Tag: the lords prayer (page 1 of 1)

9 Books About Prayer for Children

Prayer is a beautiful, essential part of the Christian life. Through it, we know our God better. We see ourselves more clearly. And yet, it is confusing. And hard. And we hardly ever want to do it. Why pray about things when God already knows everything? Why talk to someone we can’t see? How do we know he’s listening?

These are questions kids (and adults) ask. So it’s helpful to have great resources on hand to help us parents as we do our best to answer our children’s questions. (It is also helpful to offer up a bumbling prayer: God, I don’t know what I’m talking about. Or what my child is hearing. But you know! Please help! I am a big fan of the bumbling prayer.)

9 Books About Prayer for Children | Little Book, Big Story

On this list, you’ll find a few books about prayer, a few books of prayers, and a few books that help guide your family’s prayers—bumbling and otherwise.


Loved, by Sally Lloyd-Jones

Loved, by Sally Lloyd-Jones | Little Book, Big Story

Sally Lloyd-Jones’s lovely paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer is a delight to read together. Loved introduces the youngest readers to the beauty of simple, open, childlike conversation with God. (Read the full review.)


Everything a Child Should Know About Prayer, by Nancy Guthrie

What Every Child Should Know About Prayer, by Nancy Guthrie | Little Book, Big Story

This is a topical book that looks at prayer from all sides. Nancy Guthrie uses short, warm readings to help guide a family discussion. (Read the full review.)


The Prayer Map for Girls: A Creative Journal

The Prayer Map for Girls: A Creative Journal | Little Book, Big Story

This guided journal helps children learn to pray by giving them simple prompts and lots of space to write their prayers. (We, of course, have the edition for girls, but Prayer Map journals are also available for boys and for adults.)


The Lord’s Prayer, by Tim Ladwig

The Lord's Prayer, by Tim Ladwig | Little Book, Big Story

Like Loved, this book looks at the Lord’s Prayer, but Tim Ladwig tells a parallel story through his illustrations that shows what it looks like to live out that prayer. (Read the full review.)


Psalms of Praise, by Danielle Hitchen

Psalms of Praise, by Danielle Hitchen | Little Book, Big Story

A sweet board book to start the youngest readers praying from Scripture! (Read the full review.)


A Child’s Book of Prayers, Illustrated by Michael Hague

A Children' Book of Prayers, by Michael Hague | Little Book, Big Story

A classic compilation of traditional prayers, hymns, and passages from Scripture.


Window on the World, by Molly Wall & Jason Mandryk

Window on the World, by Molly Wall & Jason Mandryk | Little Book, Big Story

This prayer guide introduces readers to different countries and people groups in the world, sharing both practical stories about life in that country as well as ideas for how to pray for that country’s people. (Read the full review.)


Psalms for Young Children, by Marie-Helene Delval

Psalms for Young Children | Little Book, Big Story

This paraphrase of selected psalms introduces young readers to the range of emotions the psalmists explore and invites families to pray through passages of Scripture together. (Read the full review.)


Prayer for a Child, by Rachel Field

Prayer for a Child, by Rachel Field | Little Book, Big Story

This classic picture book is a beautiful prayer for the littlest readers. (Read the full review.)


But grown-ups like books about prayer, too, right? Right! Here are a few of my favorites:

A Praying Life, by Paul Miller
Prayer, by Timothy Keller
Every Moment Holy, by Douglas Kaine McKelvey
The Divine Hours, by Phyllis Tickle
The Valley of Vision, ed. by Arthur Bennett

The Lord’s Prayer

There comes a time in every book reviewer’s life (I assume) when the book titles trickle in slowly. Sometimes, they arrive in a rush of books so beautiful that I’m left with a full and happy editorial calendar—those are the good days. But sometimes, I’m left trawling through that vague “Religion” section at the library or clicking thumbnails on Amazon almost at random, hoping there’s a new book out by a favorite author or something worth sharing with you.

I’m in that place now: there are a number of new books coming out this spring (by Jennifer Trafton! And Douglas Kaine McKelvey!), but they’re not here yet. And I have a number of books on hold at the library, but I’m not holding them yet. And so I went book-hunting on Amazon and—success!—found The Lord’s Prayer.

The Lord's Prayer, by Tim Ladwig | Little Book, Big Story

I have reviewed a number of Tim Ladwig’s books, and I know by now that his illustrations don’t sit quietly in the background, behaving nicely while the text tells the story. No, they spring from the mind of a storyteller: as the text tells its story in print, Ladwig tells his in pictures, harmonizing with the written word and illuminating the humor, heartbreak, or joy in each sentence.

The Lord's Prayer, by Tim Ladwig | Little Book, Big Story

The Lord’s Prayer is no exception: many of us have heard it recited plenty (our church says it aloud together every Sunday), and so I imagine it’s challenging to find a way to illustrate such familiar words. But by centering his illustrations around a father and daughter who set out to serve an old woman, Ladwig shows how each line of the prayer can be lived out in practice. A whole story unfolds behind Jesus’s words, and it draws them out of the realm of rote repetition and holds them close enough for us to see what it looks like to ask God for “our daily bread,” or to “deliver us from evil.”

The Lord's Prayer, by Tim Ladwig | Little Book, Big Story

This book quickly became a favorite among our girls. We had fun finding details in the illustrations and talking them through together (“What is she doing? Why do you think he did that?”). But Ladwig’s strength, really, lies in his characters’ faces—he gets those expressions just right, and that brings his paintings to life. A gentle look passed between father and daughter, or the grateful smile of an old woman convey as much or maybe more than plain text could.


The Lord’s Prayer
Tim Ladwig (2002)