Easter Books

I think the book is lovely. Wonderful illustrations, not without some sense text for little listeners. My baby loves the all four of them: Little Bunny's Easter Surprise, Little Lamb's Easter Surprise, Little Chick's Easter Surprise.

John Pritchard certainly knows what makes a "value-added" book. He starts with the head-snapping observation that Easter day, "the most astonishing day in the history of the world," is filled with momentary sheer, wild, abandoned ecstasy, "and then we have a bank holiday." His mission is clear: He wants to offer a range of thoughts, insights, resources, and ideas for action that might help us preserve our Easter faith throughout the year. He starts with some basics: a comparison of details from the four gospels and further scripture evidence that we are dealing with a true resurrection. His chapter on what the disciples did after the resurrection is presented in a calendar-like format based on the feast days of the 11 (no feast day for Judas Iscariot, of course). In separate short paragraphs we learn some background, including the several different names used in scripture for certain disciples and their relationships to one another, to Jesus, and to their community.

The second section focuses on celebrating the Resurrection and includes current secular practices, a prayer service based on "stations of the resurrection," and 24 daily reflections on relevant New Testament passages. Next we find two ready-made small group series, true stories on the Easter theme, prayer activities, and Easter poetry. Individuals and small groups will find this clear, insightful work immensely usable and inspiring.

I am using this for our church's Lenten study. The class grows each week. The members find the material relevant to their daily lives and encouraging in following the way of Christ more completely.

Dori Chaconas once again brings us a fantastic picture book with a delicate and sweet story. The rhythm of the story flows wonderfully throughout the beautifully illustrated pages. Little Bunny goes on an adventure and comes to a beautiful conclusion about life in the end. Young and old alike, it would be very difficult for anyone who reads this book to not be touched and inspired by Dori's uplifting writing.

I really enjoy reading this book to my daughter.

As Spring approaches our children eagerly look forward to decorating Ukrainian Easter eggs (a tradition their father has taught them). They loved this story of a little girl who yearns to be able to see well enough to make beautiful pysanky. They especially enjoyed seeing the similarities between themselves and this little Russian girl. It was a great way for them to learn more of their Ukrainian heritage.

This is a collection of Martin Luther's sermons. Martin Luther was a Catholic monk who rifted from the Catholic church and founded Protestant and the Lutheran denomination. Protestant baptizes those who are of age. Lutheran teaches you get saved through baptism. I'm a member of an ECLA local chujrch, Pilgrim Lutheran Church. That one is the closest to Catholic that Lutheran has and is almost identical to straight Catholic. There are many sub denominations of Lutheran. For example, Bethal Lutheran was the Plymouths. Our Savior's I think worships Superman, my friend goes there. It's totally 2000s. They didn't care about the quality or the goodwill anymore. Recommendec for those who want to reclaim their Christian heritage. While the Church of Satan lingers at 300 members, Pilgrim has 9 million each and every year. My ancestors came over on the Mayflower. It is not funny. Easter is a Christian holiday recognized by the government amd the post office to celebrate Jesus' resurrection. It is one of the most important holidays we keep next to Thanksgiving. I repeat, it is not funny. Amen.

When Peter Carl Faberge made the decision to move away from conventional jewelry and focus on the elegant and amusing baubles that were the conversation of their day, he probably never dreamed that his creations would set the standard of objets de luxe for all time. This book is a marvelous compendium of photographs, essays, historical details and commentary by the world's foremost collectors and purveyors of these fantasy creations. Gorgeous photography and rich printing on heavy paper stock make this book a collector's item as well.

Excerpted from the inside flap:
Alexander von Solodkoff, author of this book and an expert on Russian objects, formerly with Christie's, London, has seen many of the treasured Faberge pieces come up for auction. Here he tells the fascinating story of the rise of the House of Faberge and in particular of Carl Faberge, son of the founder, whom the Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna once called "an incomparable genius."

Christopher Forbes, who has himself written and edited several books on the subject, presided over this one, securing enlightening chapters by Paul Schaffer of A La Vieille Russie in New York and A. Kenneth Snowman of Wartski, London, the eminent dealers whose firms helped to form many of the outstanding Faberge collections of the world. A chapter on the reign of Russia's last czar, Nicholas II, by historian Marilyn Pfeifer Swezey illuminates not only the subject matter of the Fifteenth Anniversary Egg but also the period and world of Faberge.

A complete catalogue (as of publication time) of the growing FORBES Magazine Collection, a chronology, and a list of Faberge workmasters and their marks make this a useful reference book for the collector as well as a glittering presentation of some of the most dazzling examples of the jeweler's art created in the past century.

I recently read Maxx And The Wishing Bone to my twin girls. I was happy to see them engage in many questions of empathy afterward. The next day I read it to them again, still more questions. Each time I read this delightful book to my twins, I received more questions. The questions they were asking to MY delight were all from the perspective of another. They were each time, trying to find out how OTHERS FELT. They were learning empathy. That is one of the most important things any child can learn. Their questions of empathy soon spread their own lives and I didn't waste one. So not only can they learn empathy, but they can enjoy it too. Maxx wants to be someone else, his boy. He gets his wish and finds his boys' life not what he expected. He finds he understands his boy so much more as well as himself. Understanding how we fit into our world is huge for us all. Learning that in this enjoyable book is a true gift. I will continue to read Maxx to my girls and give it as a gift to all my favorite moms and children.

I'm not normally a big fan of poetry, but this book is just good. The author is clever without being full of himself, and the poems are very funny even as they deal with profound observations on life.

In a nutshell, this is what I think poetry should be. If more published poets wrote like this, I'd probably quit avoiding the poetry section of bookstores.