Customer Reviews

Song of Creation

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The book is a slight paraphrase of a prayer from the Liturgy of Hours and from the Common Book of Prayer. This particular prayer is based on the prayer offered to the Lord by Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the Old Testament prophetic book of Daniel, after the Lord saved them from death in the fiery furnace.

Of course it's the same over and over again -- it's a liturgical prayer with a statement (to be read by the reader) and a response from the congregation. Anyway, by the fourth page, my 2 1/2 year old was saying the response along with me: "praise Him and magnify Him forever" in her own little lispy way. It was beautiful!

The illustrations are gorgeous. For example, on the page with "O all you birds of the air, bless you the Lord: praise him, and magnify him forever", there is an illustration of teh sky with cranes flying. The author has added in small type "o you cranes..." yadda yadda. There are forests, pine trees, horses, eagles, elk, on and on.

I think it would be a wonderful addition to any family worship or prayer time in the evening. I can see how someone not acustomed to liturgy would find it repetitive and perhaps, boring. But if you understand what it is, I hope you might change your mind and decide it is not boring after all, but reverent, worshipful and honoring.

Some reviewers may have missed the "Note" which prefaces this book (it's on the copyright page). That is unfortunate because it's critical to understanding the book itself. The "Song of Creation" is a very old Christian prayer that appears in the Book of Common Prayer and the Liturgy of Hours, among other places. What the author has done is reprint that prayer and add additional things from North America's flora and fauna for which he is thankful. So yes, the text is repetitive. It's supposed to be. It's a Christian canticle which is several centuries old.

Those who appreciate or are interested in North American wildlife will treasure Mr. Goble's artwork and the additional lines that he added to the canticle. This is a beautiful book that can be used to teach about wildlife, prayer, and introduce elementary readers to the use of repetition in poetry and prose.

I suggest that readers concerned with the text search for "song of creation" and determine if the text is something they would appreciate.

It is basically the same line over and over. (Fifty times!) I tried to push through and both my kids walked off. Terrible. Don't waste your money.

I purchased this book because it was recommended by the home school curriculum I was using as additional reading material. I was very disappointed with this book - it is plain boring. I did not see its value or its relevance to the curriculum we were studying. It is not something my kids would read again and again - I could barely get them to sit through it once.