Erie Township — Every child raised in a Catholic home knows about the excitement an Advent calendar brings.

Building up the anticipation for Christmas, each passing day means another door is open on the calendar, revealing a small treat.

Recreating that rush of anticipation for the coming of our Lord, an area Catholic couple is using the Advent season to teach children about Jesus through a familiar medium — a children’s book.

Bible Characters for Advent: The Stories that Brought Us Christmas, written and illustrated by Erie couple Theresa and Charles Pobee-Mensah, retells various stories from the Old and New Testaments.

The idea for a book came after Theresa and Charles’ first son, Charlie, was born during Advent in 2012.

“We were talking and thinking about how we are preparing our kids for the real meaning of Christmas, and what different ways we can teach them about Jesus,” Theresa said. “I like all the fun things about Christmas, but wanted to make sure the focus was on Jesus.”

By the first Sunday in Advent in 2013, the Pobee-Mensahs wrote and illustrated Bible Characters for Advent.

Theresa and Charles met at Franciscan University in Steubenville, where Theresa graduated with a bachelor’s in communication arts and Charles completed his master’s in theology. The two wanted to create a book about Advent with comprehensive Catholic theology that children could easily understand.

“I’d say we’re pioneers,” Theresa said. “I’m passionate about great children’s books; something that’s easy to read but teaches a lesson. We couldn’t find something with solid Catholic theology, so we decided to do this.”

The book is a combination of Theresa’s communication skills and Charles’ theology background, resulting in a series of 25 one-page stories recounting tales from the Bible that illustrate Jesus’ connection to great men and women in the Old and New Testaments.

The book is meant to be read like an Advent calendar, one story a day, building up to Christmas.

“Each story refers to how it leads up to Jesus’ birthday,” Theresa said. “The stories are about a particular character, but include how it all relates to Jesus. It’s is written for little kids, but my husband has a master’s in theology and helped me write it, so serves as an introduction to sound, deep theology.”

Bible Characters for Advent has received positive reviews from Catholic scholars, including Bob Rice, director of the master’s program in catechetics and evangelization at Franciscan University; John Bergsma, associate professor of theology at Steubenville, as well as parents who have purchased the book at the Pobee-Mensahs’ home parish, St. Joseph in Erie.

“We’ve probably sold a couple hundred copies thus far,” Theresa said. “We did self-publishing with Amazon and sold the books after church on Sunday and a little bit online. People really seem to like it and use it as an introduction to Catholicism for kids.”

The book sells for $20 and can be purchased at BibleCharactersforAdvent.com.

Since their first publication, Theresa and Charles have a second son, Gabriel, and are planning more books for 2016.

“Next year, we plan on having a couple of books based on the sacraments,” Theresa said. “We’re working on illustrations about confession, working on a book about mothers who lost a child through miscarriage or early death.”

Theresa realizes young children might not understand the ins and outs of Catholicism at a young age, but insists it’s important for young people to experience an introduction to the faith’s rich meaning behind the Christmas season.

“We read our children stories about things they don’t quite understand yet,” Theresa said. “They also don’t fully understand colors and shapes yet, but we still teach it to them. If you start reading to your kids before they are 1 year old, over time, they will recognize the patterns and stories and it will help them learn about God.”