Jul 072013
God Gave Us Easter
“God loved us so much he wanted us to always be with him too. That’s why God knew he’d need to give us Easter.”
As Little Cub celebrates Easter with Papa, Mama, and her brother and sister, she begins to ask her papa questions about this very special day of the year. Papa lovingly explains God’s plans for his children, while taking Little Cub on a memorable walk through her stunning Arctic world, and he shares how Easter came about in clear, simple terms that even the l
Price:
Adequate for Easter,
In general, the book is cute, but I do not recommend it if you want to truly teach about Easter. Let me explain why.
I like how it started by explaining there is more to Easter than the Easter bunny, but then I felt it jumped around topically. The author discussed how things need to die in order to bring new life and how you have to let go of things in order to receive something greater. Then she briefly discusses the sinfulness of people at the flood and after. There is a simplistic mention of Jesus providing the need of forgiveness. She ends with Jesus speaking to your heart.
I think the story does not progress in a logical order. Papa Bear mentioned that God had a plan for Easter from the beginning, but the hopping back and forth does not show it. I think younger ones might miss the meaning of Easter in the midst of discussions of the “root of Jesse” and the river running to the sea. I also have an issue of animals dealing with theology, but that is a topic for another post.
Or is it? You see, I had my 8 year old read the book.
It is recommended for ages 3-8, so she is on the high end. She thought the book was “okay”. She liked that the book dealt with Easter, but in her words, “Why polar bears? Animals don’t need salvation.” Then she lapsed into how fun it would be to talk to the animals, but I (and she) digress.
The polar bear family is a cute family,however…for a family of polar bears that is. The illustrations are really nice.
So, here are my final thoughts. If you want a book to teach or reinforce what you have taught your child about Easter, this one is not it. If you just want a book to deal with Easter as a way of keeping some focus on the real reason for the season, this book would be a cute one to have.
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|God Gave Us Easter,
“…Even death couldn’t trap God’s Son. He is life itself. And God loved us so much, he wanted us to be with him always. We can see signs of his Easter plan all around us.”
-excerpt from God Gave Us Easter
A love of reading began early on in my life. My mother cultivated it in me from a very early age. Now, as a mom myself, I hope to do that for my children as well. In choosing literature for my children, I always want to choose quality literature, words that will add to the life of my children. I am so thankful for people who write and have a passion to communicate God’s truth to children. God Gave Us Easter is an example of the type of literature I am looking for.
As part of a God Gave Us series, God Gave Us Easter is a story of how a papa polar bear teaches his young daughter about God and His greatest gift to us, Jesus. The story goes through teaching in the Bible about how Jesus is the answer of redemption for mankind. Bergren also uses examples found in nature of how death can produce life.
There are a lot of things I like about this book. The author doesn’t bash the Easter bunny or eggs, symbols often associated with Easter, but explains how they can demonstrate the love of God in His gift of Jesus. She says, “Just like the shell cracks open and a chick comes out, we remember that Jesus was in a tomb…but he didn’t stay dead.” There is also teaching in the book about Jesus being from the root of Jesse. This is something I was unfamiliar with, and had never seen in a children’s book, so I learned something too! (See Isaiah 11 and Romans 15.) I also really liked the author’s explanation of how Jesus speaks to our hearts, and that even a small child can be sensitive to His voice.
I recommend this book to parents of preschool and early elementary age children. It would be a nice addition to Bible curriculum if you homeschool. If you as a parent are unsure how to communicate Biblical truths to your children, this book would help as well.
Many blessings to you as you celebrate the resurrection of Jesus this year and remember why God Gave Us Easter!
~Beth
Disclosure Statement: I received this book free of charge as part of a free books for bloggers program from Waterbrook Multnomah. I was not required to give a favorable review. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are entirely my own.
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|Easter and Too Much More,
For a family that has raised their child(ren) in a traditional Christian setting, the book “God Gave Us Easter” is a possible addition to a child’s library. It discusses the “Why” of Easter (the resurrection of Jesus making possible the salvation of all who believe), though this is almost hidden within the bigger story. There are only a few pages of this book (32 pages of text & Illustrations) that directly address Easter. There are other concepts introduced on the following pages, including becoming part of “Something Bigger”, references to the Root of Jesse and Noah’s Ark, and prayer, all topics that are related peripherally to the Easter story. A child who has attended a Sunday School or who has parents who have introduced these concepts to the child might accept the abrupt changes in topic as the child would have some familiarity with what is presented. However, a child who has no foundation for understanding would likely find the concepts difficult to follow, let alone understand.
Every part of the story seems to be Biblically based, and is clearly an attempt on the part of the author to explain a concept that many adults find difficult to understand and believe. There is nothing in the story that is not Biblical, though verses are paraphrased to make the story flow rather than quoted directly from the Bible. I especially like the author’s way of explaining prayer as listening to Jesus speak to our hearts.
The book’s illustrations are well done, adding to rather than detracting from the story. The illustrator chose to use bears to represent people; the story primarily takes place as an ongoing conversation between Papa Bear and Little Bear. Other than clearly identifying Papa, the bears are mostly depicted as genderless; I was surprised on page 20 when Little Bear was for the first time given a female gender; I’d been thinking of Little Bear as a boy. As an author, this caught my attention; a child may not even notice the sudden identification of a girl as the main character. I found it distracting that after referring to “Little Bear” suddenly there was “she” and “her”. Since the author found it possible to go 20 pages without identifying gender, I thought that should have carried through to the end of the book.
I don’t know that I would buy other books by this author; if I did, I would keep in mind that they should likely go to families who have been teaching their children Biblical concepts, or to someone who is capable of explaining further if the child has additional questions about what is presented.
It is because unchurched children may have a difficult time understanding the book that I did not give it five stars. I believe the book has a limited rather than universal audience. If a new believer, for instance, wanted a book about Easter to introduce the concept for the first time to a child, I do not think “God Gave Us Easter” would be the right book to choose as an introduction to Easter.
ADDITONAL REVIEWS BY FAMILY MEMBERS
From Sister, age 57, mom/grandmother: “What is the author trying to do, go through the whole Bible?” (Spontaneous comment when finding not only the Root of Jesse but also Noah’s Ark in the book about Easter.) “I would not buy this book. It’s awful [referring to the multiple topics]. I would give it one star.” Sister also had concerns about the page describing us as being part of “Something Bigger”; she read it as a cultish concept.
From Niece, 30, soon-to-be-mom: “Too many different subjects. I would not read this to my child. One star.”
From Niece’s husband, 34, soon-to-be-dad: “Incongruent. Leaps from subject to subject. I would not get this for my child. Two stars.”
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