HEAR MY PRAYER

Hopkins, one of the best-known anthologists of children’s poetry, has selected 13 short prayers for this collection, including two of his own. Most of the prayers are unexceptional short works from anonymous authors on topics of family, friends and the natural world. Two familiar selections are the “God bless the moon” rhyme and Robert Browning’s oft-quoted “all’s right with the world” lines taken from Pippa Passes. Moore’s illustrations are imaginative and full of vibrant colors, and she makes an effort to include children of many ethnic groups and an interracial family, though the boys in her paintings outnumber the girls. Her child-friendly figures look as though they've been fashioned from Play-Doh, and her perspectives also reflect a child's imprecision—a pleasingly friendly touch that brings communication with the lofty and sometimes unapproachable God entirely within reach. Several prayers are difficult to read because they are printed within illustrations on dark backgrounds of night skies, but overall it is a sweet collection. (Picture book/religion. 3-7)