Easter Books

ISBN 0439785359 - Always a fan of Where's Waldo type books, I had high hopes for the I Spy series of board books for toddlers. My only concern was that the level of detail might be too high and a bit overwhelming for little ones. I didn't need to worry - they're everything I'd hoped for.

One page tells you what to look for, with a picture to guide you, and the facing page has a photograph to hunt for those items in. A drum, a football, a squirrel - and lots of bunnies! - are among the things you must find. Once you've found all of those, you can search for other things, too!

The photographs are photographs - not illustrations; this is a nice touch in books for children who usually get cartoon-y images in their books. The pictures (by Walter Wick) are really well-done, with some detail to hide the items you're searching for, but not so much detail that those items are too hard to find for little ones. The book is sturdy enough to stand up to many, many readings and thick pages are easy for little fingers to handle.

My Mom is in the Alzheimer's journey. I use the I Spy books for her to keep her mind working as best it can now. We make it a game & everyone like them. Anyone you hand it to enjoys hunting.

My 2.5 year old is now very interested in details, so when I saw the well-populated photographs in this book I knew we had to have it. We take it on outings and pull it out when she needs a quiet activity. Both she and her older sister pore over the illustrations (see if you can find the Scotty dog on a bead bracelet) and they even practice counting the items in the photos! This is a sturdy book with illustrations that will hold the interest of even busy youngsters.

Take beautiful springtime flowers, add adorable forest animals, and popular Easter legends in a garden setting and you have a delightful introduction to the suffering, death and resurrection and LOVE of Jesus.

This is a beautiful story of LOVE and SACRIFICE wrapped in all the life and color of spring. After the drab days of ice and snow, children can easily see the beauty of the new life brought by Jesus. It is so attractively presented that children are naturally drawn to it. The story of the passion is presented with such love and gentleness that even the youngest of children will be touched.

The Jesus Garden is so unusually creative, telling the Passion of Christ from the point of view of the flowers, trees and birds of the garden of Gethsemane. I have never read anything like this. Quietly, gently, and with a profound sense of truth, a story of staggering depth and beauty unfolds in a way that is meaningful for even a very young reader or listener. This book deserves to be a classic of Christian literature for children.

Certain books hold a special place in the heart of any parent, and on the family bookshelf - The Jesus Garden is destined to join the ranks of these precious few. Antoinette Bosco's wonderful book for children examines the passion of Jesus Christ from the perspective of the plants and animals who fill his favorite garden. The opening pages of the book enable this love story to play out, introducing us to the dogwoods, the robin, the heart-shaped flowers, and of course their special friend Jesus.

As the story plays out, we follow the Passion story from the moment of the agony in the Garden, through the Crucifixion, and ultimately Jesus' Resurrection. Most children's books that I've seen on this topic can be rather frightening, but Bosco and illustrator Patricia Mattozzi have managed to relay the story of Jesus' death in a manner which is gentle and not frightening. Mattozzi's illustrations are wonderful, luminescent depictions that warm the beautiful tale Bosco has crafted.

The book's subtitle rightly calls this "An Easter Legend", for there are indeed some imaginary aspects to the story, but its main themes of Jesus Christ's transcendent love for each of us shines through. Don't save this one for Easter - it's a story to be loved all year through!

This is an all time favorite! I bought this audio casette 15.5 years ago for my then 3 and 1 year old daughters. Now at nearly 19 and 17, they still remember the wonderful lyrics and have begged me to locate new copies for them since we wore the first one out! My older daughter is a student at NYU, and is not embarrassed at all to share the silly lyrics with her friends.
I own preschools and have used this music over and over again for all ages of preschoolers. They adore the songs!
Families of all ages will treasure the times they spend singing these songs together. This is a very worthwhile investment.

Road trips are a challenge for our family of 10! We try not to fill all the time with audio and video, because games, family conversation and reading are all more healthy. However, we never go more than 300 miles without Traffic Jams. These songs are a delight to both kids and parents. They are relevant to the two-year old and the grandmother, boys who catch frogs and girls who dream of fairies. And if a Dad can't relate to keeping a snowman in the freezer, then he needs this tape just to get him out of his grownupness.

We buy this tape for new parents and brag about it to other families. It is our number one favorite travel entertainment...even though we have a TV for the van now!

I am amazed to find that no one has yet written a review of Joe Scruggs' work!@In fact, I am accessing his page right now because I went to get some more of his music for my two kids who just LOVE this tape! "The people in the car" is their very favorite song on the tape, but they love all of the songs, and this is the tape they always clamour to listen to when I ask them what they want to hear. Great music in itself, and riotous lyrics.... Best of all the children's music around these days....

I can barely get through this book without choking up. It is such a sweet, sweet story about Jesus' journey to the cross. My 2 year old daughter loves the sing songy words to this book.

My 20 month old little girl will not put this book down. She chooses it from the bookcase all by herself and wants it read over and over. The rhyming text is wonderful, a true joy to read. The illustrations are magnificant. Thank you Mr Mackall for allowing God to use you to bring my family this wonderful tool for teaching the true meaning of Easter. It has become a true treasure for us and we will certainly be passing it on through gift giving. If you buy one book for Easter this is the one.

Gene Barretta has got to be one of the best illustrators working today. His illustrations are so creative and vivid and detailed. They are breathtaking and add tremendously to the beautiful story.

A group of us have been using this book as our Lenten study. It has been way to open discussion about our spritual journeys.

I have used this book daily for Lent and it is excellent. It compares favorably with Nouwen's "Show Me The Way" which I have been using for Lent for many years now. I recommend both books highly. They compliment each other and add so much spirituality to the Lenten season. Henri Nouwen knows how to speak directly to one's heart.

I bought this book for a group of Moms wanting to more fully experience Lent and to deepen their relationship with God. This book easily meets those two expectations. Each day you are given a writing of Nouwen's, a scripture to ponder, a prayer and a Lenten action. You can easily read and pray as the work is doable and applicable to your everyday. I highly recommend this to anyone wanting a more meaningful way to experience Lent.

From the author of the most widely read book in Christian spirituality after the Bible, THE IMITATION OF CHRIST, comes this jewel of spiritual insights on the Passion of Christ. The great Thomas A Kempis goes thru the four Gospels and covers the whole Passion of Chist in detail, giving profound meditations that really stir the soul. These are just beautiful insights on what Christ suffered, and how we can and should respond to this incredible love of the God made man. Perfect reading for Lent, or really for anytime of the year. A Kempis gives short to medium length meditations in 35 chapters, covering all aspects of the Passion, and concludes each chapter with a wonderful little prayer. This book has never been in English before, and its timing is perfect with all the interest in Christ's Passion. The combination of Thomas A Kempis and the four Gospels is a powerful means of spiritual inspiration and insight. The Passion of Christ will affect you as never before. Don't miss this book!

If you like "The Imitation of Christ" you will love this book. Thirty-five chapters, only a page or two each, examining in a prayerful way each step of Jesus' Passion. Five stars does not do this book justice. My husband and I are each reading a chapter a day for Lent and it is one of the most inspirational books we have ever read. The translation is at once clear and devout. My highest personal recommendation for this book.

Excellent meditations on the Passion of Christ based on the four Gospels. The meditations can be used as sources for prayer, and give much hope to the afflicted soul.

Incredibly insightful treatment of the Easter Rising and the man who lead it. This book gives us a new way of seeing this great Irish hero and shows us an in-debt psychological study of what brought him to lead the rebelion. A marvelous book.

I really enjoyed this book written by my ex-professor. This is a marvelous psychohistorical, highly engaging, and at times pleasantly shocking reading about one Patrick Pearse. Moran goes deeply into the Pearse's psyche and explores the possible reasons for Patrick's (i)-rational actions. Was he a suitable hero-figure or was he a man driven by circumstances, his perception of injustice, and his powerlessness.

Incredibly insightful treatment of the Easter Rising and the man who lead it. This book gives us a new way of seeing this great Irish hero and shows us an in-debt psychological study of what lead him to lead the rebelion. A marvelous book.

This is the book I've waited 30 years to see. Georgia Lee PhD probably knows more about Polynesian rock art than anyone except the original carvers of that art. She spent years on Easter Island, living among the islanders and recording the petroglyphs. When she came back to California after these field trips, she told us delightful stories about the people who lived there -- and she wrote about the island's archaeology (THE ROCK ART OF EASTER ISLAND, AN UNCOMMON GUIDE TO EASTER ISLAND, etc.)

Now, at last, she has written the stories she told us -- stories of the island people and her adventures among them. Why Eduardo wore a dirty tee-shirt when he greeted Prince Phillip of England, how Luz Mercedes got that nasty scar, the jail-break that ended when the escapees ran out of booze in that cave. And so much more. Wow. "Island of Memory" indeed. What a treat.

Margaret Searles, author of the Mrs. Millet & Mrs. Hark Mysteries from Wrinklers Press

A new book appearing on Rapa Nui bookshelf brightly features the whole set of interesting and curious facts about the island and the islanders, the narrative of the modern history developing in the front of the author. Starting from the eighties of the past century, it encompasses many specific topics hard to find in the existing Easter Island literature. The reader can literally feel the pace of time, reflected in the described sequence of changes taking place in Hangaroa village and the archaeological sites of the island. Buildings are constructed, hotels grow, cars increase in number; airplane flights became more frequent, enabling much more people to visit Rapa Nui; archaeological sites undergo throughout investigation and are become re-built from the ruins.

The book supplies interesting details concerning the rock art recording project carried out by the author, describing the work performed at 'Orongo, Rano Kau, Poike, in the vicinities of 'Anakena and Ahu Ra'ai. We learn about the discovery of the cave with Make-make petroglyphs, statues returned from Hangaroa back to the solitary ceremonial platform at Poike and the "traveling moai" set upright near Tongariki after its travel to the exhibition in Japan. There are descriptions and photos of Ahu Tongariki destroyed by a tidal wave and its current reconstructed appearance.

The book is richly illustrated, featuring over 150 black and white photos, more than a dozen color illustrations, about 20 petroglyph tracings and numerous drawings by the author, which adds a special touch to the book. Among the photos published in the "Island of Memory" are one-of-a-kind: breath-taking aerial views of the island (Rano Kau, 'Orongo, Tahai complex, Ahu Tongariki, Poike peninsula and Poike ditch); photos from Motu Nui islet and its caves; photos illustrating the filming of BBC Easter Island documentary in 1987 and the Hollywood movie a couple of years later. The evolution of the Tapati festival from early days to the modern times spectacular show is discussed.

Several chapters of the book are devoted to the islanders and their life, showing the kind, strong, optimistic, and open-hearted Rapa Nui people; there are many romantic and moving descriptions of the enchanted island, its scenery and unique sites, which makes the reader longing to visit this beautiful place in the Pacific. All of this together with the incredible story-telling skills of the author, supplying bright humorous descriptions of the different events that occurred while her rock art recording project was in process, make this book very interesting and fascinating, bringing it (to my opinion) to the "must have" category for everyone, who wishes to learn more about the history and culture of Easter Island.

This book will bring back memories of the Rapanui people to anyone who has been lucky enough to visit Easter Island. Those who haven't been but are interested in this special place will gain an appreciation of these resilient people that will rival their wonder and awe of the "mysteries" of Easter Island. A fun read about a great place.

This is the first theological work by the Archbishop Williams that I have ever read but upon reading it, it certainly won't be the last. While it is an intellectually demanding work, it is a work that is deeply rewarding on intellectual, personal and spiritual levels.

Williams' basic thesis is that the resurrection of Christ is central to the Christian message. He does not write this to downplay the crucifixion, but to show that the darkness of the crucifixion is brought to its fullness and completion in the resurrection. Williams illustrates this in multiple ways, but there are two in particular that I want to note below.

The first is Williams' engagement with original sin in the sense of personal guilt. It is only after we confront ourselves and see both our ability to victimize others and that we have actually done so that we can then turn to God through Christ and experience redemption.

The second, the idea of a redeemed language, is an idea that is very much central to this book. Even though the fullness of the resurrection may escape our words (and Williams uses the historical discrepancies in the resurrection narratives in the Gospels to illustrate this), this does not mean that our words are meaningless. Instead, our words are given meaning because they are rooted in a fullness that cannot be contained by them. The resurrection, so to speak, re-inspires our language.

As others have noted, Williams displays an incredible gift for synthesizing various strands of Christian thought into a brilliant whole without sacrificing any part of it. Liturgical practice and mystical theology, contemporary biblical criticism and philosophical acuity all meet in Williams' work in the best of ways. Despite his controversies, it may be true that the Archbishop Williams is one of the best voices in contemporary theology. This book certainly leads me to think so.

The richness of the content in this work can leave one using two paragraphs as the meditation material for a week, and still knowing one has barely scratched the surface. Bishop Williams not only skillfully develops the message of the resurrection itself, but incorporates elements of sacramental, ascetic, and mystic theology with brilliant, fresh insights. His section on the Eucharist, for example, has a depth that is a banquet for the mind and spirit.

This is not a work for the dilletante - it is blessedly difficult and immensely thought provoking. It was the first Rowan Williams book I read, and left me quite certain that he is one of the greatest living theologians. Five stars are hardly enough.

Last semester, I taught Introduction to Theology at my seminary with a soon-to-be ordained Episcopalian (the American 'flavour' for Anglican), and we used as the final book for the semester Rowan Williams' text 'Resurrection: Interpreting the Easter Gospel'. This relatively short text proved to be one of the more popular choices we've selected in the several years of teaching together. In its latest version, this book has a forward by Paul Minear, who writes of the difficulty about addressing a topic like the resurrection. Minear warns that 'resurrection language' can end up being meaningless, circular, self-reflective and idolatrous. Williams, at least in Minear's estimation, avoids these pitfalls.

Much of the language of Jewish and Christian scripture is metaphor, some of it explicitly so (parables, for instance), but other parts not so easily discerned (is the Genesis creation account metaphor or to be taken literally). Williams takes the resurrection as the ultimate metaphor that has the power to make things real. This reality is not just something that happened once upon a time, in a land far far away, but something that is real for us today, something present in our own lives and spiritual beings.

There are aspects Williams does not specifically address. This is not a Jesus Seminar text, in search of the 'real' Jesus -- it is not looking for a newspaper-ish reporting of events during a particular week in early first century surrounding the execution of religious subversive. Williams is not creating a new exegesis, scientific or otherwise. However, Williams does not discount modern scholarship, and is willing to engage both the substance and methods of scholarship as it relates to his main thesis.

Williams is a careful scholar, but this is not the extent of his writing, and this particular text, while decidedly theological, involves much more personal reflection and contemplation than research and exposition. Williams borrows a term from Karl Barth -- irregular dogmatics -- to describe some of his methodology. This is a style that comes closer to preaching than to lecturing; it is way of theologising that is closer to mystical experience than to rational construction. However, it is not to be seen as a way of leaving aside the need for a careful and responsible approach to the subject.

Williams uses modern situations and issues such as racism, sexism, war and violence to demonstrate the need for resurrection presence in our lives. He also draws the examples directly back to the biblical texts and witnesses, to highlight the enduring qualities of such stories. Drawing on literary references such as the Brothers Karamazov and Iris Murdoch, historical events such as the Holocaust, the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, and thinkers from all spectrums of theological thought, Williams traces out the importance of resurrection in modern times through the impact it had on ancient communities such as Jerusalem and Galilee. Recalling the theme of forgiveness and penitence, particularly in the experience of Paul, a former persecutor of the Church, he reflects of the importance of forgiveness and penitence today. Williams believes that all Christians are called to help their brothers and sisters to hope, to creativity, and find the most fulfilling way penitence can create resurrection in their own lives.

Williams opens up the church as an institution and a community of individuals to criticism and fallibility, something incredibly important in the face of continuing oppressive potential hierarchical institutions like the church possess. Just how this plays out in his personal actions as the new Archbishop of Canterbury and symbolic head of the Anglican communion, it will be interesting to watch. The inclusion of marginal characters in the gospel -- Williams points out that the first to experience the realisation of the resurrection were women, not part of the apostolic band, not generally respected as powerful or valid witnesses in society -- bodes well for his own ministry in the church, and he calls upon the rest of us to do the same.

There is also a great respect for silence in Williams' writing. He write about the lack of detail given about the actual resurrection event, even in elaborate gospels such as Matthew. Resurrection is in many ways indescribable, and early gospel witnesses were confronted with an ultimate event that defied ultimate expression in many ways, and in so doing became the ultimate metaphor.

Despite being a relatively short book (about 120 pages of text), this is not a quick read. It is the kind of book that begs for careful pondering, drawing the reader back to pages and sections over and over again for deeper thoughts and insights. Just as the resurrection is central to the Christian story, and has been recast and recalled countless times in 2000 years of history, so too will this book provide fresh approaches and insights to a familiar, yet strangely different, story.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the Christian story, particularly Christians, but also others who want to better understand how one of the key leaders of Christianity today thinks about the relationship of Christianity to the rest of society and the rest of the world.

We love this book! It is a bit mushy/silly, but I think it is very sweet. I am glad we have it, and read it often!

Colorful illustrations and cute text... One of our favorites!

It's important for all babies and toddlers to touch everything, after all this is how they explore and learn about the world around them. I really like this book because each page has a parent and their child... it could be easily be a Mother or Father with their daughter or son. Each page has a fuzzy spot that you can start out and put the childs' finger on it, then later have your child find where the fuzzy spot is. I love to read this to my daughter and tickle her under her chin on " You're someone's puppy love page! She always giggles when we read this and excitely expect the page when she knows she's going to get softly tickled!