Book Review: Everyone Prays by Alexis York Lumbard

Source of Prayer for USA Photograph: By Harley Pebley (Flickr: Prayer for USA)
 [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Disclosure: Wisdom Tales gave me a copy of this product free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Today is the Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Having many Jewish friends, my Facebook feed has been filled with Happy New Year comments the past couple of days. Happy New Year and best wishes for the new year to all who are celebrating! (The holiday started Wednesday night at sundown.) Hazel goes to a Christian school, and we are very active at our church. This summer she learned The Lord's Prayer and is pretty good at saying it without too much help. We talk about praying all the time as well as other religions. One of her good friends is half Jewish, so she always asks questions about Judaism.

With all of this on my mind I thought today was a great day to share this wonderful book, Everyone Prays: Celebrating Faith Around the World by Alexis York Lumbard and illustrated by Alizreza Sadeghian. This book is beautiful. It has colorful illustrations representing people all over the world. The text itself is simple and leads to discussion and questions. It is the perfect introduction for children to other religions and the fact that many of the world religions pray to the same God. 


In the appendix is a few sentences about each religion mentioned in the book. It includes how long the religion has been practiced, where they worship, who they follow and who started it, etc.  

Source: Wisdom Tales

 
The book itself shows the many differences in the world and religions yet also shows how we are the same. In this day of violence claimed to be due to religion, it is important for us to realize how similar we all are and our religions are. This book does this in a basic way that is easy for young children to understand. The book is aimed at 4- to 8-year-olds and was released in March. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to help their child understand some connections between the religions and understand some differences. 

Around the World In 12 Dishes: Vietnam Part 2: Grilled Lemon Grass Beef

We made one more Vietnamese dish last week. This one needed to marinate for at least four hours, so we did it on a different day. I found the recipe in Cooking the Vietnamese Way by Chi Nguyen and Judy Monroe.

Hazel helped me make the marinade and soak the skewers. First we had fun with the lemon grass sticks though. We played air drums with them.

We pretended they were rhythm sticks.

And we gave ourselves bunny ears.

Then it was on to cutting, measuring and mixing. The recipe called for two lemon grass sticks. I don't know if mine were too big or what, but it was definitely too much. The marinade was overtaken by the lemon grass. I put the lemon grass and garlic into the food processor to get them small enough.

Grilled Lemon Grass Beef or Bo Nuong Xa adapted from Cooking the Vietnamese Way

1 1/2 lb. sirloin tip, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons sesame seeds
2 stems lemon grass, finely chopped (I would only use one next time)
Bamboo Skewers
Optional: 2 teaspoons chopped scallions or fresh mint for garnish

1) Mix the sirloin, sugar, soy sauce, pepper, garlic, sesame seeds, and lemon grass together. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

2) Soak the bamboo skewers in water while the meat marinates.

3) Preheat oven to broil or start grill. 

4) Thread beef slices onto skewers accordion-style. Broil or grill for 6 to 8 minutes, turning often so they are cooked evenly.

5) Serve hot and garnish with mint and/or scallions.

Steve and I liked it. Steve really seemed to like it. Hazel thought it was all right, but I think she would have liked it with less lemon grass.

Around the World in 12 Dishes is hosted by these lovely blogs:

Adventures In Mommydom, Afterschool for Smarty Pants, All Done Monkey, Crafty Moms Share, Glittering Muffins, Kid World Citizen, Mermaids' Makings, The Mommy Talks and The Usual Mayhem

I hope you will take the time to check them all out and check out everyone's great explorations of Vietnam. If you have a Vietnamese dish or craft or lesson, please share it here as well!! The Vietnamese placemat and passport pages are coming soon for help with extra learning about the country.

For more posts about Vietnam check out:

Lunar New Year and The Golden Slipper: A Vietnamese Cinderella, and Beef Pho and Banana Coconut Che

Hispanic Heritage Month Celebrating with Music--Celia Cruz and Musical Crafts & Giveaway!!

As Hispanic Heritage Month continues on, we are sharing what we have been doing to learn more about Hispanic Music. A few years ago we made maracas, guiro, and a cajita based on Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou's tutorials. We also made zampoñas and a rainstick previously (thanks to Daria). This year we got a free copy of Daria's latest e-book: 10 Musical Crafts to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage. You can get a free copy this month on her Monthly Song Page (and scroll down to enter a great giveaway). After this month you can purchase a copy on Teachers Pay Teachers.