NB: Product contains seven (7) individual books.

Cluny’s ALLTA Collection offers thoughtfully designed and beautifully illustrated books in premium, hardbound editions. 

“The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts.” (C. S. Lewis)

Our children’s imaginations are the desert. Irrigating that desert means preparing it to sustain good things, healthy stories, the fullness of truth. 

To do that, we need books that are good to have, good to hold, good to share.

ALLTA offers those books. Take and read.

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The True Meaning of Christmas, by Fulton J. Sheen: Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen meditates upon the Incarnation and Nativity of Jesus Christ, Son of the Most High, born in a lowly stable in Bethlehem of Judah, and the significance it bears and salvation it offers for each man, woman, and child. Beautifully illustrated by Fritz Kredel, The True Meaning of Christmas offers a joyful greeting to the newborn King of kings and Lord of lords, and makes for fitting Yuletide reading for the whole family

Good King Wenceslas, by Mildred Corell Luckhardt: When young Vojak is captured by Boleslas, he is claimed by the king and given the Christian name of Stephen, after the Church’s first martyr. Now, in faithful service to his ruler, Stephen must face life with courage and compassion, ready at each dangerous moment and every dramatic turn to follow in the footsteps of his master, good King Wenceslas. Lavishly illustrated by Gordon Laite, Mildred Corell Luckhardt’s Good King Wenceslas is certain to delight readers both young and old with its story of Christian kindness and Christmas joy.

The Saintmaker’s Christmas Eve, by Paul Horgan: Roberto Castillo sets forth for the village of San Cristóbal, in New Mexico’s Rio Grande valley, with a statue of their patron to be installed and venerated at the Midnight Mass. It is the brothers’ masterpiece: St. Christopher bearing on his shoulder the holy Christ Child. Upon his return home, Roberto greets his brother, not with the payment for their labor, but with strange, miraculous tidings. Told with tenderness and great suspense, and illustrated with eighteen fine drawings by the author, The Saintmaker’s Christmas Eve tells with imaginative fire and frank humility the miracle of Christmas: God’s mercy, made incarnate for all peoples

The Trumpeter of Krakow, by Eric P. Kelly: From the tower of Krakow’s Church of Our Lady Mary, a trumpet sounds each hour, in faithful fulfillment of this solemn oath. More than a timekeeper, the trumpeter is also a vigilant guardian, watching for enemies, riots, and fires—anything that might threaten the safety of the city. A story of excitement and mystery, handsomely decorated by Janina Domanska, Eric P. Kelly’s The Trumpeter of Krakow makes crystal clear the truth that where courage, honor, and sacrifice are found, there too is adventure.

Black Fox of Lorne, by Marguerite de Angeli: Twin Norse brothers are swept into the wilding world of tenth-century A.D. Scotland, where loyal clansmen clash with invaders, marauders, and treacherous lairds. Here they must enact a life-or-death deception: no one in this strange land reckons they are not one, but two—twin brothers with the courage to defy the odds that death might be likelier than life. As she did with medieval England in her award-winning The Door in the Wall, Marguerite de Angeli employs her familiarity with setting and knowledge of history and myth alike to craft and illustrate Black Fox of Lorne into a credible and stirring story at the full strength of legend.

Ten Saints, by Eleanor Farjeon: Gleaning the good fruit of tradition, Eleanor Farjeon has composed these stories of Christopher and Martin; Bridget and Patrick; Dorothea and Nicholas; Giles and Hubert; Simeon Stylites and Francis. Complimenting Farjeon’s brisk telling and deft rhyming are Helen Sewell’s distinctively lovely paintings of each saint. First published in 1936, fifteen years before Farjeon’s conversion to the Catholic faith, Ten Saints proves that the saints are, as Pope Benedict XVI remarked, one of the truly effective apologia for Christianity, and promises that the stories of the saints will continue to be told now and in the ages to come

The Story of Saint Nicholas, by Mildred Corell Luckhardt: Nicholas of Myra secretly gave away many gifts. Like the Magi, he knew that the right response to God’s perfect generosity is to give good gifts in our turn: first to God, with loving praise and thanksgiving, and then to one another, with tokens of kindness, affection, and Christian charity. Illustrated by Gordon Laite and based on a wide reading of history and legend, Mildred Corell Luckhardt’s The Story of Saint Nicholas is an absorbing account of the Wonderworker’s life and deeds, to which is added a summary of the legends and their fruits—most popular among which (of course) is Santa Claus.