The Best Thing About Easter was written by Christine Harder Tangvald, illustrated by Kathy Couri and published by Standard Publishing, (first paperback printing, 1997). It will let your pre-schooler delight in the fun customs of Easter, but your child will also discover that there is more to Easter than dyeing eggs and eating candy. This little book is short and its words few, but the truth that it conveys is rich and deep and wide. Jesus and His love for us is the best thing about Easter.
Speaking to the child at eye level, Christine romps through all the customs that many of us keep, helping the child to see the joy in them. With each custom, the author involves the child, asking the child questions about what they like. The story builds—she doesn’t give away the ending before it’s time—and we are in suspense as she tells us that there is something better than dyeing eggs, eating candy, enjoying Spring, and even being together in church. Jesus, she says finally, is the very best thing about Easter.
She tells the story of Easter, acknowledging that it started sad, but she moves quickly and emphatically (“Jesus Did Not Stay Dead! No, He Did Not!”) to the joy that his friends had and that we can have too. With gentleness and yet abundant enthusiasm, she lets the child know that Jesus’ death and resurrection was part of God’s amazing plan. God loves us. A child will hear that God loves them personally and that “Jesus died and lives again . . . for me.”
I don’t think this book will impress adults. It’s not visually sophisticated and the questions the author asks will not intrigue adults. But I think small children will love this book. It is written at their level. And I think it does something else. It helps a child begin to see what is most important in life, what is best to seek after.
We can recommend other books about Easter as well. Check out Book Lists to find more titles that we’ve reviewed.
Nancy Ellen Hird is a mom, a writer and a credentialed teacher. (She taught seventh grade and preschool.) I Get a Clue and We All Get a Clue are her most recent works. These novels are mysteries for kids, ages 10 to 13. For several years she was a freelance reviewer of children’s and teen’s literature for the Focus on the Family website.