MY FIRST PRAYERS

Fifteen short prayers for younger children appear in this collection, accompanied by illustrations of children from many different cultures and ethnic groups. The prayers are primarily Christian—the author is an English vicar—with the inclusion of a Cherokee prayer that refers to the Great Spirit and a brief prayer from India that does not mention God. Others are from England, the United States, European nations, East Africa and South Africa. Fournier’s attractive illustrations are well integrated into the text, with some joyful scenes of children playing outdoors in different locations. Sharp-eyed children will notice that the illustration for the beloved German prayer “Fourteen Angels” (from Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel) has not 14 but 15 angels guarding the little blond girl asleep in her bed. Though there are many collections of prayers for children, this one’s strengths are the brevity of the prayers and the varied ethnicity of the children in the cheerful illustrations. A list of acknowledgements gives some greater specificity to the prayers’ origins. (Picture book/religion. 3-5)