Child's Book of Prayer in Art

I found this book in the library first before I bought it and I liked the values that it would teach through the paintings of some of the greatest artists of all time - Giotto, Diego Velazquez, Jean-Francois Millet & Caravaggio. It is inspiring for children and adults alike. It teaches children what they really need to know about: love, respect, family, understanding, learning, determination, forgiveness, choosing heaven, true happiness, thinking, selflessness, & listening. Sister Wendy has really understood the concepts of Vatican II, rediscovering Christian Unity, and she presents them in a very ecumenical way so that this book can be used by all Christians and it is especially useful in an interchurch home.

Loving Sister Wendy's Book of Meditations, I wanted to share the love with my nine year old grandson. Advice: Take one picture, one meditation, and elicit from him what he sees in the picture, what he thinks it means, etc. In a few days, or next week, sit together and discuss another picture. This is a "delicious" menu which must be savored slowly and deliberately, to be enjoyed for its best. Do not, repeat do not, read it with your child as though it were a novel. Do it right and you and your child will love it.

5/2/04 This book was a "great find"(on the shelf of children's books at a 'St Vincent de Paul Society' thrift store...The knowledge that the pictures are not your 'traditional'masterpiece paintings make the 'visual tour' of it one which makes you keep returning to find where did those 'cameo' pictures come from that Sister Wendy Beckett has placed throughout the book (e.g. The jacket is Domenico Ghirlandaio's "Portrait of an Old Man and a Young Boy"(which is on Page 10 and is also listed on the 'picture list'/page 32 as being at the Musee du Louvre,Paris . The book is not too extreme for today's child (1.their cartoons 2.their 'rap artists' & 3.their extreme sports , make this book which would have been controversial in the 1980's ,just contemporary in its year 1995 publication ,first by Great Britain's Dorling Kindersley Limited ,followed by a "First American Edition" by New York,USA's DK Publishing Inc....,with colors enhanced by Verona,Italy's G.R.B. Graphica.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I took it to work where it was loved by all, including atheists. Sister Wendy truly is imbued with the Holy Spirit and it just comes pouring right out of the pages of this book. Reading level is listed as 4 - 8 years of age, but my 9 year old and I and love it too. The prayers are simple, honest, direct and lovely. Suitable for use with even the youngest child. The paintings and her comments lend themselves to medidation by people of all ages. Sister Wendy helps us to see the divine joy in art, and through it, life.

A great book for children, with beautiful art pictures, and beautiful prose & thoughts of prayer & reflection.