The Hexalogy of Saints

During his extensive sixty-year career, artist Dan Paulos was approached multiple times to create a children’s book reflecting on the final hours of Christ’s life on earth. Initially, he declined, believing the theme was too somber for young hearts. However, a transformative moment occurred when his mother delved into their family’s archives and unearthed a book he had written in eighth grade, titled A Simple Way of the Cross for Children. This discovery reignited his passion. leading him to illustrate the fourteen “Stations” with woodcut-like images intended to resonate with children. Despite his initial self-deprecating remarks about his poetic skills, the small book-featuring the original 1964 text alongside new illustrations – was first published in 2021.

Later, when planning to reprint his four saint stories, he included the Stations of the Cross in the unique collection, recognizing children’s fondness for rhymes and the joy they experience when stories share the same rhythm as songs.

In 2021, Dan joined a precious artist-friend, Anne Simoneau, collaborating on four saint books that she had lovingly illustrated many years earlier. From this partnership, “A Hexalogy of Saints” (Stories of Christ and Saints for Children) was born, which includes his original “A Simple Way of the Cross for Children”,