“Molly McBride and the Party Invitation: A Story About the Virtue of Charity, by Jean Schoonover-Egolf, is the third in a series about a precocious five year old girl named Molly and her best friend Dominic. In this book, Molly’s mom said she had to invite her whole class to her upcoming 6th birthday party, but Molly and Dominic agreed that Sam, the mean boy, should not be invited. Molly and her friend Dominic learn a valuable lesson about being charitable (nice) to all, even if you don’t think you like them. It’s a hard lesson at almost six, especially when you don’t want your birthday party ruined by a mean boy. You see, they decided to ‘lose’ Sam’s invitation.

“Neither of them felt great about it, as they knew they were wrong. However, when Molly and Dominic’s families were volunteering at the local Convent, a Father Matt tells them stories about Jesus and how he was always kind to people no one else liked. He chose Peter as one of His Apostles, and drank after the Samaritan woman, sick people, and other outcasts. When Molly heard those stories, she knew she had to tell her mother the truth about Sam’s invitation.

“In the end, her family took Sam his ‘lost’ invitation and Sam came to her party.

“‘Never judge a book by it’s cover,’ my Grandma Wren used to say. She was an English and History Teacher, and one of the best people I’ve ever known. I couldn’t help but think of her when I read this sweet book. She would have loved it!

“This is a must-have for any family teaching the Virtues to their children. A book that we can all learn from.