The Story of Easter by Aileen Fisher and Stefano Vitale

TITLE: The Story of Easter

AUTHOR: Aileen Fisher

ILLUSTRATOR: Stefano Vitale

PUBLISHED BY: Harper Collins, 1998

ISBN: 978-0064434904

I first discovered Stefano Vitale last Christmas when I saw his sweet Christmas Lullaby; I immediately fell in love with his soft palette and folk inspired style. So I was thrilled to find that he had teamed up with Aileen Fisher to produce a similar book about Easter.

Imagine my disappointment, then, to find that this book is less about Easter--the great feast--and more about the history of Easter. It is essentially a sociological study of Easter--as much as any Children's book is a "study."

It's not wholly bad--which is why I am sharing it with you. It is filled with many interesting facts about Easter, from the ancient (pagan) use of the egg as a symbol for new life ("it is not strange that many of the customs of the old spring festival because part of our celebration of Easter."), to the reason we where new clothes on Easter ("In the days of the early Christians, Easter was the time when new members of the church were baptized. Afterward they put on new white clothes as a sign of their joy."). I love these kinds of facts, and think they are worth knowing and sharing with your children. But Fisher has such an analytical detachment from the facts of Easter. She says it is a day of great joy without sharing this joy with her readers.

Vitale's illustrations, on the other hand, are marvellous. The ones illustrating the life of Christ are inspired by Giotto (yay!) and other early renaissance painters. (His crucifixion is one of the best I've seen in picture books.) I wish he had chosen another book to illustrate--one that better reflects the joy and grace of this Feast, so well captured in his drawings.

Don't forget! It's Library Lovin' Week, where I'll be donating a dollar for every commenter on each of my posts for the next week and a half. Please help me support my favorite libraries, by commenting today. And if you can't think of anything to write, just say: "I love Giotto!"