Rainer Oberthür

Our Father The Lord’s Prayer is essential to the Christian faith, yet the language and the ideas it conveys can be daunting to children. Our Father addresses children’s questions in a way that is both clear and poetic; Rainer Oberthür beautifully explains the meaning behind each line of the Lord’s Prayer, making it more accessible for young readers. With bold, inviting illustrations that perfectly complement the text, this book will give readers of all ages a deeper understanding of God. (amazon)… (mehr)

This is a picture book that features the Lord's Prayer illustrated and explained for children. The illustrations are simple, representative of items rather than realistic images, and beautifully colorful in toned down but bright earthy tones. The pages are thick and glossy, and the binding is very sturdy. This is a book that will stand up to use over time.

Phrase by phrase, the book moves through the prayer, using simple but meaningful words that young children can understand about each part. The words make an effort to make the reader feel that God is close to us, caring, loving and accessible. I really like this feature about the book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from LibraryThing on behalf of the author. I was not required to write a review, positive or negative. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”… (mehr)

I had hoped that this book would help introduce the Lord's Prayer to two of my grandchildren who are preparing for First Communion. After reading it, however, I was unsure of the intended audience. I found the copyright page informing us that it is meant for 4 to 8 year olds, which seems about right for the style of illustrations, but I felt that it might be far too wordy and abstract to hold the attention of children of that age. So I asked my daughter who has three children between 4 and 9. She said that it would be over the head of even the oldest. After some discussion, both of us agreed that the presentation of the concepts was more suitable to adults. The text could provide material for meditation on the Lord's Prayer; it's the sort of thing you might expect to find in pamphlet form in a rack in a Perpetual Adoration chapel. But it is really not something that the average child could grasp, or even sit through the reading of.

Still needing a simple explication of the Lord's Prayer, I turned to another book from the same publisher: Our Father by Sabrina Bus. Here's the difference in the first two words of the prayer: Rainier Oberthur takes two pages of text and 127 words to explain 'Our Father'. "You are here for us. You always have been. You always will be. You created us. You breathed into us the breath of life -- the same breath that even now fills our lungs..." and so on for another 11 sentences. (I'm not sure the average four year old could tell you with any accuracy what a lung is, or recognize the phrase "even now".) Sabrina Bus says simply, "God, we can talk to you like a father. You think that everything we tell you is important." THAT is what I want the little ones to know! Thank you, Eerdmans.… (mehr)