Customer Reviews

Prayers, Praises, and Thanksgivings

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This is a beautifully illustrated volume useful for all ages in helping young people to become thoughtful, introspective and prayerful. It contains simple prayers, words and ideas for the very young and broader, more complex ideas for children as they grow. It also serves to demonstrate a commonality of spiritual interests and views across a broad spectrum of ideology

Stoddard, known for children's religious works (A Child's First Bible; The Doubleday Illustrated Children's Bible), turns to contemplative religion for children in this work. A beautifully illustrated collection of prayers develops through three stages. Beginnings, aimed at the new to prayer, is a compendium of short, easily memorized verses of thanks to God. Reaching Out turns the focus onto the more mature in belief, encouraging thanksgiving and wonder at daily blessings. The Great Journey is aimed at even older and more mature supplicants, perhaps better appreciated by parents than the children at whom the book is aimed. Isadora's gentle watercolor illustrations highlight the bounty of nature, and tenderly reflect the variety of cultures from which Stoddard has chosen her prayers. While Beginnings is composed of mostly Western ritual prayers, the book progresses into a wider circle of faiths, from Native American to Muslim to Hawaiian. It is also highly diverse in age, from ancient chants to modern poems reflecting a wonder and joy in remembering God's hand in daily life. The index to first lines is helpful in finding favorites long forgotten or newly enjoyed.