Picture book with dust jacket
32 pages plus end sheets
Written by Dandi Daley Mackall
Illustrated by Richard Cowdrey
Zonderkidz, January 2016
ISBN 978-0-310-74964-6
SRP $16.99
Ages: 4-8
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

I’m not often a fan of books that set out to teach specific lessons, but I do love this one, perhaps because there’s much that can be learned on different levels.

An early-nesting robin outside Gran’s attic window has Tressa worried—how will the robin keep her eggs warm? How will she keep them safe from the blue jay in a nearby tree and the racoon prowling around?

Gran, however, isn’t worried, and her calm confidence in the Creator’s care begins to inspire Tressa. Together, they make oschter-foggle, Easter birds, an old Pennsylvania Dutch tradition. And while they do, Gran tells Tressa the legend of the robin’s red breast–stained by a drop of Jesus’ blood when a robin pulled a thorn out of his forehead.

“Ever since,” Gran said, “the robin’s red breast reminds us of Christ’s sacrifice and how much he cares. The robin’s song is the first sign of spring, helping us remember that after Christ died, he rose again on that first Easter.”

On Easter morning, Tressa finds a surprise—a daddy robin feeding four hungry baby birds under their mother’s wings.

The colorful illustrations of this new edition offer interesting perspectives and details for children to enjoy, and complement the smoothly written text. (I do wish Gran was a more modern grandma, however—I’m not quite ready to put my silver hair in a bun!)

In the legend section of the book, the illustrations change to sepia tones. Although they are not graphic, they do convey Jesus’ suffering more than most children’s books for this age group, and younger readers might be bothered by them. So preview first if this is a concern for your child.

DIANE

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