I CAN SAY A PRAYER

Preschoolers incorporate prayer into their daily activities in this collection of 12 short prayers.

Washing up, making music, sharing a meal and being kind to animals are some of the circumstances explored by a multiethnic group of cheerful children, who get along remarkably well without any grownups in sight. Most of the prayers rhyme, and most are written in first person, with a variety of children serving as narrators. Several of the prayers are based on familiar Bible verses, mostly from the Psalms and concluding with the Lord’s Prayer. The version of the Lord’s Prayer used here is that of the Church of England, which differs slightly but noticeably from the versions used in U.S. churches. Bold, cartoon-style illustrations provide a cheery complement to the text of prayers, with simplified shapes and appealing characters with disproportionately large heads and uniformly earnest expressions. The final spread shows Jesus teaching the Lord’s Prayer to the assembled preschool-aged characters shown throughout the book, which may need explaining from a historical standpoint.

A pleasant but not essential introduction to the concept of integrating prayer into daily life.