A Prayer For Children

A collection of short essays on children--featuring the author's famous poem "A Prayer for Children"--runs from humorous observations on family life to moving stories about children suffering the effects of war and illness. Reprint. 35,000 first printing.

Ina Hughs admits she is no E. B. White, but she must at least have been a White groupie to wield an essay with such noticeable skill. She is the author of the extraordinarily popular poem "A Prayer for Children," which gained exposure through Good Morning, America, Ann Landers, and TV Guide. That work is a set piece for this anthology of short prose selections in which Hughs shows us how to value our children. Drawing on experiences with her own children, famous children, and the child she was, Hughs leads us through a looking glass into a world of bravery, joy, guilt, disappointment, humor, nostalgia, and wisdom. We laugh at her imaginary friend, Verifrickus, who knew exactly where Ina's brother's shins were under the dinner table. We commiserate when a seventh-grader spends a day in her locker weeping into her gym shorts after the teen of her dreams reads her love letter aloud to an appreciative audience. Hughs is a writer in control. For her, less is more. Her style is succinct and powerful. This is a book of nuggets for anyone who has a child, knows one, or has ever been one. You can't stop reading them. Patricia Hassler