Book Club: Book Review of Easter Love Letters from God, Updated Edition

 

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page for more information. Thank you.

Are you looking for a book to read this Holy Week? Easter Love Letters from God (Updated Edition) is a lovely hardcover children's book that tells the story of Jesus' last week on Earth before his crucifixion and resurrection. The stories from the Bible are shared by Glenys Nellist and illustrated by Sophie Allsopp. 

The contents of Easter Love Letters from God contain the following stories: 

• King of Kings (Ride in Jerusalem) 
• What Love Looks Like (Washing Feet) 
• The Secret Supper (Last Supper) 
• The Gloomy Garden (Gethsemane) 
• The Darkest Day (Crucifixion) 
• The Quiet Cave (Burial) 
• The Super Surprise (Resurrection) 

Each of these stories indicates where specifically in the Bible you can find the story. For example, if you want to read about the Last Supper in the Bible, Easter Love Letters from God directs you to Luke 22:14-20 and John 14:1-6. 

The illustrations are simple, and the colors selected for each scene are perfect. Many of the individual pictures are highlighted in a light yellow, and there are embellishments of what look like photographed pieces, such as scrapbook pieces. 

While the sentences are simple to read, the message is very clear. In The Darkest Day, we read of the despair felt and the sadness of the Earth itself. A very important moment is presented in a way that children will be able to understand. 

"The wind howled. The whole earth trembled. The rocks shattered." 

In addition to engaging stories and beautiful illustrations, there are two other key features in this book. Each section includes a letter to your child from God. You could add your child's name in the space where it says "Dear____________," or just merely read their name aloud. Personally, I feel these letters really help connect the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus with our children's own lives. And the final feature is "God's Wonderful Words to You." Each of these "Words" is a quote from the Bible. The last one reads: "You are all children of God by believing in Christ." Galatians 3:26. 

At the very end of the book, there is a short poem inviting your child to write to God. And with that, this book becomes a beautiful keepsake for you and your children. 

My Thoughts 

I was very pleased with Easter Love Letters from God. This is a wonderful book for children! I also think it would be the perfect gift for inside an Easter Basket. I highly recommend this book. 

Interested in Other Book Reviews? 

Book Club: Book Review of The Berenstain Bears Storybook Bible Search and Find

Book Club: Book Review of Tiny Truths Little Lights Devotional

Book Club: Book Review of Fiona and the Easter Egg Hunt

Book Club: Book Review of Fiona and the Easter Egg Hunt

 

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page for more information. Thank you.

What an adorable book! Fiona and the Easter Egg Hunt is one in a series of children's books about a real-life hippopotamus born at the Cincinnati Zoo. In this hardcover book by Richard Cowdrey, children follow Fiona and her prehensile-tailed porcupine friend, Rico, on the journey to create, hide, and find colorful Easter eggs. 

Who is Fiona? 

Fiona was born prematurely on January 24, 2017. She received around-the-clock care from Cincinnati Zoo's animal care staff and even help from nurses at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital to help her during those first years. While the average newborn hippo weighs between 55 and 120 pounds, Fiona weighed only 29 pounds. She is the smallest-born hippo to ever survive. Fiona is now a big sister to Fritz, who was born on August 3, 2022. 

About the Book 

Fiona and the Easter Egg Hunt is a fantastical tale of two friends seeking to give their other animal friends a fun spring experience. When Fiona and Rico see that the zoo will be holding an Easter Egg Hunt soon, they decide to create one for their animal friends. 

This dream to create an animal Easter Egg Hunt is the theme of the story. Fiona and Rico both decorate and fill the eggs before they set off to hide them. Fiona, wearing bunny ears and carrying the basket, and Rico hide the eggs in trees.

At one of their first stops, Mrs. Swann requests their help so she can gather grass and leaves to make her nest cozier for her six swan eggs. Both Fiona and Rico agree to watch the eggs. During their time watching the eggs, the basket of eggs for the Easter Egg Hunt get dumped out and must be retrieved. If your child is very observant, they will see that one of the white swan eggs finds its way into the basket of Easter Eggs. 

In the rest of the book, we follow Fiona and Rico as they hide the eggs. And then Mrs. Swan finds one of her eggs missing. Now all the animals help to find her egg. But Fiona is the lucky one who spots it as it is hatching. And the little cygnet thinks Fiona is his mama! 

Our Thoughts 

While it might be helpful to have read others in the series prior to reading this book, I don't think it is necessary. I did explain a bit about Fiona to our children prior to reading the book. I have enjoyed watching videos of her and her brother as they play together and do hippo things. 

This is an adorable children's book. While it focuses more on a secular aspect of Easter, the message of bringing joy to others, helping others, and perseverance is a good one for any children's book. As long as you are okay with Easter Egg Hunts, I think this would be a great book for families with young children. 

I love that it allowed us the opportunity to talk about the different animals in the book, such as the

• prehensile-tailed porcupine 
• swans
• koalas
• polar bear
• tortoises 
• giraffes
• and more! 

And because the baby swan first sees Fiona when it hatches, we discussed baby birds and imprinting, too. 

Our son and daughter just loved the book! They thought it was very cute. And now our daughter wants all the books in the series. 

Learning More about Jesus: A Review of The Easter Storybook

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

I am always on the lookout for excellent books to help our children understand the amazing life of Jesus. So, I was very excited to read and review The Easter Storybook: 40 Bible Stories Showing Who Jesus Really Is written by Laura Richie and illustrated by Ian Dale with our two younger children. It is a very colorful hardcover book of 93 pages that focuses upon the life of Jesus and not just His final days published by David C Cook.

About The Easter Storybook

This is a beautiful hardcover book designed to be read during the 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday. There is a table of contents that you can use to find specific stories if you wish. The Easter Storybook does not just focus upon the last days of Jesus but on the many events in Jesus' life such as:

• Jesus in the Temple as a boy 
• The temptation of Jesus 
• The parable of the Lost Son 
• Jesus walking on water 
• The parable of the Good Samaritan 
• The story of Lazarus 
• Jesus clearing the Temple 
• The tearing of the curtain in the Temple 
• Jesus meeting with the Disciples 

Each page of text lists the day, a title, references to the Bible, a quote from the Bible, the text of the story itself, and a question or two at the end. Accompanying each day's story is a full-page illustration of the story.

Let's look at Day 18 – The Son of Man Shines. After a quote from John 17:24, we read the opening sentence of the day: "When Jesus lived on the earth, many people tried to understand who He was." We then continue reading about the time when Jesus asked his friends who they said He was and the time when they saw Jesus standing with Moses and Elijah. Day 18 continues with relating how God named Jesus as his Son and the fear of Peter, James, and John. Finally, it closes with Jesus telling them not to share what they had seen "until the Son of Man is raised from the dead." We then are presented with a very thought-provoking question: "What do you think it was like to see Jesus' glory and to hear God's voice?"

How Did We Use The Easter Storybook in Our Homeschool

I tried to read one day's story each day with our children either during lunchtime or before bedtime. The stories are easy to read aloud and provide great discussion points as each poses a question at the end. One could also use The Easter Storybook as part of your morning basket routine or story time or include with your devotions or Bible Study.

What Did We Think?

I love the vibrant colors in The Easter Storybook. The illustrations are so engaging and relate so well to the text on the opposite page. The text is very easy to read. And the book is easy to hold in my hands even with both kids sitting on my lap. And it is easy to hold if I am reading it to them while they are eating lunch. Because everything is contained on two pages, there is no need to flip pages which can be difficult when children are sitting on your lap.

Our first grader enjoyed the questions at the end of each day's reading. He also likes when there are answers within the reading. He also enjoys the verses that begin each day's reading. He said: "Some pictures look like the story." His two favorites were the story of Jesus walking on water shared on Day 8 and the story of Jesus calming the storm which was shared on Day 10. He would recommend The Easter Storybook to other children.

Our four-year-old daughter is enjoying the stories in The Easter Storybook. She likes that the different stories remind her of her lessons from Sunday School such as the story of the Good Samaritan. As she was looking through the table of contents, she also came across stories that reminded her of some of the songs they sing in Sunday School. I like the fact that she can relate easily to the book as well and can read some of the stories to me with help.

I would highly recommend The Easter Storybook from David C Cook. It will make a perfect addition to your bookshelves and help bring the story of Jesus to life. I can easily see the reading of this book becoming a very welcome Easter tradition in many families.

Do You Want to Learn More?

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We also had the privilege of reviewing The Action Bible Anytime Devotions from David C Cook. If you are looking for a devotional for your children ages 8-12, please visit my review of this nice softcover book. 

Other members of the Homeschool Review Crew also enjoyed reading The Easter Storybook in their homes during the past several weeks. Please remember to check out their thoughts on this lovely book.

Wordless Wednesday: Easter Egg Hunt

Our children had a great time at our church making crafts, playing games, and hunting for Easter eggs even though everything was moved indoors due to the rainy weather. 

Journaling through the Bible: Happy Easter

Happy Easter! 

Made with the YouVersion Bible App

A few simple quotes and images that I sketched during this busy Holy Week. 

Wishing everyone a Joyous Easter Sunday. All the best to you and your family. 

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Crafts: Easter Coffee Filter Sun Catchers

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One of our favorite materials to use in our crafts are coffee filters. There are so many interesting ways to create sun catchers to hang in the windows.

Materials 

• coffee filters
• markers
• spray bottle or water dropper 
• black construction paper 
• laminating pouches & laminator (optional) 

Steps - Cross for Easter 

1. Gather all your materials.

2. Draw the shape of a cross onto your coffee filter.

3. Color in the cross and color around it with different colors.

4. Spray the coffee filter with water.

5. After the coffee filter dries, laminate to preserve it for years of decorating or hang in window.

Steps - Bunny for Easter 

1. Gather all your materials.

2. Draw the silhouette of a bunny on black construction paper.

3. Color the coffee filter a myriad of different colors.

4. Spray the coffee filter with water.

5. After the coffee filter dries, tape on the bunny and hang in the window.

6. Optional: Laminate the coffee filter to preserve it for years of decorating.

Other Coffee Filter Sun Catcher Posts

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Holidays: Ukrainian Easter Egg Traditions

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My family has been decorating Easter Eggs since before I was born. My grandpop was always the one in charge of the decorating of the eggs with my mom, while my grandmom would handle the dying of the eggs with my help when I was little. After my grandpop died, my mom and I continued the tradition at our own home and now we shared it with my husband and three children.

The History

Eggs have long been associated with the source of life and with the birth of Christianity. The symbol of the egg was likened to that of the tomb of Jesus. Decorating both hard-boiled eggs and raw eggs was a tradition among the Ukrainians during pagan times.  When the people accepted Christianity in the late 900s, the egg was adopted into the Easter celebration to break the fast of Lent and was decorated with Christian symbols. The old pagan symbols were given new life and new Christian meanings. For example, the sun designs now stood for the Son of God, dots would come to present the tears of Mary, and the triangles represented the Trinity.

There are two types of Ukrainian Easter eggs: the krashanky (a hard-boiled egg which is dyed a solid color) and the pysanky (which is raw egg that is decorated and dyed and not eaten). Most families today decorate and dye only hard-boiled eggs but my family also used to decorate blown eggs. (These were disposed of when I was little after one exploded in my grandparents’ living room. I guess it wasn’t properly prepared.)

There are many different legends about the origins of the Ukrainian Easter Eggs. One tells of Mary, the mother of Jesus, preparing a basket of eggs to take to Pontius Pilate while her son was imprisoned. Her tears fell upon the eggs, creating the dots of many colors that are still drawn on today. Another legend tells of a young woman who was returning home from the market with her basket of eggs and jug of water. She came upon a man sitting on a rock and offered him water. The stranger accepted her offer of water and she went on her way. When she arrived at home, she discovered her eggs had transformed into pysanky. The stranger was Jesus.

We haven't used natural dyes but we will in the future!

Natural Dyes

Yellow	Orange peels (a pale yellow) Yellow onion skins (only soak for a short while) Turmeric (bright yellow)
Orange	Yellow onion skins (check for color) Chili powder (pale orange-buff)
Red	Beets Red onion skins
Blue	Red cabbage leaves (light blue – less time; deep blue – soak overnight)
Beige/Brown	Yellow onion skins (long soak) Coffee

Decorating

The writing tool or stylus used for decorating the eggs with melted wax is called a kistka (plural, kistky). My family always used an un-sharpened pencil with a pin stuck into the eraser end. And I recommend beeswax, as it is absorbed more readily into the pores of the egg so it ‘sticks’ to the egg better than man-made paraffin.

Safety Reminder! Melted beeswax is HOT. Do NOT allow young children to participate. Do NOT leave them unattended around melted beeswax. In my family, I was not allowed to participate in the actual decorating with melted beeswax until I was 14 years old. We only recently allowed our teen to start helping with this part of the egg-decorating process.

Designs

There are many different meanings for the various geometric designs, plant designs, and animal designs.

Many eggs will contain lines used for division that encircle the entire egg. They can be thought of as symbolizing eternal life.

Nets and sieve designs have been found on pysanky long before the egg was adopted as a Christian symbol. They can be linked to the fisherman’s net as many of Jesus’ followers were fishermen and became fishers of men.

Another symbol adopted by the Christians was the sun or star to represent God. There are many variations upon this design. 

Among the plant designs there are vines, roses, pine trees, leaves, and wheat. Animal designs are not as easy to make as others due to the small drawing surface but the fish, a symbol of Christianity, as well as chickens, rams’ horns, deer, and horses have been drawn on the eggs.

Of course, there are many other cultures and countries that also dye and decorate Easter eggs including Russia, Serbia, and other nations but this is how my family continues our Ukrainian tradition.

I used our Magic Stix Washable Markers to create the designs on paper this year! 

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