This Little Prayer of Mine

This Little Prayer of Mine, written by award-winning author Anthony De Stefano, is endorsed by The National Day of Prayer. It presents a child's prayer, including all sorts of fears and concerns, all offered up to God in sweet trust. The child asks God to help when he or she is afraid, hurt or confused. It prays for forgiveness when mistakes are made and asks for help to be good. The child prays for specific things encountered throughout the day, then imagines what the future might hold, always seeking God's will in each imagined scenario. Told in rhyming verse, the text reveals a tender child's faith.

"When I trust in you, my God,
and in your plan for me,
I know there's nothing in the world
that I can't do or be."

The illustrations by Mark Elliot feature realistic images of children in many different scenes. While the some illustrations include muted colors, they are filled with warm emotion and invite interaction.

What I Like: The illustrations are wonderful. My kids (ages 6 and 4) enjoy looking at them and talking about the children on each page and what they're doing. The book is very attractive; it offers diversity in characters and lovely details of action and expression. I like that the book encourages a natural prayer rather than rote memorization. This endorses the belief that we can have a personal relationship with God and that we can talk to Him about anything.

What I Dislike: There are no answers in this book. Written from a child’s perspective, I understand why, but I wish some assurances were offered. The last page reads “Please, God, love me forever. That’s all I want. Amen.” It sounds as if God could stop loving us. Because the text already touches on fears and insecurities, I wish it ended with a positive, encouraging affirmation. Also, some of the language seems simplistic for the suggested age range.

Overall Rating: Very Good.

Age Appeal: 4-8, but I recommend 3-6.

Publisher Info: Waterbrook Press, 2010; ISBN: 0307458040; Hardback; $12.99

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