Just as children have dreams, say Archbishop Tutu and Abrams (previously paired with Tutu for God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time
), so does God: “God dreams that every one of us will see that we are all brothers and sisters—yes, even you and me—even if we have different mommies and daddies or live in different faraway lands.” The authors understand that direct prose can often be the most reassuring; they tell readers, “God does not force us to be friends or to love one another.... But when we say we're sorry and forgive one another, we wipe away our tears and God's tears, too.” Pham (Big Sister, Little Sister
) forgoes much of the impishness that enlivens her best titles, but even though she's working with familiar brotherhood-of-man tropes (a global cast of children, some wearing non-Western clothes, gather in a single, idyllic location to play and worship), she nimbly sidesteps triteness through her velvety, saturated palette and the unassuming sweetness of her characterizations. This is not a book to win converts, but a wide range of believers, including children at the younger end of the target audience, should respond to its heartfelt appeals, Ages 2–8. (Sept.)
