my posting another reply to this forum. It should serve to clarify many things!
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JoiNobisso
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Hello again! My future posts should not be so long-winded!
Discussion of Luisa Piccarreta’s alleged revelations in connection to my book necessitates another clarification. I would consider it a tragedy and a travesty if my book in any way gave a negative impression of Luisa. She was a faithful daughter of the Church, always subject to priestly authority, and no obstacles at all have been presented to her Cause for beatification, even though countless witnesses to her life are still alive. When her writings were, indeed, once placed in question, it was over the kind of cautious misunderstanding that Saint (Padre) Pio experienced. A priest who misinterpreted Luisa’s writings once added his own “odd” preface to one volume. Once this preface was removed, the Prefect (the then Cardinal Ratzinger) saw no further problem, and the ban was lifted. Luisa’s understandings do not present a new gospel, but they do make the Gospels explicit. The central theme in Luisa Piccarreta’s writings is the fulfillment of The Lord’s Prayer--living in God’s Will.
Luisa’s extraordinary confessor, Saint Annibale Maria di Francia, is already canonized. (JPII raised him to the Altars of the Church on the same day as he did our dear, heroic Saint Gianna Beretta Molla.)
I have been studying Luisa's writings for many years, and must suggest that if an English-language reader is having difficulty reading them, it may be because the translations into English (from the original Italian) sometimes use very awkward phrasing. Home-educators will appreciate this: in some translations, there is no use, for instance, of the possessive adjective, so that even a simple phrase like “Love of God” may cause confusion. Does it mean “God’s love,” or “the love one should have for God?” (A “critical” edition of the English translation is now being prepared in Rome. We won’t know how clear that will be, of course, until we have it in hand.)
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Topic: Take it to the Queen
