Remembering Fun with “John and Jean”

When I was in Catholic grade school, I remember that all my textbooks seemed to be centered on God. We had science books that had titles like Knowing God’s World, or something like that, and I, of course, especially remember the readers we had. Researching it now, I believe what I was reading back then were called the Cathedral Basic Readers, and from what I can tell, there were at least 32 of them written by a Catholic priest named Fr. John A. O’Brien. These helped shape my worldview, even at that young age.

Fr. O’Brien was a prolific author. Born in 1893, he became a priest for the Diocese of Peoria and was affiliated with the University of Illinois, where he served as chaplain to the Catholic students and earned a Ph.D. in psychology. He also wrote several books for adults, one of the most popular of which was The Faith of Millions, a book about Catholicism directed at non-Catholics, which became a bestseller. His children’s books were written starting in 1931 and through the 50s.

For the Cathedral Basic series, he took the public school characters of Dick and Jane and wrote Catholic-focused stories for them. In later editions, the characters names were changed to John and Jean. What I found so comforting about these books was that Catholicism was part of everyday life for the characters. It was common to have religious settings or practices in the stories which often included a priest character. This was simply part of the fabric of life for these characters.

Today, so much of entertainment is completely devoid of anything religious, or if religion is represented, it is usually shown in a less-than-favorable light. In my writing, I want to recapture the concept of Catholicism being part of everyday life. I want to include priest characters who are very human and approachable, but also very holy, and good role models for my characters.

As my Flaugherty Twins Mysteries series unfolds, we will meet just such a priest character who will become a significant part of the twins’ lives. Not only will he help model faith for the teens, but he will also become a trusted advisor when they face moral dilemmas. Fr. Chuck will make his first appearance in Book 5 of the series.

In the third installment of the series, Lost on Black Mountain, which is due out this summer, I introduce the first explicitly Christian characters. This trend will continue throughout the series, with Christian and Catholic characters expressing their faith as part of everyday life, all still within the context of the mysteries which unfold before the teens.