Beautiful Books for Easter Baskets

This one is for the parents, the grandparents, the godparents, the aunts and uncles, and all other friends to small people

I was plodding through a post on Lenten themes in literature (which may lay dormant for another year if I can’t pull it together soon) when the wonderful

Kerri Christopher

put the idea in my head to come up with some ideas for Easter basket books.

I’ve aimed for a wide variety here but my choices obviously betray my specific interests: pastoral renderings of the English countryside, highly detailed illustrations, both Eastern and Western Christianity, and so on. You also may not see a book you find indispensable for celebrating Easter. (I have, it must be admitted, never read The Tale of the Three Trees) But I hope along with some familiar books, you will perhaps find some new, enchanting ones for you and the children in your life to love.

Books on faith

I Believe: The Nicene Creed by Pauline Baynes: unjustly out of print. Baynes, of Narnia illustration fame, has created exquisite medieval manuscript inspired illustrations for the words of the Nicene Creed.

The Monk Who Grew Prayer by Claire Bradenburg: I bought this for a friend’s baby but wanted to keep it for myself. A gentle book with simple text that introduces children to praying the Hours and shows what “praying without ceasing” looks like as the monk goes about the ordinary tasks of his day.

A Child’s Book of Prayer in Art by Sister Wendy Beckett: Sister Wendy uses works of fine art as a jumping point for conversations on prayer and contemplation with children. (And for your adult Easter basket: Sister Wendy’s Art of Holy Week and Easter)

A Child’s Guide to Prayer: an Eastern Orthodox children’s prayer book. This has proved the most used children’s prayer book in our house. It’s the right size for a child’s hands. The text is clear and thoughtfully formatted. The illustrations are engaging. It has traditional Eastern Christian prayers as well as prayers for various occasion such as ‘A prayer for when you’re worried’ and ‘A prayer when you’re feeling alone.’

An Illustrated Catechism by Inos Biffi, illustrated by Franco Vignazia: we have several books from this author-illustrator duo. They are accessibly written but not over-simplified, and I’m partial to Vignazia’s Byzantine inspired illustrations.

The Three Day Pascha by Mother Melania: part of a series of small books on the Great Feasts of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Lovely illustrations, excellent catechesis.

The Life of Jesus in Masterpieces of Art by Mary Pope Osborne: one of those books to leave out on the coffee table and watch children flip through.

Saints: Lives and Illuminations by Ruth Sanderson: we have a stack of encyclopedic saint books but I have an especial love for Sanderson’s illustrations and the fact that her collection has a good mix of East and West saints.

Other religious books that have gone in our Easter baskets or I’ve given to godchildren: Brother Francis of Assisi and Mary, Mother of Jesus by Tomie DePaola; Saints Around the World by Meg Hunter-Kilmer; My Book of the Church’s Year by Enid M. Chadwick (must-have for little Anglo-Catholic or Ordinariate children)

Nature and Gardening books

Slow Down: 50 Mindful Moments in Nature by Rachel Williams, illustrated Freya Hartas: I just love this one so much. It’s full of scene by scene vibrant and detailed illustrations of events in the nature: the dawn chorus, dew gathering on a leaf, a mother duck teaching her ducklings to swim, and so on.

Crinkleroot’s Nature Almanac by Jim Arnosky: the first in a series of books about a grandfatherly nature guide who was “born in a tree and raised by bees.” These books are so friendly and engaging. Perfect for the budding naturalist in your life.

A Gardener’s Alphabet by Mary Azarian: I am forever looking for reasons to introduce people to Mary Azarian’s marvelous woodcut prints.

A Seed is Sleepy and An Egg is Quiet by Diana Hutts Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long: you are probably aware of these if you’ve read any children’s nature booklists for the past ten years, but they really are good.

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner: ditto above

Two Little Gardeners by Margaret Wise Brown: a retro charmer that would go well with a spade and a watering can in an Easter basket.

Betty and the Mysterious Visitor by Anne Twist, illustrated by Emily Sutton: A sweet story about a girl who loves helping in her grandmother’s garden and is baffled by the destructive habits of…well, a mysterious visitor. (To be honest, I would buy any book regardless how rubbish the text was if Emily Sutton illustrated it.)

See also: this entire website for books with more hands-on nature exploration ideas.

Story books with religious (or more serious) themes

Rechenka’s Eggs by Patricia Polacco: my favorite Easter book by far probably because Babushka reminds me of my own Slavic grandmother, but also because the story and illustrations are both gorgeous.

Petook by Caryll Houselander, illustrated by Tomie de Paola: still can’t believed we lucked out in getting this author-illustrator pairing back in print.

Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco: a window into Polacco’s childhood and a beautiful story for Easter or anytime.

The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde: there are a number of illustrated editions of Wilde’s fairy tale such as ones by Lisbeth Zwerger and Isabelle Brent. It is the perfect Easter fairy tale and arguably an indispensable part of a child’s literary upbringing. Just do yourself a favor and listen to this sublime narration of by Basil Rathbone.

Pascual and the Kitchen Angels by Tomie de Paola: we love this tale of the life of St. Pascal Balyon. Not an Easter story (except Pascual does mean Easter and all saint stories are Easter stories in a sense), but always a joy to read. Also there are lambs and flowers and cooking and angels which all feel pretty Eastery to me.

St. Francis and the Proud Crow by Bernadette Watts: a sweet little fable on the pitfalls of envy. Also, Watts is one of those sublime picture book artists whose work is far less known than it ought to be.

The Miracle of the Red Egg by Elizabeth Crispina Johnson, illustrated by Daria Fisher: a retelling of the legend of St. Mary Magdalene proclaiming the resurrection of Christ before the Emperor Tiberius. A good one to read before dyeing Easter eggs.

Springtime Books

Pelle’s New Suit by Elsa Beskow: charmingly follows how wool from a little boy’s lamb becomes a new suit (Beskow’s books also come in a mini size that would fit perfectly in an Easter basket)

James Herriot’s Treasury for Children: some springy stories in this, but they’re all delightful animal tales that keep my kids from oldest to youngest completely absorbed.

Bug City by Dahlov Ipcar: a gem from one of my favorite children’s book illustrators. Imagine how adorable this would be with a bug catcher kit.

The Easter Egg Artists by Adrienne Adams: it’s unfortunate this pastel wonder is out of print. It’s a fun story about a family of entrepreneurial rabbits and has an aesthetic that makes you wonder if Wes Anderson read it as a child.

Springtime for Jeanne-Marie by Francoise Seignobosc: Seignobosc’s books are out of print but if you come across a Jeanne-Marie book in the thrifting wild, snap it up. They are charming.

Hare and the Easter Eggs by Alison Uttley: so funny. Hare discovers the marvel of shop-bought chocolate Easter eggs, falls under the impression that they must have been laid by some kind of special hen, and resolves to buy them for his friends.

Rain by Sam Usher: part of a delightful series that center on a grandfather and grandson’s seasonal adventures with the intrusion of some fantastical elements.

The Little Gardener by Gerda Marie Scheidl, illustrated by Bernadette Watts: the story here is sweet and simple but Watts illustrations, again, are what make it a small splendor of a book.

And of course, of course: The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

Poetry Collections

Poetry just feels right for an Easter basket, doesn’t it? Here are some favorite collections that are lovely to read this time of year.

Who Has Seen the Wind edited by Kathryn Sky-Peck: one of the loveliest poetry collections out there. Classic poems paired with works of fine art from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Out of print but it’s easy to find used copies affordably.

Sing a Song of Seasons: A Nature Poem for Each Day of the Year edited by Fiona Waters, illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon: a massive, colorful poetry book.

The Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beckie Prange: poems, facts, and marvelous woodcut illustrations of pondlife. Take this and a picnic along to a pond for a delightful outing with children.

Flower Fairies of the Spring by Cecily Mary Barker: love it for its Edwardian twee-ness or for the fact that it has genuinely educational information about flowers, but if you know a small girl who loves flouncy dresses and flowers, you must make sure she has this in her personal library.

A Brighter Garden by Emily Dickinson, illustrated by Tasha Tudor: take joy indeed.

A Child’s Book of Poems illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa: We’ve loved our copy so much the cover has fallen off. What elevates this one above other poetry collections are Fujikawa’s bright and joyous illustrations.

Whizzbang Books

It’s sad but true that when you gift books to children, they will often meet it with an “oh ho hum” reaction. While you are thinking, “Oh! what hours of transport we shall spend!”, they are thinking, “What are books to jelly beans and sidewalk chalk?” However, there is a subset of books I have found my children immediately open up—what I call the showstoppers. You know them. Noisemaking, pop-up, lift-the-flap, or seek and find books. Here are a few nature-themed or religious books that fall into the category.

The Story Orchestra: Four Seasons in One Day by Jessica Courtney-Tickle

The Little Book of Backyard Bird Songs by Andrea Pinnington and Caz Buckingham

The Brambly Hedge Pop Up Book by Jill Barklem

All Around Bustletown: Spring by Rotraut Susanne Berner

Mouse on the River: A Journey through Nature by Alice Melvin

Light of the Saints and Light of the Sacraments by Corey Heimann and Tricia Dugat

Novels

And finally superb novels that feature themes of springtime or redemption or both! They all make lovely family read alouds.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: two insufferable children draw one another out of their self-imposed miseries and they both blossom under the magic of a hidden garden. A classic for a reason.

Mio, My Son by Astrid Lindgren: I will never stop recommending this surprisingly Christological fairy tale from the author of Pippi Longstocking

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame: for the opening scene with Mole shirking his spring-cleaning, for the messing about in boats on the river, for the numinous piper at the gates of dawn scene…it is quite possibly my favorite of all children’s books ever.

The Kitchen Madonna by Rumer Godden: my favorite Godden to date is this children’s book that tells the story of a withdrawn boy who comes to life as he tries to lift the spirits of his housekeeper, a war refugee, by making her an icon of the Virgin Mary. It’s beautiful and meaningful on so many levels.

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Well, that was a whopper of a list, but I’m sure I’ve missed many of other people’s favorite Easter or springtime children’s books. What books are on your list?

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