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What Happens When Children Pray by Evelyn Christenson. Library section 9 A: Juvenile (gr. K-5), Religion and Values. This book is about teaching children to pray, that is, learning to talk and listen to God. In the first half of the book, each double page spread shows a child who prays and why the child prays – to ask for help, to give thanks, to ask for forgiveness, for the health of others. The last section of the book is a short story about a little girl who asks God to forgive her for bad things she’s done, such as not obeying her parents, being selfish, or hurting a friend’s feelings. Her mother prompts her to pray to ask for forgiveness. Afterward the little girl knows that this can be the beginning of a special friendship with God if she keeps praying and listening for God’s answers. I preferred the first part of the book, which shows the reasons and uses of prayer. The short story is a little bit preachy, but it does carry home the idea that when we do bad things God will understand and forgive us if we are truly sorry. That is a good lesson to learn. Throughout the book are Bible verses that the text and pictures reinforce.
The watercolor illustrations are inviting. ( )