Back in 2007, Kevin Mayhew rang me with an idea. He’d come across a collection of stock photos featuring dogs, cats, mice and the like, and wondered whether I’d be interested in selecting the best pictures from the collection and then writing short prayers to go alongside each one to make up a collection of four small gift books: The Little Book of Cat Prayers, The Little Book of Dog Prayers, The Little Book of Mouse Prayers and The Little Book of Bear Prayers. Interested? I certainly was. The photographs were enchanting, ideas for each one leaping out at me, and before long those first four books were published, to be swiftly followed by five more: The Little Book of Rabbit Prayers, The Little Book of Bird Prayers, The Little Book of Farm Animal Prayers, The Little Book of Baby Prayers and The Little Book of Wild Animal Prayers. I loved working on them all; a true delight and pleasure.
At the time I was also writing Daily Prayer 2 – a follow-up to the hugely successful Daily Prayer 1 – and it was taking me far longer than I’d anticipated. The result was that Kevin was left with a huge gap in his schedule, which he urgently needed to fill. How about me collating the Little Book material, he suggested, and writing 200 hundred others to create a book of animal prayers for a whole year? That is how The Animal Lover’s Daily Prayer Book came to be written, and I suspect that, in time, it may prove to be the bestselling of all my books. People love the images within them, and the simple prayers that they give rise to. They may be short and simple, but each touches a chord within, speaking not only to readers but also for them.
If that’s true for you, you’ll probably be particularly pleased about this week’s discount, for from 21 September until the 27th you can buy The Animal Lover’s Daily Prayer Book at a 10 per cent discount, using the code ANIMAL10. Just type the code into the relevant box at the KM checkout between the dates given.
Meanwhile, here’s the first of fourteen pages from the book that I’ll be posting this week – two each day – to run alongside this promotion.
When I’ve spoken or acted unkindly,
help me, Lord, not simply to kiss and make up,
but to recognise my faults,
and instead of trying to change others,
to change instead myself.
Amen.
When I grow weary, Lord,
drained by the demands
and duties of the daily routine,
renew my strength
and rekindle my zest for life.
Amen.