Here are some nonfiction books about Easter:

· Easter, by Gail Gibbons, Scholastic Inc., 2003 – This picture book is a good review of Easter, beginning with an overview of Jesus’ life and death, and coves some Easter symbols like lilies and eggs, and then reviews other traditions like the Easter Bunny, family gatherings and Easter bonnet parades.

· Easter, by Jessica Morrison, Weigl Publishers Ltd., 2011—This is an easy reading overview of the history of Easter with large photographs.

· Happy Easter, Davy!, By Brigitte Weninger and illustrated by Eve Tharlet (Translated by Rosemary Lanning), NorthSouth Books Inc., 2001—Davy the rabbit and his brothers and sisters wonder why the Easter Bunny only visits children and not rabbits. Davy decides to surprise his siblings by leaving them eggs and presents for Easter morning.

· Lilies, Rabbits, and Painted Eggs: The Story of the Easter Symbols, by Edna Barth and illustrated by Ursula Arndt, The Seabury Press, 1970—This is an older book but older children may like the more in depth look at the symbols of Easter as it is mostly text with few pictures.

· We Love Holidays: Easter, by Savious Pirotta, PowerKids Press, 2008—This book has big photographs and larger text making it a good one for early grades to read.

· The Story of Easter, by Aileen Fisher and illustrated by Stefano Vitale, Harper Collins Publishers, 1997—This is a great review of Easter and includes interesting around the world Easter customs as well.

· Ukrainian Egg Decoration: A Holiday Tradition, by An Stalcup, Powerkids Press, 1999—Usign photographs and large text this book explains the tradition of the Ukrainian Pysanky, those beautifully decorated eggs.

JOURNALING Question Prompt:

Write out one or more of the following questions in your Family Theme Day Scrapbook or on a piece of paper to glue in your scrapbook:

What do we celebrate at Easter? What family traditions do you have at Easter? What is your favourite thing to do to celebrate Easter? What are the symbols of Easter and what do they mean?

How to encourage your child to write:

Choose the level of your child:
Toddler/Preschool – discuss the answer(s) out loud first and have your child draw a picture of the answer

Preschool/Kindergarten – discuss the answer(s) out loud first and write the answer down for him/her leaving one word for him/her to write out himself/herself with your help. You could also encourage him/her to draw a picture as well.

Early Grade School – have your child either write out the answer himself/herself (encourage phonetic spelling) without your help, or offer to help with spelling each word out loud one word at a time.

Grade School – have your child write a sentence or two on his/her own and then read over and discuss the response. (You decide whether to correct the spelling or not)

Older Child – have your child write a longer response (paragraph).

As A Challenge – instead of a question ask your older child to write a story or poem about Easter!

Go to the library to find books

about Easter or use a reading App. Many libraries allow you to go online to search

and reserve titles.

Easter

Reading & Writing

Here are some picture books about Easter:

· 10 Easter Egg Hunters, by Janet Schulman and illustrated by Linda Davick, Alfred A. Knopf, 2011—This fun counting book rhymes as it follows the egg hunters in their search for coloured eggs.

· ABC’s of Easter, Story and art by Patricia Reeder Eubank, Ideals Children’s Books, 2010—This alliterative alphabet book features all sorts of Easter and spring fun.

· The Bunny Who Found Easter, by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by Helen Craig, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998—A bunny searches in the East for Easter where the old owl told him he would find other bunnies. In searches through all the seasons until he meets a girl bunny and together, after they have a family, they understand that Easter is not a place but a time of renewal.

· Looking For Easter, by Dori Chaconas and illustrated by Margie Moore, Albert Whitman & Company, 2008—This is a sweet little story about a little bunny who is searching for Easter. He discovers that Easter is new life when he gives his newly made basket to a bird in need.

· Who Hid the Easter Eggs?, by Pirkko Vainio, NorthSouth, 2010—When Harry the squirrel sees Jack the jackdaw take a grandmother’s hidden Easter Eggs he convinces the bird to give them back and hide them for the children.

Back to Easter Page

For some more religious picture books about Easter try these:

· The Easter Story, According to the Gospels of Matthew, Luke & John, with paintings by Gennady Spirin, Henry Holt and Company, 1999—This is a beautifully illustrated book with paintings in a style that looks like they were made by the renaissance masters.

· The Easter Story, retold by Allia Zobel-Nolan and illustrated by Trace Moroney, Scholastic Inc., 1999 – This retelling is based on Mark, chapters 11 to 16.

· On that Easter Morning, by Mary Joslin and illustrated by Helen Cann, Good Books, 2006—This bright picture book retells the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection in a story form rather than biblical.