I received a complimentary copy of this book. This review is written voluntarily. In addition, this post contains affiliate links which may earn me a percentage of the cost of the book. This will not increase your pricing.
P.R.A.Y. Pals: When We Pray, What Do We Say? Illustrator: Mike Henson Published by The Good Book Company on April 1, 2026
Genres: Children's Christian Education
Format: Hardcover
Source: TGBC
This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.
My Thoughts
I’ve read P.R.A.Y. Pals three times now, and apparently the third time was the charm.
After my first read, I thought it was a good book, but I expected more because there’d been so much hullabaloo surrounding it. Coming back to it again, I realized there were a lot of really good things I hadn’t fully appreciated the first time around.
The colors are bright and cheerful, the illustrations are adorable, and the characters are brilliant. I especially liked the way the characters are used to help children think about prayer without making the book feel like a lesson disguised as a story.
And the rhyming is on point. It flows well and feels natural rather than forced.
I also really liked the repetition throughout the book. Repetition is one of the ways we learn and remember things, especially as children, so having important ideas repeated throughout worked well for me.
One thing that especially stood out was the explanation of why we pray through Jesus Christ. The book makes the connection that Jesus is the reason our prayers reach the Father. Could they have gone into more detail? Sure. But hey, it’s a children’s book. We don’t want to scare them too much before bed. Lol.
I also loved the grandparent connection behind the book. Christy Hooper originally created the Pray Pals while raising her own children, and years later the idea was carried into the next generation of the family. As a grandparent myself, that thrilled me. I’m fully here for grandparents creating resources that help the next generation grow in faith.
WHAT I LIKED
There’s a lot to like about this book:
- The colors and illustrations immediately grab your attention. Everything is bright, happy, and inviting, and the characters are memorable without being overdone.
- I loved the concept behind the book and the way it shows children that prayer can be both personal and something we do together.
- I also appreciated that the book doesn’t simply tell children, “You should pray.” It actually gives them something to work with. Toward the end, there are prompts that give children language they can use when they’re learning how to talk to God.
- That makes P.R.A.Y. Pals more than a cute story. It can become a starting point for conversations and prayer time between children and the adults in their lives.
WHAT gave me pause
- The cover, characters, colors, and illustrations feel aimed at very young children—somewhere around ages 3–5 but the vocabulary doesn’t always feel aimed at that age group.
- There are words such as sin, repent, and yield that I’d put firmly in the churchese category. The book does explain the ideas behind some of those words. For example, when it talks about repentance, it gives children examples involving doing something wrong, being sorry, asking God for forgiveness, and asking Him for help to do better. But a young child may still ask, “What’s sin?” or “What does repent mean?” And honestly, some older kids may too.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- P.R.A.Y. Pals gives children a simple and memorable introduction to prayer.
- It teaches that prayer is more than asking God for things. It gives children examples of different ways they can talk to Him, while reminding them that prayer happens through Jesus Christ.
- It also gives families something they can use together rather than simply handing a child a book and walking away.
- The biggest strength, for me, is the combination of memorable characters, repetition, rhyme, color, and practical application.
- The biggest weakness is the vocabulary. The ideas are child-friendly. Some of the words used to describe those ideas aren’t quite as child-friendly.
MY RECOMMENDATION
I’d recommend P.R.A.Y. Pals for families, Christian schools, Sunday schools, children’s ministries, and anyone looking for a colorful introduction to prayer for children.
For younger readers, I’d definitely recommend reading it together. That gives adults the opportunity to stop when words like sin, repent, or yield come up and explain them in language the child already understands.
And that actually may be one of the best ways to use the book.
After three reads, I’m much more impressed with P.R.A.Y. Pals than I was after the first one. The characters are brilliant, the rhyming works, the colors are wonderful, and the concept is strong.
I just wish the vocabulary matched the age of the children those adorable little characters seem to be inviting into the story.
Huggability Factor: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ — Very Huggable
P.R.A.Y. Pals: When We Pray, What Do We Say? is basically the “meet the whole crew” book!
It introduces Poppy, Rainy, Airy, and Yessy and gives readers a peek at the part of prayer each Pal represents. But they don’t stop there—each character gets their own book too!
Poppy gets praising, Rainy tackles repentance, Airy learns about asking, and Yessy takes on yielding to God’s will.
So if one little Pal steals your heart, good news: they’ve got more story waiting for you.
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