Book Review: Easter

For kids who haven’t grown up with Easter (and even those who have) reading books about the traditions around the holiday can help young readers know what the holiday is about and what it means to people who observe it.

Easter by Nancy Dickmann, illustrated by Emma Randall, follows a boy named Sam as he and his family celebrate Easter.

It starts with Mardi Gras, which the family celebrates by eating their favorite foods. Their father goes to church on Ash Wednesday and the book talks about giving things up for lent and making sacrifices to honor the sacrifice of Jesus. Of course this is not part of all Christian faith traditions so this could be interesting to talk about with kids who are Christian but don’t do anything special for Lent.

Because Easter is in the spring, Same and his family notice signs of spring and visit with baby animals, then they go to church on Palm Sunday and clean the house in preparation for their Easter visitors. They make hot cross buns and talk about the cross being a reminder of Jesus, but they’re also excited about the Easter bunny and dyeing Easter eggs.

The adults go to church a lot more than the kids, and the older kids go to a nighttime service on the night before Easter where there are candles and a bonfire. The younger kids go to church in the morning with their grandparents, then there’s an egg hunt and an Easter feast.

The back of the book includes the Easter story and a timeline of the Easter season. There’s also a look at Easter symbols like eggs, lilies, lambs and Easter bread, as well as instructions for making a basket out of paper strips and a recipe for hot cross buns. The book ends with a quick look at Easter celebrations from around the world and a quiz.

The book is really cute and tells a nice story about one family’s Easter traditions. Readers who aren’t Christian will get a good overview of the Easter season and what it means, while those who celebrate differently can compare and contrast the story with how their own family and church recognize Easter.

About the book: 48 pages, hardcover, published 2025 by words & pictures. Suggested retail price $14.99.

As if Diwali weren’t colorful and fun enough, The Festival of Lights: A Lift-the-flap Diwali Celebration by Namita Moolani Mehra, illustrated by Darshika Varm, makes it even more fun to read about with flaps and things to lift and pull to see more information or details in the illustrations.

The book is a story about a family getting ready for Diwali and what happens on the different days of the five-day celebration. There’s cleaning, shopping, crafting, food preparation and getting the home altar ready for the big day.

It covers decorating the outside of the house with rangoli, diyas and lanterns, buying sweets to share with family and friends, the sights and scents of the mandir (home temple), getting dressed up in new fancy clothes, the story of Diwali and celebrations with relatives.

Flaps (there are more than 140 in all) give you vocabulary words for different foods and definitions, as well as fun things like what’s inside the shopping basket or where the cat is hanging out. They also help illuminate the story of Diwali, which is the triumph of good over evil as Lord Ram defeated the demon Ravana to save his wife, Sita.

This pretty and colorful book helps kids understand what Diwali is and how it is celebrated, regardless of whether they practice it at home. This would be a nice book to keep in a classroom (it’s rated for kids ages 3-7) or to have at home to teach kids about Diwali even if it’s not something you celebrate. Where I live there are a lot of people from India so we are probably exposed to Diwali more than some other regions of America, but it’s a nice holiday to know about wherever you live.

Combine with the book Diwali and check out some fun lantern crafts and printables for kids to round out your experience.

About the book: 24 pages, hardcover, published 2025 by Wide Eyed Editions. Suggested retail prices $22.99.

Have you read?

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