We love telling children the Christmas story. What’s more exciting than a baby being born? And this baby was God’s own Son who came from heaven to earth. The Easter story is also exciting, but first we need to get through Good Friday and that’s a tough subject for children.

The crucifixion is a difficult topic for children to grasp. Some might find it scary or disturbing. But even young children can appreciate this part of Jesus’s life story if it is told with words and images they can understand.

This is Easter, is one of the board books in the series, Our Daily Bread for Little Hearts that I co-authored with Teri McKinley. The first few spreads tell about Jesus calling His disciples, how he healed the sick, and how He let the children come to Him. The next page shows Jesus praying in the garden, and the next page is of a Roman soldier.

Authors rarely have input into illustrations if they publish with a traditional publisher, but I made a request to have the illustrator create a picture of the cross, without Jesus hanging on the cross.

Here is the page with the text:

The story then shows the guards at the tomb, the angel rolling away the stone, and then the empty tomb with the women. Of course, the most exciting part of the story is when Jesus appears to his followers. And the final spread shows a contemporary family worshiping in church on Easter Sunday.

The entire story is packed into 9 spreads so young children can understand and enjoy the story. I believe children need to learn about Jesus’s death on the cross at an early age. And the Easter story always has a happy ending!

Crystal