In an anxious world, nothing will bring us closer to sanity than gratefulness, which is, as Br. David Steindl-Rast puts it, an embrace of life's great fullness. This embrace can go as far as appreciating an opportunity to help amid a crisis or as near as thanks for sunshine and family.
Those nearby aspects of gratefulness — naturally the best place to start with young children — are exactly what this inspiring board book offers. It's made up of brief, lyrical prayers of thanks for sunrise, family and friends, the beauties of the natural world, home, time together, night, and the twin gifts of life and God's love that holds us. An extended, diverse family gathers around a campfire with two dogs and a guitar, for instance, and we read:
"Thank you, God,
for time together,
for meals shared and songs sung,
for love whispered."
Author J. Bradley Wigger is currently a professor at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary in Kentucky. He specializes in children's studies, and is currently doing field research interviewing children about their religious beliefs and practices. The illustrator, Jago, has won multiple awards and produced work for nearly 60 books and a few magazines, as well as a TV show or two. His vibrant pictures here are like visual prayers for peace and harmony.
When the unabridged hardcover version of this book came out in 2014, it won an S&P Best Spiritual Books Award. Children ages one to four will find this new board book soothing and uplifting (and, for the littlest ones, less destructible than the hardcover version!).
