Book 164: My First Prayers

My First Prayers, compiled by Nancy Akmon, using illustrations from Bessie Pease Gutmann, Blushing Rose Publishing 2001.

I rescued this book from a thrift store because it was gorgeous.  I thought, if nothing else, I could use the illustrations for framing.  After I read the book, I decided it was best to keep this book intact.

Some of the prayers in this compilation are a bit too Catholic for me to use, but the ones that are drawn directly from scripture, especially the Psalms, I will be teaching my young son.   Overall, there is a good range of prayers and they cover more topics than bedtime or mealtime.  That is important to me.

This, as I've already said, is a gorgeous book.  It has a padded, marbled cover, but, even better, it features all artwork by Bessie Pease Gutmann.  Her work is amazingly beautiful, timeless rather than dated, and while a bit precious, not at all twee.  A few of her "boys" could easily be my own.