BOOKS: Bless All Creatures Here Below

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1997:

Bless All Creatures
Here Below
A Celebration for the Blessing of the Animals
by Judith Gwyn Brown
Morehouse Publishing (POB 1321, Harrisburg, PA
17105), 1996. 32 pages, illus., hardcover, $15.95.

Presented as an illustrated children’s book, Bless
All Creatures Here Below could also serve as a guide to
assist churches in preparing a blessing of animals, including
verse, music, and prayers for the occasion, all kept
unthreateningly ecumenical. I wondered about the inclusion
of a dragon and a unicorn among the other animals
receiving blessings in the illustrations, but decided that the
mythical animals do belong, together with the religious
symbols a sharp-eyed child may spot in archetectural
details of the backdrop. The author invites everyone to
come and be at pease together, and to borrow and reproduce
one page of the book as a poster inviting animals and
their people to your local blessing ceremony.
––Phyllis Clifton