The Parish Church of St George the Martyr, Waterlooville
Book Corner
It is my great pleasure to introduce two delightful Easter books for children to help them in their understanding of the season.
The first is for younger children. It is entitled The Easter Swallows. Movingly written by Vicki Howie it retells the Easter story from the perspective of two swallows. The book opens with the two swallows, Long Tail and Short Tail deciding to build their nest near the tomb where Jesus was buried. They spot a donkey that tells them that he is going to carry a great King into Jerusalem. So Long Tail and Short Tail follow on to watch and, in doing so, the events of Palm Sunday unfold. The swallows look in at The Last Supper and are there too in Gethsemane. Good Friday is handled sensitively contrasting with the joyous news on Easter Day. The illustrations are by Paola Bertolini Crudina and complement the text perfectly. They are bright with a whimsical aspect that is sure to appeal to little children.
The Easter Swallows by Vicki Howie (CWR) (ISBN 978-
The second book is from Lion Publishing called Easter Favourites, Stories and Prayers for the Season. This is a treasure full of all sorts of wonderful items. It contains one of my favourite stories, that of the Tale of Three Trees. The first tree wanted to be made into a beautiful chest that would hold the finest treasure, the second wanted to be made into a mighty sailing ship and for the world’s mightiest Kings to sail in it. The third tree wanted to stay put and to point to the vast and beautiful heavens and the mysteries that lay beyond it. The trees all receive their wishes, although not quite in the ways they had first envisaged. The Tale of the Heaven Tree is another haunting story bound to leave a mark upon young and old alike. Young people in Kenya wrote the profound poem, Blessed Be the Name of Jesus. Accounts of the Easter story are included, together with Mary Coleridge’s poem When Mary Thro’ the Garden Went.
The Lion Easter Favourites, Stories and Prayers for the Season. (ISBN 978-
Wishing you all a joyous and Blessed Easter.
Lynn Winter
Easter and Spring Edition 2010