Let’s Pray: First Prayers for Little Catholics

Title: Let’s Pray
Subtitle: First Prayers for Little Catholics
Genre: Children’s/Religion & Spirituality
Illustrator: Charlot Byj (1920-1983)
Publisher: Guild Press, distributed by Golden Press, New York, New York
Series: A Catechetical Guild Book
Year: 1952
Pages: 32
Format: Hardback with printed cover, small-format.
Provenance: “35” written in pencil on first page.
Opening Sentence: “We call it the Sign of the Cross because we make it like a cross.”
Random Passage: “We ask God to keep us and all men from wars and sadness. We beg Him to take care of all people so that they will all know Him, and love Him, and come to heaven with Him at last.”
Notes: This slim volume was meant to introduce youngsters to the concept of prayer, explaining each part of several well-known Catholic prayers with soft and appealing illustrations of sweet-faced, pious youngsters (including, surprisingly, non-white children). Artist Charlot Byj started in the greeting card business, eventually parlaying her talent into a series of collectible figurines produced by Goebel in 1957-88. Enjoy the full contents of Let’s Pray below.