In Every Tiny Grain of Sand
Name of Book: In Every Tiny Grain of Sand, A Child’s Book of Prayers and Praise
Author: Collected by Reeve Lindbergh
Illustrator: Christine Davenier, Bob Graham, Anita Jeram, and Elisa Eleven
Publisher: Candlewick Press
ISBN: 0-7636-0176-4
Audience: Ages 6 and up
Summary: A collection of poems, prayers, and writings that offers a rich smorgasbord of religious traditions, cultural expressions, revered poets, and noted historical figures to expose the reader to the familiarity of their world but also a lens to view from a different perspective.
Literary elements at work in the story: The book is divided into four sections: For the Day, For the Home, For the Earth, and For the Night. Each section is illustrated by a different contemporary artist from four different countries that celebrates the colorful expression of diversity. A French poet who writes a prayer offered by ducks, a Black Elk Indian acknowledging that a circle symbolizes the structure in which the power and presence of life exists, an East African prayer that commands Mount Kilimanjaro to praise God, to a Pope equating feeding the birds as a form of prayer explores, illuminates, and teases the minds of readers.
Perspective on gender/race/culture/economic ability: The placing of a Jewish and Muslim prayer on the same page conveys to the reader simply a conversation. The global sensitivity of the collection invites the reader to listen, to ponder, and see that we share some commonalities as members of the human race and residents of the earth.
Scripture: Acts 2:1-13
Theology: The portrayal of a variety of images, expressions, and traditions to convey appreciation, reverence, praise, and awe at creator and creation resonates throughout these pages. What are names that people all over the world use to call God, God? Where do they see God and how do they describe God? Questions such as these give us room to discover, wrestle, grow, respect, and enter into a global conversation. The Acts of the Apostles records a gathering of people from all nations in Jerusalem speaking in own language of God that echoes the voices of rabbi, pope, Indian, poet, Muslim, and Buddhist. If we listen with open minds and hearts we can hear the sounds of the holy catholic church that is professed in the Nicene Creed.
Faith Talk Questions:
- What are names that we find for God in our Bibles?
- How might you describe God? (Note examples from the book to initiate conversation if timid. Example, page 50.)
- If God is an animal, how might we describe God? (Examples pages 3, 41, 48, and 53.)
- If God were a the sky how might we describe God? (Examples pages 10 and 69.)
- If God was an African, how might we describe God? (Examples pages 49 and 55.)
- Do you think there is only one way to describe God?
This review is written by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Alice Blanton
In Every Tiny Grain of Sand by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
