This might be a bit of a stretch to ask what St. Patrick and red pandas have in common, but I love the story behind St. Patrick’s teen life and calling to love the Irish.  My intent in writing Rojo was to give the world a unique (and educational about pandas) story to encourage loving self and others as God created and call us to do. Doesn’t St. Patrick demonstrate this in his forgiveness of the Irish pirates and those who forced him into slavery?  That plus most people know very little accurate information about both.

St. Patrick was Romano British, not Irish. He was kidnapped by Irish Pirates from his noble home in Brittan when he was a teenager and forced into Irish slavery.  He didn’t go by the name Patrick until he trained to be a Catholic Bishop many years later in France.  He returned to Ireland to share God’s love and knowledge with the Irish…the people who at one time kidnapped him. He most likely used the clover to explain God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Three distinct roles in the same one God.

Red pandas were named panda first.  Not the Giant panda.  They are not raccoons or foxes. But, rather very cute creatures that can teach us something about God and his creation too.  Check out how in Rojo, The Baby Red Panda at the Zoo by Hope Mucklow.

Read more about St. Patrick in St. Patrick’s Day by Gail Gibbons and Patrick Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!