Easter Book Review List Check out the following family-friendly list of books that will help your child understand the whole Easter Story.

1. The Biggest Story ABC Written by Kevin DeYoung Illustrated by Don Clark A board book that condenses the Bible into an A to Z description of God’s purpose and plan for creation. Beginning with Adam and Eve, and finishing with Zion, this book captures the great rescue story in a simple yet deep way.

2. The Easter Story - Ready, Set, Find by Vanessa Carroll This board book has been designed as a ‘spot the’ book. Each double page spread features an illustrated scene to make a scripture passage, with 8 key pictures of items to find in the illustration. Perfect for inquisitive eyes as they read about Jesus’ journey into Jerusalem, his Last Supper, his death, resurrection, and appearing to the disciples after he had risen.

3. The Story of Easter by Fiona Boon A small book with beautiful illustrations and rhyming text that gives a simple introduction to Jesus’ death and resurrection for young children and adults to read together. Complete with the Lord’s Prayer at the end of the book.

4. The Beginner’s Bible ‘The Very First Easter’ by ZonderKidz Readers will learn about the events leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection, helping them to understand a little more about why we celebrate Easter. It concludes with Jesus’ ascension. This is a great book for early independent readers. Each paraphrased story includes ALL of the relevant scripture references so you can direct children to the full story in a Bible.

5. The First Easter by Sally Ann Wright and Honor Ayres This book may be small, but it contains great detail about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Featuring key stories from the Bible, children will learn about the God who made them and all creation. The great thing about this book is that it not only features the key Easter events, but also life post Jesus’ death and resurrection (including Pentecost, the work of Peter and the Apostles in Acts, and Paul).

6. The Lost Sheep AN EASTER STORY series by Andrew McDonough These books are part of an ongoing series being written by Australian author Andrew McDonough (from Adelaide). Each book retells key Bible stories using a mixture of animal and human characters, with the most famous being Cecil the sheep. Andrew successfully manages to incorporate humour into his stories, without losing meaning. At the end of each book you will find a Parent guide on how to engage with your child in discussion about the events and meaning of the story. There are currently 5 ‘An Easter Story’ books available: The Way of the Cross; Dave the Donkey; Mary and the Gardener; Peter and the Rooster; and Peter and the Big Breakfast

7. The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross by Carl Lafteron Another brilliant book that manages to capture the amazing story of the whole Bible in a short, children’s story. The message of God’s love and humanity’s sin is clearly articulated and the significance of the curtain is explained in the most profound way. This storybook, together with its beautiful illustrations, will explain to the read why Jesus died and rose again, and how they can be part of the story.

8. The Story of Three Trees retold by Steven Robinson This book is a retelling of the traditional tale of three trees that served in God’s mysterious plan. Featuring three children at the heart of the story, this tale tells of how they planted, prayed for, and looked after these young trees. It then jumps forward to when woodsmen come over 100 years later, sharing their plans to create items from the wood of the trees - a treasure box, a fishing boat, and to sell for burnt offerings. This sweet story shares with us how often we don’t see God’s greater purpose in life’s picture, but to trust in his goodness and plan.

St Bart’s Kids 2020

Easter Other Resources List 1. MUSIC: Children’s Easter Themed CDs Boss of the Cross by Colin Buchanan (Over 70 minutes of Easter-themed songs that teach of God’s plan for life, hope, and glory - achieved in Jesus’ death and resurrection.) A Very Veggie Easter by Veggietales (A blend of Veggietales songs and classic Easter celebration hymns.)

2. VIDEO CLIPS: Youtube There are hundreds of video clips relevant to Easter, but finding ones that are appropriate for children and Biblically accurate can be difficult. We’ve sourced a few that we think are great for kids:

Saddleback Kids: The Story of Easter (The Triumphal Entry) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-39h0xYqdE Saddleback Kids: The Story of Easter ( Jesus’ Sacrifice) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL8R158Ujp4&t=193s The Bible Society: The Super Cool Story of Jesus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6kmDligfKU The Bible Society: The Seriously Surprising Story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndtnZV-5QTo&amp=&t=4s Crossroads Kids’ Club: God’s Story - Easter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ4gQniUVO8 Animated the Easter Story (Australian Narrated) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3UKd6LQKng BrickBrosProductions: LEGO The Passion of Christ (StopMotion Animation) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3PBJwA3HHE

3. ACTIVITY: DIY RESURRECTION EGGS As an alternative to purchasing commercial Resurrection Eggs, why not make a set together as a family. Check out this website for a list of items needed to make the set. They also have an amazing printable ‘Easter Story Book’ which can be printed smaller to include in each egg to explain the meaning of each of the symbols. https://lifeyourway.net/diy-ressurection-eggs-easter-story-book-printables/

4. ACTIVITY: Passover Meal If you’ve never attended a passover or Seder meal, you might think it unusual or not for you if you’re not from a Jewish background. However, participating in a Passover Meal can be extremely meaningful, particularly around Easter time. This link (Walking through Holy Week) is an excellent resource that takes you through all of the elements needed to host a passover meal - it even has a shopping list, recipes, table setting guide, and explanation of each step of the meal. http://media.focusonthefamily.com/fotf/pdf/magazine/walk-thru-holy-week.pdf

5. ACTIVITY: Decorating EGGS An activity that has been done for decades (and certainly is a huge tradition in European countries). Start with either blown eggs (hollow, delicate shell) or hard-boiled eggs (that you’ll eat later). Then, you just need to decide on how you want them decorated - the options are endless. This link is for those who are more craft-savvy and looking for something to do to revive this tradition with their older tradition: https://www.worthingcourtblog.com/5-on-friday-my-5-favorite-easter-egg-decorations/

6. ACTIVITY: Play Dough Mats Pull out the play dough and print off a few of these simple Play Dough mats to create a reusable activity that will keep the children amused for ages. This website has a bunch of Easter (and other Bible-themed) play dough mats that will suit a variety of ages. http://flamecreativekids.blogspot.com/p/play-ough.html

7. ACTIVITY: Christ-Centred Easter Egg Hunt Bring the real meaning to a traditional Easter Egg Hunt as your children discover ‘God’s Easter gifts’ hidden in the eggs. Use reusable, coloured plastic eggs, with a different ‘God’s Easter Gift’ card. At the end, perhaps share some choc eggs while you sort through the cards and talk about the gifts God has given us through his Son, Jesus. https://christcenteredholidays.com/christian-easter-egg-hunt/

8. PRINTABLES: Lost Sheep Book Series Resources. The Lost Sheep website has an immense amount of resources for Churches, Schools, and Families to help supplement their printed books. Check out the Parent Resource Page to find interactive story telling, video recordings of the books being read, printable bookmarks, worksheets, and more! https://www.lostsheep.com.au/parents/

9. PRINTABLES: Colourful Bible Easter Scripture Printables Why not print some bright, attractive designed scripture verses to frame or put on the fridge over Easter? Check out this site that include six different verses surrounding the resurrection. https://www.ishouldbemoppingthefloor.com/2018/03/colorful-printable-easter-bible.html

10. ACTIVITY BOOKS: Various Consider gifting an activity book in lieu of chocolates this year - there are heaps of wonderful activity and colouring books specific to Easter that will keep your child occupied for hours! Some include almost the full Bible Story, others have stickers, code breakers, find-a-words, and more.

St Bart’s Kids 2020