Phil 3:17 Portrait - Tessa Colina

Philipians 3:17 - Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.

While attending a church book sale a few years ago, I came across the book pictured below. I bought it only for the curiosity of owning an older children's book about the Bible. Finally in preparation for some new articles this Easter, I picked this book up and took a closer look.  It is filled with great poems and stories about the life of Christ for the child's level.

Cover & dust jacket for "Bible Stories About Jesus" by Tessa Colina.
Standard Publishing. 1954

Then I took a closer look at the author's name. "Tessa Colina". It is a distinct name I thought, so I must do some research on her.

Tessa Mae Patterson Adams Colina 

November 16, 1915 - February 24, 2003

Tessa Colina was the author of at least 24 books for children and families about the Bible and biblical teaching. All of Colina's books were published by David C. Cook and/or  Standard Publishing where she was a writer and publisher for over 40 years. Her books touched on arts and crafts ("Fingerplay and How To Use Them", 1952), church youth education & program services ("A Year of Programs For Children's Church", 1962), and adaptations of Bible stories ("Bible Stories About Jesus", 1954).

A lot of information is not available online about Colina's life outside of what is printed in her brief obituary. Also look at her "Find A Grave" page.

The following is not a complete bibliography of Colina's books, but may be close based on what is available in libraries listed in World Cat: This listing is also available in World Cat

Colina, Tessa. 1949. Stories from Daniel. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing.

Colina, Tessa. 1952. Fingerplays and how to use them. Cincinnati: Standard Pub. Co.

Colina, Tessa. 1952. How to conduct the primary department. Cincinnati: Standard Pub. Co.

Colina, Tessa. 1954. How to conduct a vacation Bible school. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Pub.

Colina, Tessa. 1954. Bible stories about Jesus. Cincinnati: Standard.

Colina, Tessa. 1954. My Bible dictionary: with pictures. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Pub.

Colina, Tessa, and Vera Kennedy Gohman. 1955. Ark full of animals. Cincinnati, Ohio: The Standard Publishing Foundation.

Gohman, Vera Kennedy, and Tessa Colina. 1955. Ark full of animals. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Pub. Co.

Colina, Tessa, and Romilda Dilley. 1960. Children in Bible lands: stick-on art. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Pub.

Colina, Tessa, and Romilda Dilley. 1960. Noah and the animals: stick-on art. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Pub.

Colina, Tessa. 1962. A year of programs for children's church. Cincinnati: Standard.

Colina, Tessa. 1963. Pattern book: ideas & patterns for decorations, teaching aids, handcraft. Elgin, Ill: D.C. Cook.

Colina, Tessa. 1963. Missionary programs for the church. Cincinnati: Standard.

Colina, Tessa. 1963. Christmas programs for the church. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Pub.

Colina, Tessa. 1963. Easter programs for the church. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Pub.

Colina, Tessa. 1965. As we saw it. Chicago: D.C. Cook.

Colina, Tessa. 1965. Tested ideas for presession activities. Elgin, IL: David C. Cook.

Colina, Tessa. 1966. Easter program helper. Franklin, Ohio: Eldridge Pub. Co.

Colina, Tessa. 1968. Tested ideas for socials. Elgin, IL: David C. Cook.

Colina, Tessa. 1969. Christmas program helper number 15: program ideas for the Sunday School. Elgin, Ill: David C. Cook.

Colina, Tessa. 1971. Christmas program helper number 16. Elgin, Ill: David C. Cook.

Colina, Tessa. 1978. Jesus and me: 52 lessons on the life of Jesus with stories, illustrations, and activities. Cincinnati: Standard Pub.

Moncure, Jane Belk, Tessa Colina, and John Bolt. 1980. You and me: a handbook about needs. Elgin, Ill: Child's World.

Colina, Tessa, Jean Shannon, and Dan Loprieno. 1981. Tom's terrible secret. Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Pub. Co.

Colina, Tessa, Hertha Depper, and Marianne Lindgren. 1986. Den första julen. Örebro: Evangeliipress.