What do we do when our prayers run dry? For Sparrow, who has always begun the day with grateful prayers, it's a torment to discover one day that "his words get tangled and knotted in his beak like old yarn and straw." Wise little bird that he is, he goes to seek help from friends.
None of the friends have verbal prayers to give him, and herein lies the charm of this book. Rather, each prays by doing what they do best: Turtle by collecting and sharing berries, Mouse by painting, Buck by dancing. As they let Sparrow help — for instance, by flying up with various paints on a brush so that Mouse can find the best shade to match the sky — Sparrow not only learns numerous ways to pray but also finds joy in companionship.
Roger Hutchison is an author, illustrator, educator, and director of Christian Formation and Parish Life at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas. He uses his writing to promote healing and hope. Ag Jatkowska, who illustrated Sparrow's Prayer, uses a mix of soft and bold colors and whimsical touches — like Turtle proudly carrying a gift of pie on his back — to bring the story alive.
"We are created exactly as God intended," writes Hutchison in his Author's Note, "and we each have different ways of learning, communicating, moving about, and experiencing the world around us." The first four verses of Psalm 139 (NRSV) close the story for four-to-eight year olds and underscore its message:
"Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely."
