Can I Pray with My Eyes Open?

How does one say a perfect prayer? A young girl ponders this question while engaging in the summertime activities of her rural hometown, her thoughts developing into a prayer that, while occasionally awkward grammatically, is perfect in its directness and simplicity: ""If I'm skipping rope or playing ball,/ or walking backward down the hall,/ When building castles on the beach,/ will You still be within my reach?"" Baker's warm, vibrant oil paintings blend an almost photographic quality with impressionistic details. The people, the grass, the water, the trees are all energized and moving, the activity of the compositions reflecting the activity within the girl's mind. Together the art and text convey the deep yearning of the child to speak to God during all the moments of the day (at dinner with family, swimming in the creek, climbing a tree, playing soccer) and in all her moods (curious, adventurous, angry, hurt); she is seen with friends, family and by herself. Just as the message is nondenominational, the characters transcend questions of ethnicity: the girl is brown-skinned; her family and friends are multiracial. The final stanza awkwardly reverts from direct prayer to explanation, but the discrepancy is a mild flaw in a lovely book. For readers too young for Grandad's Prayers of the Earth (reviewed below), this is an excellent introduction to the same themes. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)