An Easter Book Worth Buying

For all you moms out there who have been looking for a book about Easter that doesn't merely talk about bunnies and chocolate eggs and new life in nature, this book is for you!

I picked up my copy of Eyewitness Animals: The Story of Easter at our local thrift store, hoping it might be cute enough to read occasionally so that my children would remember the story of Easter. But to my surprise, my then 2-year-old absolutely loved this book. And one year later, he's still bringing it to me to read again and again.

What makes this book unique is that each part of the Easter story is told from the point of view of an animal. No, these animals' stories aren't mentioned in the gospels because...you guessed it, animals can't really talk. But these characters do present the truth present in God's word, and the animals help keep a young child's attention throughout.

For example, Clip Clop donkey is present at the triumphal entrance to Jerusalem, Whiskers Mouse witnesses Jesus wash the disciples' feet, Digger Mole is hiding in the garden when the women learn Jesus is alive, and so on.

While the concept is unique, what makes my son keep coming back to this book is that throughout the seven short stories, the text actually prompts you to have the children make noises, touch their ears, open their eyes wide, shake their heads, and other actions that help them pretend they're the animal in the story.

It wasn't intentional, but it seems reading this book has become a tradition in our household. Sometimes, though, those traditions that start by chance are the ones that become the most looked forward to throughout the years.