My Tender Heart Prayer Book

Caitrin Bennett reviews a new resource for teaching young children to pray in all the ordinary, beautiful moments of their days. 

The sun is up, it’s time to pray. Thank you, Jesus, for this day.

So begins the first prayer in Laura Sassi’s new book for young children, My Tender Heart Prayer Book. On the following pages, children will find sweet rhyming prayers for many other moments in their daily routine: getting dressed, eating lunch, going on an errand with Mom, or playing with a friend.  

I especially love that young children are encouraged to pray when they are experiencing strong emotions, like sadness, and in thanksgiving for the gift God has given us in the Bible. Each prayer has an associated Bible verse to look up and a question for the child to ponder. These “heart moments,” as they are called in the book, include questions like “How might you shine God’s love while playing sports today?”  

My Tender Heart Prayer Book is the second installment in a three-part series by Laura Sassi for children learning about their faith. Just as she did in My Tender Heart Bible, Sandra Eide has provided simple, innocent illustrations that capture the wonder children find in the seemingly ordinary details of our world.  

Laura Sassi has thought of so many opportunities to inspire the youngest Christians to lift their hearts to the Lord. I highly recommend this sweet series to parents looking for resources to read to a preschool-aged child about the faith. The low reading level would also allow a first- or second-grade emerging reader to enjoy this book on his own. As the book is nondenominational in content, it could certainly be given as a gift to a non-Catholic Christian child. 

Ask for My Tender Heart Prayer Book at your local Catholic bookseller, or order online from Amazon.com or the publisher, Paraclete Press.

Copyright 2023 Caitrin Bennett
Images: Canva
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