Faithful books for Catholic homes and classrooms.

JMJ Books publishes careful editions of the Church's classic texts, along with other books and resources for families and parishes. Our first is the Baltimore Catechism No. 1, with a picture for every question, and a companion coloring book.

See the Baltimore Catechism
Cover of Baltimore Catechism No. 1, Illustrated for Children: the Virgin Mary holds the Christ Child on a garden terrace while three children kneel and pray before them, above a deep red panel with the title in gold capitals.

Why did God make you?

God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.

Question 6, Baltimore Catechism No. 1 (1885)

American Catholic children learned the faith from this catechism for generations. Our edition keeps every one of its 206 answers word for word and adds a simple line drawing for each, ready for a child to color.

Look inside the book
Lesson 1, Why did God make us? Six illustrated panels, beginning with question 1, Who made the world?, which shows God reaching toward a small globe among the stars.
A page from Lesson 1

The books

Faithful editions of the Church's classic texts, and other books and resources for teaching and living the Catholic faith.

Baltimore Catechism No. 1

Illustrated for Children

All 206 questions and answers of the 1885 Baltimore Catechism No. 1, word for word, each with its own line drawing, plus the traditional prayers.

Third Plenary Council of Baltimore 76 pages Available now

Baltimore Catechism No. 1

Coloring Book

Every question and answer of the 1885 Baltimore Catechism No. 1, word for word, each on its own page with a large picture to color.

Third Plenary Council of Baltimore 210 pages Available now

Ordering for a parish or school?

Buy 25 or more copies of any printed edition straight from us and save up to 20%, with free shipping to one US address. Choose a book, choose Direct bulk order and check out. Orders arrive in about 2 to 3 weeks.

  • 25–49 copies 10% off
  • 50–99 copies 15% off
  • 100+ copies 20% off
Choose a book
Free coloring page for question 1, Who made the world?: God, bearded and smiling, reaches toward the earth among the stars, with the answer God made the world.
Free coloring page for question 35, What are angels?: two angels with folded hands stand on clouds.
Free coloring page for question 238, What is the Holy Eucharist?: a chalice and a host marked with a cross shine on an altar between two candles.

Free coloring pages

Ten full pages from the catechism to color, from Creation and the angels to the Holy Eucharist, plus a Hail Mary to trace. Good for a Sunday afternoon or the last ten minutes of class.

Why J.M.J.?

Catholic schoolchildren once wrote three letters at the top of every page of their work: J.M.J., for Jesus, Mary and Joseph. It offered the work to the Holy Family before it was begun. We named the press for that habit, and we try to make books worthy of it.

More about JMJ Books