Nearly five years ago, Brian Shields (the producer of the motion picture Thérèse) convinced Ken Davison and Jim Morlino to create Glory Stories, which within a couple short years developed into a weekly radio standard for both the Ave Maria Radio Network and WEWN, the radio arm of EWTN. “I was excited when Ken contacted me just about a year ago to ask if I would help them create a new series of audio shows for families, stories which teach the faith in a beautiful way,” Shields said. “Now, we’re already finishing up the 4th Holy Heroes CD, and we’ve brought each one out in English and Spanish, besides, meaning we’ve produced 2 complete CDs for the price of one.”
“And we have five new Catholic coloring books, each one also with English and Spanish on every page-so we’ve had parishes and home school groups and even nuns on missions to Latin America order bulk packages as teaching aids,” said Ken Davison. “But it hasn’t been our ability to so rapidly produce a series of solid new products to teach our Faith that has really amazed us-it’s been how fast the word has spread about our website. We’re bringing in about 100 new customers every month and the pace is actually picking up with the start of school again.”
What has been the secret to such rapid growth? Free samples.
“I like to be able to page through a book, to listen to a CD, to know if my kids will find it interesting and useful,” said Kerri, a homeschooling mother of 8. “But unless you have a Catholic gift shop nearby-and time!-it is just so hard to check out the products. I like that on the Holy Heroes website (http://www.holyheroes.com/) I can download a free coloring page or listen to excerpts from the CDs before I buy.”
“A few months ago, we decided to go one better than just a free coloring page,” continued Davison. “We now offer an entire coloring book free on every order. You can choose whichever book you’d like and the price is automatically taken off at checkout. It’s the ultimate test-drive, because when the book arrives, you’ll discover that the captions aren’t just a line or two, they are a paragraph, so you actually get a complete story that you can illustrate yourself. In fact, we’ve gotten emails from parents that their children ask them to read the coloring book to them as a bedtime story! When was the last time that happened to you with a coloring book?”
Parents will be pleased to know that the books actually follow along with the CDs, so you can give your voice a rest by just popping in the companion CD. And the artwork is exceptional, with beautiful illustrations drawn by John Webber and Caroline Spinelli, both former Disney artists. Other Disney artists collaborated on the full-color artwork seen on the CDs and coloring book covers.
“We sell Glory Stories, Holy Heroes, and The Altar Gang CDs,” said Davison. Due to the success of Glory Stories, Shields launched his own catechetical audio series, The Altar Gang, and is currently working on turning it into animated video.
The Glory Stories CDs (ten in all) teach the Faith through the true-life stories of the saints, complete with rousing music and real accents, so you are transported beyond our time and borders to feel like you are in the action. For example, Blessed Imelda (volume 1) teaches about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist through her miraculous First Communion, St Faustina teaches about the sacrament of Confession through the Divine Mercy story (volume 4) , St Cecilia teaches about the communion of saints, and Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha teaches about the effects of the sacrament of Baptism (both on volume 5).
The first four Holy Heroes CDs (3 of them are on sale now with the fourth in final production) form a 4-volume set of the Mysteries of the Rosary-plus rosary miracle stories and other fun information added on at the end. Each mystery is introduced with an explanation of ‘what happened in the mystery’, then before each ‘Hail Mary’ a child reads a verse from the Scriptural revelation of the mystery. Original orchestral music by Eric Genuis and William Straub aids in the beauty of the meditations.
“The music and sound of the children praying the ‘Hail, Holy Queen’ in the Joyful Mysteries CD alone is worth buying the CD,” says one father. “But even more, the introductions and the presentation of the Scripture give my children a deeper and more captivating understanding of the depth of the mysteries. I mean, we always see a picture of Gabriel and the Blessed Virgin for the Annunciation, right? But in the Holy Heroes CD, you actually hear the whole conversation that took place and get more insight into what those words would have meant to a young, 1st century Jewish girl. I pray the rosary by listening to it on the way home from work in the car. I actually have deepened my understanding and ability to pray the rosary-and I’m not a kid.”
Holy Heroes, Glory Stories, and The Altar Gang CDs and companion products are available in many Catholic stores and online at www.holyheroes.com.
