An Easter basket story time
A guest post by Laura Sassi in celebration of her new Easter board book, HAPPY EASTER, RISEN KING!
Don’t you love the look of Easter baskets filled with colorful Easter eggs, chocolate bunnies and jelly beans? They practically burst with a JOY that befits the most important holiday in the Christian calendar.
But amidst the fun of jelly beans, chocolate bunnies and colorfully decorated eggs, it’s good to introduce our kids to the deeper significance of Easter. With that in mind, here’s a selection of Easter-themed kids’ books that your little bunnies, I mean children, might enjoy along with ideas for an Easter basket themed Read, Discuss Do.
Note: Some links will take you to the Read, Discuss, Do bookshop.org storefront. Purchasing a book from the storefront will support independent bookstores and help maintain Read, Discuss, Do at no additional cost to you.
Easter Basket Story Time with Laura Sassi
Ahead of time, gather and fill an Easter basket with plastic eggs. Next, cut out one strip of paper for each egg and write a Easter-focused and/or book-inspired question on each. Examples:
What was your favorite part of this story?
Tell three things that happened in this book.
Do you have a favorite picture from the book?
What surprised you in this book?
Who do we celebrate at Easter?
What happened that first Easter morning?
Who shared the good news of Easter in this story?
Who can you share the good news of Easter with?
How can we thank Jesus for what He has done?
What’s something special you do to celebrate Easter in your family?
What are you thankful for this Easter?
READ. Each day for eight days (or however many you choose) choose a faith-filled Easter book to read at your special “Easter Basket Story Time”.
DISCUSS. After reading, take the basket and have your child open one or two of the eggs. Then, together answer the questions.
DO. Wrap up each “Easter Basket Story Time” by choosing a different way to celebrate Easter with your child. Possibilities include dying eggs, going on a jelly bean hunt, making an Easter card for someone special, baking an Easter treat, decorating a cross to hang on the fridge etc.
Here are some recommended Easter-themed picture books and board books to get you started (including two of my own!):
The Easter Story written by Patricia Pingry, illustrated by Mary Ann Utt. Intended for toddlers and preschoolers, with one or two concrete sentences per spread, this is a sweet introduction to the life of Jesus culminating with His glorious resurrection Easter morning.
R Is for Risen: An ABC Easter Story written by Crystal Bowman and Teri McKinley, illustrated by Jacqueline L. Nunez. A wonderful introduction for 4 - 8 year olds to the Easter story using the alphabet as the structure.
’Twas the Morning of Easter by Glenys Nellist, illustrated by Elena Selivanova. Ideal for ages 4 – 8, this beautiful retelling of the Easter story is told to the cadence of “Twas the Night Before Christmas”. The illustrations have a glowing quality that adds to the richness of the story.
Benjamin’s Box written by Melody Carlson, illustrated by Jack Stockman. Ideal for ages 6 – 10, this book recounts the story from the fictional perspective of a young boy named Benjamin. Starting with Palm Sunday, Benjamin collects items that tell the story of Jesus’ journey to the cross, culminating in Jesus resurrection Easter Sunday. The story can be paired with the ever-popular Resurrection Eggs.
That Grand Easter Day written by Jill Roman Lord, illustrated by Alessia Trunfio. Told in cumulative story-style to the cadence of “This is the House that Jack Built”, this picture book introduces littlest ones to the Easter story beginning with the stone in front of the tomb and culminating in Jesus resurrection. It’s fun, memorable and perfect for preschoolers.
Easter is Coming written by Tama Fortner, illustrated by Wazza Pink. Author Tama Fortner does an exceptional job in this deceptively simple picture book of contextualizing Christ’s death and resurrection in the bigger scope of God’s grand plan for redemption. Starting with Adam and Eve, each spread poetically points to the fulfillment of God’s plan to save us through Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection.
Bunny Finds Easter written by Laura Sassi, illustrated by Ela Jarzabek. As Bunny bounces through her day in this board book for littlest ones, she encounters various items that are connected to Easter including colorful Easter eggs, hot cross buns, an Easter bonnet, lilies and an Easter Egg Hunt. All these are fun, but it’s not until she arrives at church and all rise to sing the good news of Easter that Bunny realizes what it’s really about — Jesus!
and my newest…
Happy Easter, Risen King written by Laura Sassi, illustrated by Gabi Murphy. A retelling of that first Easter morning told in rhyme using colors as the spark. Follow Jesus’ friends as they go to the tomb to look for Jesus, an angel gives them good news, and everyone happily exclaims, “Happy Easter, Risen King!”
Next month: Middle grade March! Throughout the month we will be sharing some of our favorite middle grade titles read-alouds and some poetry books (including novels in verse) that will appeal to middle grade readers. Subscribe to this newsletter and follow us on Instagram so you don’t miss out!
April: National Poetry Month! For our annual observance of poetry month we will be highlighting the work of four different children’s poets. As in past years we will include a Poetry Challenge especially aimed at young poets (though adults are always encouraged to join in the fun). We hope you will follow along! Here’s a round-up of last year’s Poetry Challenge:
Great post for a great book, Laura! The copy for our church nursery arrived this week!