The Lord's Prayer

by Rick Warren, Richard Jesse Watson (Illustrator)

Overview

“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” The Lord’s Prayer pulses with new life through the exquisite illustrations of award-winning artist Richard Jesse Watson, and simple, yet insightful commentary by bestselling author Rick Warren. Watson’s use of vibrant color and detailed imagery beautifully captures the essence of Jesus’ words to his disciples, and Warren’s thoughtful words help make the King James Version of this prayer come alive for readers young and old.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310710868
Publisher:	Zonderkidz
Publication date:	01/27/2011
Series:	Illustrated Scripture Series
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	1,115,681
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

As founding pastor of Saddleback Church with his wife, Kay, Dr. Rick Warren leads a 30,000-member congregation in California with campuses in major cities around the world. As an author, his book The Purpose Driven Life has sold more than 34 million copies. As a theologian, he has lectured at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, University of Judaism, and dozens of universities and seminaries. As a global strategist he advises world leaders and has spoken to the United Nations, US Congress, Davos Economic Forum, TED, Aspen Institute, and numerous parliaments. Rick has also founded the Global PEACE Plan, which Plants churches of reconciliation, Equips leaders, Assists the poor, Cares for the sick, and Educates the next generation in 196 countries. You can listen to Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope, his daily 25-minute audio teaching, or sign up for his free daily devotionals at PastorRick.com.

Richard Jesse Watson has been making books for children since 1984. He collaborated with Ruth Bell Graham on One Wintry Night, and his version of The Night Before Christmas was a New York Times bestseller. Watson won the Golden Kite Award for his picture book, Tom Thumb, and his illustrations have also been selected for the Society of Illustrator’s Annual Exhibits. Richard and his wife, Susi, live in Port Townsend, Washington. Their children are following in his footsteps as writers and illustrators of children’s books.

www.RichardJesseWatson.com

Editorial Reviews

Watson and Warren's complementary visual and textual interpretations of the familiar Christian prayer provide a welcome devotional resource for parents and children. Against full-bleed paintings, Watson (The Legend of Saint Christopher) offers images of childhood's stages, beginning with a picture suggestive of Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam—here, a baby's hand clasps a much larger one against a golden orb of rays and swirls. Ensuing illustrations offer multiethnic depictions of infants, toddlers, and children, sometimes in solitary moments, sometimes joining with creatures young and old, great and small, in celebration. An illustration that accompanies "forgive us our debts" features two siblings who may have fought over a teddy bear, while an image of children playing on a great tree by the sea illustrates "For thine is the kingdom." Warren's introduction tells parents that children "have much to teach us about prayer," while his end-of-book commentary explicating the prayer addresses children; under the "kingdom" image it reads, "I am part of God's family, which will last forever and ever!" This spirited rendition should have wide appeal. Ages 4–7. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 2—With vibrant illustrations featuring children of all ages and nationalities, Watson illuminates the message of love and worship contained within the lines of the King James Version of The Lord's Prayer. Each spread focuses on a single line, which is printed in elegant font and incorporated into the painting. Images of animals and the sun recur throughout the book. Some of the pictures are painted in rich colors while others appear to be shadowy, gray pencil sketches. One particularly striking illustration shows an African-American boy drawing with colored chalk on the ground ("Thy will be done on earth"). He is surrounded by a kaleidoscope of wild creatures, sun, and stars. Warren explains the meaning behind the words Jesus taught his disciples with line-by-line commentary, teaching young readers the value of prayer. The artist also offers a reflection on what this prayer means to him. This lovely picture book is a fine choice to help parents introduce the practice of prayer into their children's daily lives.—Linda L. Walkins, Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Brighton, MA

School Library Journal

Warren, author of the mega-bestsellerThe Purpose Driven Life(2002), and Watson join forces for a thoughtful and visually appealing introduction to the Protestant version of the Lord's Prayer (with forgiveness for debts, not trespasses). Each line of the prayer serves as the text for a double-page spread with an illustration of a child (or several children) relating to that phrase in some imaginative way. For "give us this day our daily bread," a little boy feeds a flock of birds in a readily obvious choice of illustration, but for "as it is in heaven," a line of joyous children and animals (including a lion and a lamb) skip along in a procession into a mysterious swath of swirling stars and streaks of sunshine. The illustration for "lead us not into temptation" is inspired, showing the image of a solemn-faced boy in a mirror against a dark background lit by a single candle. The final pages include smaller reproductions of each page with short commentary by Warren to help explain the meaning of each phrase of the prayer. Watson's light-filled, expressive paintings bring the famous prayer into focus for younger children with greater accessibility than any other currently available edition. Both highly useful and beautiful—an unusual and welcome combination. (author's note, illustrator's note) (Picture book/religion. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews