FolkloreAges 10–11
Lives of the saints
Jacobus de Voragine (Golden Legend, c. 1260) and later retellers · 1260
CatholicEuropean
St. George and the dragon. St. Francis preaching to the birds. St. Christopher carrying the Christ-child across the river. St. Nicholas and the three sisters. The folk-religious tradition of the medieval West, ordered by the liturgical calendar. The Golden Legend is the source compendium; for a child of ten, start with Tomie dePaola's saint books or Ethel Pochocki's Once Upon a Time Saints.
A note to parents
Many of the great saints were martyrs and their stories include torture and execution. Modern children's retellings (dePaola, Pochocki) handle this gently; the unabridged Golden Legend does not.