A Child's Book of Prayer in Art

Grade 2-6?Sister Wendy, a TV personality in Britain, shows that art and religion are still mutually illuminating on the page as well as on the screen. Here, for each of a dozen works of art, she finds a moral quality to commend. Ghirlandaio's painting of a child looking raptly up into the face of an old man with a warty nose, for example, is taken by Sister Wendy to illustrate "love." The other qualities covered are respect, family, understanding, learning, forgiveness, choosing heaven, true happiness, thinking, determination, selflessness, and listening. In each case, the verso shows the whole picture; on the right are two sections of it, slightly enlarged. Two chunks of black type present Sr. Wendy's description of the painting and reflection on its moral lesson. In the center of the page is a block of large red type in quotation marks: a prayer, requesting that the petitioner be able to act on this particular moral principle. Every one is a prayer of petition for the child's own moral character: there are no prayers of glorification, thanksgiving, contrition, etc. All of the art, whether overtly religious (i.e., Christian) or secular, is turned to a specifically religious purpose. No one could reasonably object either to the sterling qualities showcased, or to the lovely reproductions. However, the didactic aims of this book are obvious. Adults who feel that this sort of didacticism?teaching virtue?is just what kids need will love this book. Those who may feel that art is its own excuse for being can still enjoy the pictures.?Patricia (Dooley) Lothrop Green, St. George's School, Newport, RI