"Two little eyes to look to God; / Two little ears to hear his word; / Two little feet to walk his ways; / Two little lips to sing his praise; / Two little hands to do his will; / And one little heart to love him still." This charming Welsh prayer is typical of the treasures found in this collection of devotional pieces from around the world. Bijou Le Tord has written and illustrated many books for children including The Deep Blue Sea and The Little Shepherd. Her watercolor illustrations provide a simple elegance to the thematic sections of Morning and Sun, Plants and Harvesting, Children, the Sea, Animals, Praises and Thanks, Songs and celebrations, and Night and Moon.
Some of our favorites include an Inuit magic prayer to greet the dawn, a Shaker song in praise of simplicity, an African child's thanks for peanuts, a Japanese haiku by Issa, and a poem by Langston Hughes about beauty. We also love a piece by American children's book author Madeleine L'Engle in which she salutes the creation of the earth with images of taking a bath: "I put the two mountain peaks of my knees / under water and bring them up again. / Our earth was like that — / great churnings and splashings, / and continents appearing and disappearing."
