The Story of Easter by Juliet David and Steve Whitlow
| The Story of Easter by Juliet David and Steve Whitlow | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Ruth Ng
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| Summary: Beautifully drawn, carefully written board book to introduce toddlers to the story of Easter. A wonderful Easter gift if you want something a little different to a chocolate egg! | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 24 | Date: January 2011 |
| Publisher: Candle Books | |
| ISBN: 978-1859851746 | |
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This lovely board book of the Easter story gently tells us about Jesus as he rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, shares a meal with his disciples and is betrayed by one of them before facing Pilate and the crowds who condemn him to crucifixion. The story ends with the resurrection and the thought that this is why we celebrate Easter each year.
I think my favourite thing about this book are the illustrations. They're very soft and sweet, with teeny tiny animals peeping out here and there, and small, round-faced people with very basic, yet expressive, faces. They're instantly appealing, and depict the scenes in a way that is very easy to understand alongside the text. I read the book through once to my four year old and she immediately then pretended to 'read' it to me and was able to recall, just by looking at the pictures, what was happening and so able to tell me the story which is a definite sign to me that it's a well designed book!
The text is very well written. I imagine it must be very hard to adapt bible stories into simple sentences that toddlers are easily able to understand. Some of the concepts can be difficult to explain, but here everything is kept very basic and easily accessible. I liked that certain key words have been retained rather than simplified, such as 'disciples', and that the story hasn't been sugar-coated and we see Judas plotting against Jesus as well as the crowd of people shouting out 'kill him, kill him!' when Pilate asks what he should do.
The crucifixion scene is sensitively drawn, with the three crosses away in the distance on top of the hill, and then when Jesus dies we see only the shadow of the cross on the floor in front of his sad friends and family. I also liked the final scene which sees two contemporary children on top of a hill looking happy/thoughtful, surrounded by Easter animals such as chicks, lambs and rabbits.
If you're looking for a simple introduction to the Easter story then this is definitely a good choice. We have read it many times over already and it has lost none of its charm.
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.
Further reading suggestion: You might also like The Three Trees: A Traditional Folktale by Elena Pasquali and Sophie Windham, or if you're looking for something for Easter that isn't religious then do try Chick by Ed Vere which is one of my favourite pop-up books ever!
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Story of Easter by Juliet David and Steve Whitlow at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy The Story of Easter by Juliet David and Steve Whitlow at Amazon.com.
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