How Big Is God?

A mother leads her son through a conversation about God in this smoothly conceived if slightly bland picture book. The boy begins by asking where God lives, and when told that God lives in his heart, the boy concludes, reasonably enough, that God must be extremely tiny. The mother's responses use kid-friendly language to point to the mysteries of God (“Think of him like sand, small enough to make its way into your sock. Or big enough to make a whole dune”). Alternating between traditional layouts and the occasional vertical spread for emphasis, Bryant (previously teamed with Bergren for God Gave Us You ) depicts the talk as action unfolding over the course of a day, in an enticing array of settings, from snowy fields hemmed in by mountains to the bottom of the ocean, from outer space to a waterfall. Despite the range of scenery and an abundance of patterns, the sameness of the palette and of the characters' pared-down expressions tends to dampen the visual interest. On the plus side, Bergren's nondenominational approach presumes little; parents can be anywhere from vaguely spiritual to active in a religious community, and still want to share this book with their children. Ages 3-7. (Jan.)