When Sparrow can't find the words to pray, he discovers new ways to connect with God without words.
When words are hard to find, prayer blooms in unexpected ways.
Sparrow wakes each morning, ready to sing a prayer of thanksgiving. But not today. Today his words get tangled and knotted in his beak like old yarn and straw. He feels sad and gray, and he's not sure why. So Sparrow decides to ask his friends Turtle, Mousie, and Buck for advice on how to pray. Each friend shows Sparrow a different way to pray without words, through generosity, art, and movement. As the day ends, Sparrow meditates on a rose aglow in the evening light and has an epiphany: Every living thing does what God created them to do. Each life is, itself, a prayer of thanksgiving. Often, the most powerful prayers do not include words. Lyrical and unique, Sparrow's Prayer is a tale about an unexpected and life-changing encounter with the holy.
Backmatter includes an author's note with a reflection and suggestions for using different senses to pray.
Publisher: 1517 Media
Original Binding: Hardcover Picture Book
Pages: 32 pages
ISBN-10: 1506481590
Item Weight: 0.7 lbs
Dimensions: 9.3 x 0.1 x 9.3 inches
Customer Reviews: 4 out of 5 stars Up to 30 ratings
"Anyone who struggles with finding the right words to pray now has a companion in Sparrow, whose friends Turtle, Mousie, and Buck are wise to the truth that prayer is a full-bodied experience of being present to God with or without words. Thank you, Roger Hutchison, for offering this teaching to children as well as the adults who love them. We will read this book over and over again to remind us of how many ways there are to pray." --Barbara Brown Taylor, author of An Altar in the World
"Leave it to Roger Hutchison to teach us that prayer is song and dance, giving and art. Sparrow's Prayer is a story that makes us want to celebrate through the many voices of our soul." --Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, author of I Am Not Afraid: Psalm 23 for Bedtime
"For the fidgety kids among us, lost for words, Sparrow's Prayer offers this great reassurance: We too can be wholehearted prayers! It's as simple as doing what we love with love." --Gayle Boss, author of All Creation Waits
"Thank you, Roger, for these delightful, tender truths. Our seeking, giving, making, dancing, and even waning is praying. Amen." --The Rev. Winnie Varghese, rector, St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Atlanta
"Teaching children how to pray is one of my most joyful and sacred tasks as a parish priest. Roger Hutchison's newest book will be at the top of my toolbox for this calling. This picture book encourages readers to think broadly about prayer, though action, art, and dance, while acknowledging that sometimes we can't find the words to pray. I can't wait to see how today's youngest ministers operate in the world after learning how to pray with their whole being. I plan to buy copies not only for the church library but for the children in my family." --The Rev. Elizabeth Felicetti, rector of St. David's Episcopal in Richmond, Virginia and author of Unexpected Abundance
Roger Hutchison is an author, illustrator, educator, and director of Christian Formation and Parish Life at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas. In addition to Sparrow's Prayer, Roger is the author of seven books, including My Favorite Color Is Blue; Sometimes: A Journey through Loss with Art and Color; and The Very Best Day: The Way of Love for Children. Roger's ambition is to use art, color, and poetic language to communicate love and promote healing and hope in today's hurting world.
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