Famous Prayers Unpacked

From the author of Through the Year with Timothy Bear come the adventures of Tom Wetherby, a young boy whose everyday escapades will be recognized by children everywhere.

Each adventure has been devised to entertain children in the 6-10 age range.

The stories unpack the phrases of two famous prayers: The Lord's Prayer and St Francis' prayer of peace. Alongside each story, there is a suggestion for an appropriate Bible link and thought-provoking follow-up material for the assembly or classroom.

Brian Sears is a trained teacher with nearly 40 years experience of primary education. He was head teacher at Yorke Mead School, Croxley Green, Hertfordshire from 1980 until his early retirement in 1997 and now continues teaching in one-to-one private tuition. Brian's book, Through the Year with Timothy Bear was published under BRF's Barnabas imprint in February 2006 and sold out within the year, reprinting in April 2007.

From: Methodist Recorder - 19 July 2007

For parents and children's workers comes a new resource: Famous Prayers Unpacked. Through the adventures of a young boy, Tom Wetherby, this book unpacks the messages of the two famous prayers and brings them to life for children. By focusing on the character of Tom, it tells 26 stories that aim to reflect the everyday experiences of children and link them to biblical values.

The book's first 13 chapters are themed around the Lord's Prayer, while the next 13 chapters deal with the prayer for peace, which is widely attributed to St Francis of Assisi. Alongside each story there is a suggestion for an appropriate Bible verse as well as additional material for follow-up activities, such as ways for the children to express the story and put it into action.

Aimed at seven- to eleven-year-olds, the short stories are designed for use in an assembly and classroom. However, the book is also ideal for Sunday school, holiday clubs and at home, as it is well written, enjoyable and accessible.

What's more, the book offers a useful means of teaching values, including how to be a peacemaker, the importance of generosity and the need to treat others with respect. As a result, Famous Prayers Unpacked will help children to engage with the prayers and encourage them to explore the relevance for their lives.

From: RE News - Summer 2007

This is a fascinating resource which focuses on an in-depth study of two famous Christian prayers: The Lord's Prayer and the prayer of St Francis. Aimed at key stage 2 pupils, each of these prayers is broken up into thirteen manageable sections. From each section the main theme is extracted and unpacked in detail through an entertaining five-minute story, featuring a young boy called Tom Wetherby and his family, followed by some examples of excellent questions designed to help pupils engage with and probe the issues further, from the perspective of both their own lives and other people's lives. The resource can be used in a number of different contexts such as collective worship, RE and circle time.

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