With Easter being just a month away, many of you are beginning to look for books and resources to prepare little hearts for celebrating the resurrection of our Lord. Whether you’re looking for a light enjoyable read or something a little more theological, I think you’ll find some good options here from a list of our favorites.
- Journey to the Cross by Helen Haidle. ★★★★★ All of these resources are our favorites, but this one is the FAVORITE of the favorites. If you could only buy one of these resources, I’d tell you to grab this one for sure. This book goes into great detail starting with Palm Sunday and going through Passover week and ending with the time AFTER the Resurrection. If you’re looking for a lot of details and historical facts, this one is for you. It’s set up like a Bible story book starting with the passages the Bible story comes from (which you could look up and read if you’re using with older children), and then goes into a summary of the story. It’s got fantastic illustrations. And one thing I personally love is that each chapter has little blurbs with extra information…specifically historical background, so you’re getting the Bible story PLUS extra knowledge about the subject matter. (I was learning so much myself reading through this with E.) And as an added bonus, it’s simple enough for a child to read on his own as well. *Non-KJV
- Benjamin’s Box by Melody Carlson. ★★★ This book is a mix between a fiction story about Benjamin and of course, the Resurrection story. Most of the pages have a colored egg at the top which goes hand in hand with one of the resurrection eggs (which I will explain below.) I specifically got this book to do with the kids in Sunday school because it sounded like so much fun, and of course, they absolutely loved it! By the way, the Benjamin’s Box book is on Hoopla, and it’s a read along…which means it has audio! It’s a great way to try before you buy, or just use this for completely free. But in being completely up front about this book, here are a couple of critiques that are completely personal preference…While it is made to use with the resurrection eggs, the colors of the eggs don’t match, and there is one egg that is completely skipped over (the rooster egg). It’s also a very watered down version of the Resurrection story, especially after reading Journey to the Cross…it would probably would be really good for little ones, but not enough meat for older children. (The nice thing is that the Resurrection Eggs kit comes with a little booklet of its own, so you don’t have to have this book to be able to use the Resurrection Eggs.)
- The Resurrection Eggs by Family Life Today. ★★★★★ These are so much fun! The kit comes with a story booklet (English and Spanish) that tells you what to read for each egg, a carton of twelve colorful plastic eggs, and inside each egg is a tiny figurine representing a part of the resurrection story. We used these in two way. I used them for an Easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday in our Sunday School classroom which the kids LOVED. And I have also used these with E for a fun Easter count down. Both ways were a blast. (You can also DIY your own Resurrection Eggs….just google it…tons of info will come up.) This is just a really fun way for kiddos to touch and feel and make more personal some things that would have been part of the Resurrection story.
- Aman’s Adventure by Arnold Ytreeide. ★★★★★ This is a very exciting historical fiction book that takes place during the time of Jesus and culminates with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. We loved the story for the enjoyment of the story. For us personally, it’s not family devotion material. (Think Ben-Hur or The Robe.) Having said that, there are questions and Bible verses (non-KJV) to discuss at the end of each chapter that we completely skipped over… because, like I said, we were here for the enjoyment of the story. Our theological explanations of Easter are coming straight from the actual resurrection story not from historical fiction. So just know, if you grab this book for an enjoyable historical fiction, you won’t be disappointed (5-stars for that), but if you grab this for a study of the resurrection, you probably won’t be satisfied. All that to say we LOVED the book…for the story, not for studying the resurrection. I hope all that gibberish makes sense! *This author has a tendency to include heart-pumping, over-the-top, intense scenes that will keep your middle graders on the edge of their seats, but it may not be so good for your younger children.
- The Garden the Curtain and the Cross by Carl Laferton. Here is a bonus book for you. I have had so many people tell me good things about this one, but we have not had the chance to try this one ourselves other than on YouTube. If you grab it, let me know what you think! *A note from our YouTube viewing…not surprisingly, Adam and Eve are naked in the garden. And also, there is not a good explanation of salvation at the end of the book either…nothing about repentance.
You can find all of these resources on Altogether Lovely’s Amazon Storefront. While you are there, be sure to check out the other great recommendations as well.
Most of the links here are Amazon affiliate links. If used to make a purchase, I will receive a small commission from Amazon at no extra cost to you! So THANK YOU!