All The Things I Say to God by Tanner Olson

All The Things I Say to God
by Tanner Olson

ISBN-13: 9780310165958
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Released: April 29, 2025

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from Goodreads:
Abby has been praying with her parents for as long as she can remember. They pray together before meals and before bed, on good days and tough days. Then one day Abby asks a simple “Mom, can I pray to God all by myself?” Follow Abby on her journey of faith as she discovers how to express her gratitude, ask questions, pray for others, and use silence to communicate with God. Led by her own curiosity, she finds out that you can pray for anything and everything—God’s love knows no bounds.


My Review:
All The Things I Say to God is a Christian picture book for children. The narrative follows Abby, who has prayed along with adults but wonders if she can pray to God by herself. Along the way, she asks her mom about the type of things one can pray and then we see her pray about these things. She's shown as praying when in bed, though the text says she prays at other times, too. They covered topics like talking to God about life (and she tells God what happened that day, even small things), asking God questions, thanking God for good things, praying for others, and quietly thinking about God if you have nothing to say.

The illustrations were cartoon-like in style and showed what Abby was doing while asking her mother questions or while praying. It's a good book to start a conversation with kids about prayer, but the mother provided little guidance beyond saying that God loves it when we tell Him about our day, etc. The book didn't cover answers to prayer or God's part in prayer. Abby asked questions of God without seeming to expect answers. It was sort of talking at God. Your child may ask why God never responds to Abby, and you'll have to respond to that yourself. Overall, though, I'd recommend this story about praying to God.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.