Year B: Easter John 20:1-18; Lectionary reading for April 4, 2021
Halleluiah! He is risen!
While many of the books I feature here help children understand the meaning behind the lectionary reading for the week, Easter calls for a book that showcases the story itself. The Easter miracle is foundational to our faith, and we should encourage children to listen to, read, retell, and dramatize it over and over. There are plenty of books about Easter aimed at younger audiences, and your church likely has one or two already, however, it’s difficult to find one book that will appeal to a wide range of ages.
Patti Rokus’s retelling of the Easter story is simple, direct, and beautiful. Each page features scripture along with a paraphrase of the passage, but what sets this book apart are the illustrations. Rokus used rocks of all shapes and sizes to recreate scenes from Holy Week and through to the Ascencion. While at first this might seem like a gimmick, the resulting images are profoundly moving.
Early-years educators know the value of ‘loose parts’ in imaginative play, and this book is a bridge to similar activities in Sunday School. Bring out a basket of pebbles—smooth and rough, large and small—and see what beautiful scenes your children create. Perhaps start by encouraging them to recreate Easter scenes, but be sure to give them time to create other biblical scenes or scenes from their imaginations.
This book provides its own question to ask after you read it:
- How will you show your love for Jesus?
If you click on the book images, it will whisk you off to Amazon where you can purchase the book and support this website with a small commission. While not as widely available in Saskatchewan libraries as other books I’ve featured, other regions might have more copies.
Rokus, Patti. He is Risen: Rocks Tell the Story of Easter. Zondervan, 2019.
Storybook Ministry 