Emma’s Easter: A Review

Emma’s Easter: A Review

March 2, 2017

When I wrote Catherine’s Pascha, I had not heard of Tekla’s Easter, which is long out of print. And of course, when I wrote Catherine’s Pascha, it would be many years before Lisa Bullard would write Emma’s Easter. (Although I wrote my story first, she published first....
Pascual and the Kitchen Angels: A Review

Pascual and the Kitchen Angels: A Review

May 19, 2016

Even though “Pascual” means Pascha, Tomie dePaola’s Pascual and the Kitchen Angels isn’t a Pascha book. It’s a folk tale about Saint Pascual. And it is every bit as delightful as you expect a book by dePaola to be. Saints who Cook Saint Pascual...
Don’t put the Easter picture books away!

Don’t put the Easter picture books away!

May 2, 2016

Yesterday was Pascha. Today is Bright Monday. The kitchen hasn’t recovered yet, and frankly, neither have you. You’re wandering through the house in a bit of a fog. You see Easter picture books scattered on the floor, and you start to pick them up and pack them away...
My First Easter: A Review

My First Easter: A Review

April 28, 2016

I adore Tomie de Paola’s books. I love them almost as much as I love Patricia Polacco’s books, or Jan Brett’s. His sweet, simple stories are buttressed by tradition and infused with love and faith and trust. His art has a sort of effortless simplicity, childlike in...
Marushka’s Egg: A Review

Marushka’s Egg: A Review

April 21, 2016

Marushka’s Egg by Elsa Okon Rael starts out as an Easter story. Marushka and her mother get up with the sun to make Easter bread. While the bread rises, Marushka walks, all by herself, to the market to buy an egg for the Easter loaf. She has a penny, and she wants to...