Song of Creation

Song of Creation
Paul Goble
Eerdmans, 2004

In theory, I love the idea of books of prayers for kids. In practice, I never know how to use them. My daughter likes to sit down and read straight through books, which never quite works with a collection of prayers. But at last I’ve found a book that is meant to be read aloud, and which is a beautiful litany as well. We received Song of Creation as a gift when my son was born and I fell in love with it immediately. It’s the best of what I look for in childrens’ books: beautifully illustrated, fascinating to look at alone, and mesmerizing to read aloud. Add in that the reading itself is a prayerful experience, and you have a book worthy of any child’s library.

The song that creation sings in this volume is an extended litany of praise: “O all you works of the Lord, bless you the Lord: praise him and magnify him forever.” Each page is beautifully illustrated with a scene from the American West, with the repeated prayer, “O you — [buffalo, wolves, avocets, winds, lightnings], bless you the Lord: praise him and magnify him forever.” The total effect is an overwhelming sense of all of creation rising up to praise the Creator, like the stones that will cry out if we fail to (Luke 19:40).

Song of Creation does two of the most important things any theological book can do, and it does them well. First, reading this rhythmic invocation aloud draws reader and listener into the same act of praise. At the same time, it embodies a deep theological truth: there is no corner of creation (even the scary bits like darkness and lightning) that is outside of the Creator’s power. Every part of the massive cosmos exists to glorify the Lord – who, as the final words of this lovely book remind us, “is good…his mercy endures forever and ever.”