Review
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Title: Anna Hosanna: The Fastest Prayer-Sayer Ever!!
Author: J.D. Clark
Publisher: Wellspring Publishing
Genre: Children's fiction
Year Published: 2008
Number of Pages: 37
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN10: n/a
ISBN13: 978-1-884312-33-0
Price: $15.95
Reviewed by Jeffrey Needle for the Association for Mormon Letters
The title character is Anna Hosanna. Her claim to fame is that she is the fastest prayer sayer ever. She takes only a moment to speak with God. One day, she receives a letter, an invitation from heaven. God is inviting her for a conversation.
Anna is excited, but when she gets to heaven, she learns that God is only willing to spend as much time with her as she has spent with him in her prayers. Anna learns a lesson -- don't skimp on your prayer life!
If all this sounds a bit mundane and even a bit silly, remember the target audience -- children who are forming habits for life. LDS parents want to teach their children about the importance of prayer, the importance of spending quality time talking to Heavenly Father. What can seem trite to us can excite the imaginations of children. The illustrations in this volume are designed to attract the attention of small children; along with the text, they provide a lively and exciting study of the importance of prayer.
A unique feature of the work is the author's clues which, when decoded, reveal Anna's Secret Moral Message. Alternating pages have questions buried in a corner. Filling in the clues, in a template at the back of the book, the child can discover this secret message. Some of the clues are simple enough; others will perplex young children and perhaps some adults. Some are clumsy, such as: "Find a letter with a dot above, For you and I, God will always love." I'm still running that through my brain to determine whether it's grammatically correct. And, in one case, "If you turned Anna's nose on it's side this would be, The letter you're looking for, Now turn it gently!..." -- well, an editor should have caught the error -- "its" instead of "it's" -- a common mistake, always a bit disconcerting.
Children are impressionable. They spend a great deal of time in front of the television watching cartoons and other programming. They are exposed to so many influences, many of which will stay with them for a lifetime. LDS parents who follow the counsel of the Church are anxious to spend as much time as possible teaching their children about God and leading them in times of prayer. "Anna Hosanna" is a nice way of introducing children to a fundamental concept of their religion -- their need to talk with God as often as possible, and to spend time with God from an early age.
Jeffrey Needle
Association for Mormon Letters
jeff.needle@gmail.comwww.aml-online.orgwww.LDSBookLovers.com/Needle.html
