Tag: window on the world (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

Window on the World

Until now, I have proceeded as usual with my publishing schedule. I usually plan out blog posts a few months in advance, so while our family found our footing under a stay-at-home order in Washington state, I let that schedule hum along and publish books I’d chosen months before.

But it occurred to me the other day that, really, I want to shift focus a bit while many of us face some degree of quarantine. For the rest of the school year, I’d like to share books that, I hope, encourage and equip you all during this strange season. Books for kids dealing with difficult issues. Comforting read-alouds that remind us of the big picture. Educational resources that are both enjoyable and easy to use. Devotionals that draw our hearts back to God when we are ambushed by fear.

I hope that you all are finding some measure of peace and comfort during this season when so much is uncertain. I find the greatest source of hope and courage in the gospel, which is not dependent on our circumstances, but was written for us long before any of us lived. Let us mourn our losses and bring our sorrows to God, our true and steadfast hope. And let us also rejoice in him, for he is our true comfort, and he will never change. My prayer for you, dear friends, is this:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Romans 15:13)


And now for today’s book!

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

At the start of the school year, after I’d spent the summer planning to homeschool and then, abruptly, preparing our girls to return to school, I got to choose one book from the massive reading list I’d assembled for our home-school-year-that-wasn’t—one out of dozens that the girls and I would read together, one Friday morning lunch at a time.

I passed over beautiful history books, thrilling science books, charming story books, and landed on this book: Window on the World. This, I thought, is the one thing I want to share with them this year.

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

Window on the World is a prayer resource for families filled with double-page spreads on different countries or ethnic groups around the world. Through stories and facts, authors Molly Wall and Jason Mandryk introduce readers to the culture, history, and Christian church of each country, while giving both an on-the-ground perspective of daily life and a flyover view of the country’s larger details, like population and geography.

We have worked our way through this one slowly, spreading each country’s reading over three or four days. And at the end of each reading, we pray—fumblingly, some of us very much with the training wheels on. We are new to praying as a family, and I’m grateful for the way this book has nudged us to think beyond the borders of our home, church, and city.

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

Of course I had no idea how this year would progress—I didn’t know we’d be homeschooling again by the end of it, or that the world would seem so unsteady. It is probable that life in these countries will look like different by the time this particular storm passes, but even so, I am grateful for the chance to gather together with my girls over empty lunch plates and pray for our brothers and sisters around the world, knowing that our Father knows their needs just as surely as he knows ours. When so much seems uncertain, it is good to clasp hands with my daughters and remember that.


Window on the World: An Operation World Prayer Resource
Molly Wall & Jason Mandryk (2018)