With Easter quickly approaching, I want to share my top 10 Easter books as well as a few recent flops...
In looking for Easter books (or any book for that matter), I look for ones that are well-written, beautifully illustrated, and give a clear message that supports what I want to communicate with my children. Oftentimes, finding this combination can be a challenge.
I think it is especially powerful to read a variety of books from different angles in the weeks leading up to Easter. It helps build anticipation and gets the kids thinking about it.
My Top Ten
1. On That Easter Morning ~ Stunning and uniquely illustrated, this book takes the reader through the events of Holy Week from Palm Sunday to the Resurrection. I just love how it ends:
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“Jesus was alive again; not a king in this world, but the king of heaven. The dark power of death was defeated. God’s own love lit the world on that Easter morning.”
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is so lusciously illustrated, that I checked out ALL of his books from the library.This one is beautiful in a symbolic way. Christ is always the focal point of each picture and depicted as the light coming to a world darkened by sin. The symbolism will probably be lost on the little one’s, but very enjoyable for you and also your kids when they are a bit older. For any of you that have studied art, you’ll appreciate the detail and symbolism in this wonderful book.
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.” We love the repetition and rhyming. Even the 5-year-old, who has difficulty memorizing things, starts reciting portions of books written in this engaging style. Those that have immersed themselves in the details by reading other books will especially enjoy this.
“He’s alive! He’s alive! He’s alive in the Spring!
All glory to Jesus, our Savior and King!”
7. The Tale of Three Trees: A Traditional Folktale ~ This beautiful tale is perfect any time of year, but we especially enjoy reading it at Easter and Christmas. It ties both in beautifully! The boys squeeled with excitement when I pulled it out last week. I’m moved and inspired – not only for the connection to the birth and death of Christ, but also because it illustrates an important truth that while God gives us dreams, how they play out might look different than we expect.
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9. The Legend of the Easter Egg ~ We discovered this one at the local library a few years ago. Our oldest was mesmerized with the story of this little boy. I think we read it at least a dozen times that first week. My amazing mother-in-law sent us a copy for our permanent collection and we couldn’t be happier.
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10. Petook is an AMAZING book. Beautifully written, beautifully illustrated. Have you read any of Tomie dePaola’s books? Clown of God, The Art Lesson and The Baby Sister are some of our favorites. This whimsical fable’s rich words are masterfully woven to draw you into a beautiful tale. I was just telling a friend tonight that I don’t generally like Easter or Christmas books that anthropomorphize animals. But in the case of this book, I make an exception. You’ll need to look carefully to find a good deal on this book since it is out of print and in high demand. I had to laugh when I saw that you could purchase a brand new copy for only $899.95. I guess that puts the $35/used price in perspective. If you find this at a thrift store, snag it. If you don’t like it, you know you can always make a killing selling it online.
I’D PASS ON THESE:
One of the most frustrating thing about children’s books is the huge disparity in quality. My mom ordered a few books recently and we were pretty disappointed with them.
The Donkey and the King ~ Although beautifully illustrated {yes, I’m a sucker for great illustrations}, this story rambles – horribly, the point is too obtuse and the resurrection is sort of thrown into the end of the story almost as if a little ‘Jesus’ makes everything better. It was random and seemed a bit trite. We were disappointed, especially knowing the author’s reputation.
The Parable of the Lily ~ Overly saccharine, no clear story about Easter/ the cross/resurrection, corny art work – a triple blow.
The Story of the Easter Robin ~ I liked the art work, but didn’t care for the graphic picture of Jesus’ crown of thorns and then only a very small mention of resurrection.
Do you have any favorite Easter books?
In your opinion, what makes a ‘good book?’
For my thoughts on how to make the most of Easter with our children, check out my post on Easter Ideas for Little One’s.
You can also check out my Easter Pinterest board!
I think Carol Heyer does a beautiful job telling the real stories behind the Christmas and Easter. I’m partial to the Christmas ones because I found them first, but we love The First Easter: http://amzn.to/21n3UzT and Humphrey’s First Palm Sunday: http://amzn.to/21n40aD
There seems to be a shortage of stories that aren’t about bunnies and eggs, so I’ll have to look through this list!
I had #6, The Bread and the Wine when I was a little girl growing up in the 70’s/80’s. It came with a record and I loved the music and of course, the story! I was on a frantic Google search just now and it led me to your blog post. I am so glad I found it–thank-you!
It is such a wonderful book, isn’t it? It is my favorite resource for talking with my kids about taking communion.
And a record? How cool is that? I had this book as a girl too, but I don’t remember a record… Let me know if you find the music.
Thank you so much for this list… it’s so helpful! Especially since it seems like you have some of the same requirements for your Easter books that i do! 🙂
One of our favorites as a read-aloud was Vinegar Boy.
I love the Easter Cave, especially for younger kiddos who love repetition. I also like “The Very First Easter” by Paul L Maler. Although “Easter” is in the title that’s the only mention of the word. It’s a simplified but not really dumbed down account of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
YES! My 2 year old is in love with this kind of repetition right now and I’m so excited to introduce this book to her this year. I’ll have to check out the other one. The illustrations look lovely.
I actually liked the Donkey and the King b/c of the Scripture at the end. I do agree that it was a little trite…kind of a “Golly Gee, Grandpa! Thanks!” feel to it.
My kids love the Easter Robin but it’s kind of a hard book to explain b/c it shows the real story of Jesus–with a fictional story of a robin on top of it. It almost doesn’t make sense, you know?
I need to check out these you mentioned–I just always want a book about JESUS and not about “this is what Easter is really about”. I get so tired of eggs and bunnies.
I love a good book list–thanks!
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I totally hear you on the hard thing with the Easter Robin having the fictional mixed with the real story… But then, I loved Petook and that totally had the same thing going. lol.
I’m grateful there are a multitude of books out there because different books will appeal to different people.
We were given the Three Trees and The Bread and the Wine. Love them both (although I’m partial to the Three Trees-never thought of it as an Easter book!). We usually just scour the library and nab what we want. I’ll keep an eye out for some of these other titles. Thank you!
I really need to work on my Easter book collection. Ours is quite small! I will be adding some of these to my wish list 🙂 Thanks for sharing them!
THANK YOU for the wonderful recommendations, Heather! This year I have been completely overhauling our family’s Easter traditions and it’s been really exciting. I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to find great Easter books and I’m so thankful to have some of these to add to our library! Do you know these two already? http://amzn.to/10sTDrP or http://amzn.to/Z7uLkE
I have not heard of those before. Have you all liked them?
Thank you for this post!!
I have been searching for great Easter books and always came up with the same few (Easter Lily and Benjamin’s box).
Thanks again!
Oh, I love the Three Trees! Actually we all do…
We’re reading Amon’s Adventure right now and it has us all mesmerized. This is the first time we’ve read it and it’s for sure going to be part of our Easter/Lent tradition. (It’s pretty long, but compelling!)
Ohhh, I’ve heard great things about this book, but haven’t read it. I’ll have to check it out Jamie!