KIDS BOOKS: Easter Stories for Your Imagination

The other day someone on Facebook asked, “Which book would you like to reread for the first time?”

I didn’t check the other answers so I could come up with my own idea.

After a quick moment I knew I would want to relive many of those magical first moments in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S— like being with Lucy when she has tea with Mr. Tumnus, with the Peter, Susan, and Lucy when they come before the magnificent Aslan, and with Edmund as he trudges through the melting snow while spring musically makes its way into Narnia.  Rowen Wlliams in The Lion’s World: A Journey into the Heart of Narnia says Lewis was seeking to re-enchant us with the glories of the gospel. The Chronicles of Narnia are Great Supposal stories. Suppose there was another world, and Jesus acted in that world, what would it be like? And seeing Jesus and how he acts (Aslan) we might see him as if for the first time and our dullness to the Scriptures may be replaced with awe and gratefulness. I have experienced this. (spoiler) Reliving the death and then the resurrection of Aslan chokes me up often. I don’t remember how I felt when I first read it when I was 12, so I imagine rereading these scenes for the first time and experiencing the joy of Aslan, Susan, and Lucy romping around the broken Stone Table might enchant me even more to the glory of Christ’s resurrection. 

Epic stories like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter capture, like The Chronicles of Narnia, the sacrificial love of Jesus without actually be allegorical. Rereading these or even excerpts from them would be a way to assist the imaginations of our young people as we invite them into the true miracle of the gospel story.  The following are several more stories that can be read during Passion Week and can help us enter into the amazingness of this time of the year and church calenar.

1.     Bare Tree and Little Wind: A Story for Holy Week by Mitali Perkins and illustrated by Khoa Le. “A lyrical, captivating retelling of the Palm Sunday and Easter story…” I love how my imagination gets caught up in the Holy Land through the characters of a tree and wind. Through these characters I witness what happens to Jesus and then I’m given the hope of his return that will restore the whole earth – people and nature.  Mitali Perkins is a wonderful storyteller and the pictures by Khao Le are colorful and captivating. 

2.     Oscar Wilde Stories for Children by Oscar Wilde, illustrated by P.J. Lynch

“The Selfish Giant” and “The Nightingale and the Rose” are short stories which beautifully and achingly point us to Jesus and his sacrifice. P. J. Lynch’s illustrations in other books have been a favorite of mine for a longtime; these are a great addition to enjoying these stories. 

3.     “Maundy Thursday” by Walter Wangerin

I found this story in Stories for the Christian Year by The Chrysostom Society, but you can also find in online through Christianity Today. 

I read this story every Maundy Thursday to my family and anyone will listen. This story helps us remember how Jesus broke the bread and shared the wine with his disciples before he was arrested and then died. It is funny and endearing; it chokes me up every time I read the end.  

4.     The Light Princess by George MacDonald and illustrated by Ned Bustard

This novella, with all the trappings of a traditional fairy tale told with a nod and a wink and clever word play offers insight into what true sacrifice looks like. (Also, the illustrations are perfect, created by my husband Ned. He fills each picture with lots of fun things to look at . . . yes, I might be slightly biased).

5.     The Biggest Story Bible Storybook written by Kevin DeYoung and illustrated by Don Clark. 

When my daughters were younger, and if I remembered (!), I would read all the Bible stories starting with Palm Sunday and ending with Christ’s death. Then on Easter and a few days after we would read the rest of the glorious story. (Each day we would focus on the stories that happened on that day.) Reading straight from the Bible is always a very, very good idea; supplementing with a storybook Bible is good, too, especially if the illustrations can capture your imagination without replacing any images in one’s mind already. This new one published by Crossway has colorful and dramatic illustrations by Don Clark, are modern-vintage; they are clear enough to give you an idea of what is going on, but because they are so stylized you don’t think it is actually how everything looked.  
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This post was written by Leslie Bustard, one of the co-editors of Wild Things and Castles in the Sky.

KIDS BOOKS: Easter Books for Toddlers

When last year’s leaves have turned to mould in the flower beds and the vines of the clematis are black and brittle, that first glimpse of a golden crocus feels like a promise. Spring is coming! When my daughters were younger they’d wonder at each new spring flower, and I was never sure how well they remembered seeing the same flowers the previous year. Now, they are old enough to know: when we’re out walking, we’ll interrupt each other to cry, “Crocus!” and clap and maybe make fools of ourselves. And then we’ll go back to talking about middle school math, or a book they just finished. We delight in the changing season together, but we both know it happened last year and that it will (most likely) happen again next spring.

But when they were little: ah! Those crocuses were a burst of color where a second before everything had looked brown and sodden. The spring was brand new to them, and they marveled at each crocus (and then, at a certain age, most likely tried to eat it). The Easter story, nestled neatly into spring as it is, was new to them too. And over the years we found that the best Easter books for toddlers told the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection with color, promise, and joy. They gave our daughters something to wonder at, delight in, and remember. These Easter books for young readers became some of our very favorites.

Easter is Coming, by Tama Fortner

This lovely, large-format board book tells the littlest readers the story of Easter from Genesis onward. The illustrations in this one are particularly lovely.

The Garden, the Curtain, and the Cross, by Carl Laferton

This one, too, tells the whole story of Easter, from the garden of Eden to Jesus' return. But it's not as long as you'd think such a telling would be—better yet, it's now available as a board book! And while it’s not technically an Easter book, it does offer a companion Advent-style calendar for the two weeks leading up to Easter.

What is Easter?, by Michelle Medlock Adams

This sweet rhymed board book tells readers not just what happened on Easter but why we celebrate it the way we do. Where does the bunny come in? What's up with the new dresses? What is Easter? answers all those burning questions and more.

Holy Week, by Danielle Hitchen

This board book primer takes readers through the events of Holy Week, supporting each page with Scripture and emphasizing the different emotions Jesus and the disciples may have felt as the week went on. 

A Very Happy Easter, by Tim Thornborough

This one also focuses on emotions as it tells the Easter story (those toddlers and their emotions!), but it tells the story differently, in an interactive and delightful way.

Jesus Rose for Me, by Jared Kennedy

This exuberant telling of the Easter story looks forward, beyond Jesus' death and resurrection to this moment, today, and helps readers understand why Jesus died—and why his resurrection still matters so much to us. This is one of my favorites.
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This post was written by Théa Rosenburg, one of the co-editors of Wild Things and Castles in the Sky.

KIDS BOOKS: Happy Birthday to Carey!

I checked in with Carey, my oldest daughter and a co-editor of Wild Things and Castles in the Sky: A Guide to Choosing the Best Books for Children, to make certain it was okay to use her birthday, February 16th, as an excuse to post a list of children’s books that I read to her when she was little. She said it was okay… and even reminded me of a few of our favorites. 

The majority of these books are from our very first years of reading books together. These books are also ones that are still sitting on the bottom three shelves of the tallest book shelf in BookEnd, our home in the west end of Lancaster. Although I discovered most of them in our local library, we loved them enough to buy our own copies. 

 Carey was the reason I discovered the goodness of a well-told and well-illustrated story, and how I also discovered my love for sitting on the floor, back against the couch, with a child on my lap (and later, when her sisters came, a child on one side of me, another child on my lap, and maybe another one rolling around on the floor or on top of me . . . and a book in front of us). Big cozy chairs do just fine, too. Snacks help. 

 Making a book about books with Carey has been a delight because, now that she teaches four year olds, she has continued developing her love of books and has also introduced me to many, many new books, authors, and illustrators in which to delight. It’s fun to have our roles reversed.

We spent many years going back and forth to the library, discovering stories written by people of all backgrounds and stories of all kinds… but these are the ones that got me started on my journey to learn more about books and to make reading a part of our family culture. These are the books written or illustrated by people we still remember. In the list below, there maybe be one book named with it’s author, but most likely that author has more books worth checking out. As with the suggestions in our upcoming book (Wild Things and Castles in the Sky—which should come out in early, early spring, 2022—shameless plug!), this list is just an introduction.

Read With Me Bible: An NIV Story Bible for Children 

Tomie de Paola’s Book of Bible Stories by Tomie dePaola

Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child’s Book of Poems by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers

Mudpies and Other Recipes: A Cookbook for Dolls by Marjorie Winslow

Children Just Like Me: a Unique Celebration of Children Around the World by Barnabas and Anabel Kindersley

The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boyton 

Winnie the Pooh and Some Bees (and the others in the classic board book collection )

Giving by Shirley Hughes 

Tom and Pippo Go Shopping by Helen Oxenbury

What the Sun Sees by Nancy Tafuri

Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey 

My First Little House Books: The Deer in the Wood adapted by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Corduroy by Don Freeman 

McDuff Moves In by Rosemary Wells

This Quiet Lady by Charlotte Zolotow

The Lovely Present by Charotte Zolotqw

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

Just Only John by Jack Kent 

Island Boy by Barbara Cooney 

Miss Fannie’s Hat by Jan Karon 

Jennie’s Hat by Ezra Jack Keats

Mr. Putter and Tabby Paint the Porch by Cynthia Rylant

Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel

Little Bear by Elise Holmelund Minarik
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This post was written by Leslie Bustard, one of the co-editors of Wild Things and Castles in the Sky, coming Spring 2022.

Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups

When folks hear the words “The Bible,” images of Westboro Baptists or Precious Moments’ kitschy angels with freakishly large heads may pop to mind. But the Bible is very differently than either of those extremes. Revealed: A Storybook Bible for Grown-Ups is a new book from Square Halo Books that shows the Bible as it really is—in all its raw, violent, and sexy glory. There are over 130 images by a wide range of artists—living and dead, Christian and non-Christian. Artists in this book include Hans Burgkmair, Margaret Bustard, Ned Bustard, Tanja Butler, Matthew L. Clark, Lovis Corinth, Erin Cross, Albrecht Dürer, Jean Duvet, Wayne Lacson Forte, Richard Gaston, Eric Gill, Steve Halla, Craig Hawkins, David Busch Johnson, Diego Jourdan Pereira, Edward Knippers, Chris Koelle, Kevin Lindholm, Franz Marc, Chris Stoffel Overvoorde, Steve Prince, Mark T. Smith, Justin Sorensen, Ryan Stander, Rembrandt van Rijn, Henri Van Straten, and Kreg Yingst. Fifty-eight of the images were made specifically for this book. Each spread in the book is a different account from the Bible. On the left is the scripture passage and a brief commentary on the art and the passage. On the right is the artwork. The commentaries help the reader to look deeper into the passage and help them to understand and apprecaite the art more. They also quote from many writers including N.T. Wright, Tim Keller, C.S. Lewis, Luci Shaw, A.D. Bauer, Denis Haack, D.A. Carson, Eric Jacobsen, Billy Graham, John Piper, Bono, and C.H. Spurgeon to name a few.

J. Mark Bertrand (novelist, speaker, and founder of the Bible Design Blog) says: “Revealed sets out to crush any notion that the Bible is a safe, inspirational read. Instead the artwork here, historic and contemporary, takes a warts-and-all approach to even the most troubling passages, trading well-meaning elision for unvarnished truth. If you gaze deeper, Revealed springs another surprise, too: it debunks the equally prevalent misconception that a sacred anthology ages in the making can offer no single, unifying message. To see that message, however, might just require a second look at verses that make the pious avert their eyes.” 

The official book release party for Revealed is scheduled for June 3, 2016 in the Square Halo Gallery. More details can be found HERE.

An interview with The Gospel Coalition about the book can be found HERE.

An article from The Washington Times about several of the contributors to Revealed can be found HERE.

Heart & Minds Bookstore awarded Revealed the BEST ART BOOK OF 2015 and also wrote a nice review HERE.

A PechaKucha presentation about Revealed can be watched HERE.

An article about Revealed on ArtWay can be found HERE.

And Revealed can be found on First Things' 2015 Christmas Guide to Buying a Bible.