In anticipation of Holy Week that culminates in Easter Sunday next week, today I’m reviewing the above book, Celebrating A Christ-Centered Easter Children’s Edition. The “Children’s Edition” part means it’s a picture book. It’s by Emily Belle Freeman and David Butler. Shown at the bottom of this post is a companion book by the same authors, for adults.

I love that this book has so many layers. By layers, I mean levels of interaction. You’ll see what I mean in a second here.

This book uses the same traditions that Sister/President Freeman (she’s currently the president of the Young Women organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and Brother Butler share in their countdown to Easter/Holy Week Daily Traditions over here.

It starts with Palm Sunday, but then it doesn’t follow the rest of the days of the Holy Week with events from each day. It does mention events during Holy Week, but it doesn’t mention them in order. It focuses more on the eyewitnesses of Jesus during Holy Week instead of what Jesus did each day, similar to the companion book for adults.

Each section of the book tells a portion of the Easter story, something good that someone or one of the people involved in that part did, two questions to ponder, a suggested activity, a symbol, and the actual scriptural passage from the Bible that tells the story.

That’s where the layers or levels of the book come in. If reading this to very young children, you could just focus on the storyline, and omit the questions and activities. You might even skip reading all the words and talk about what the pictures are showing. I would definitely read the whole book on your own ahead of time if you were going to do this so you are familiar with the story. If reading this to older children, you could add in the first question. If you want to create more thoughtfulness and actual discussion, add in the second question. Then do the suggested activity if you want to make this book interactive.

Activity #1 involves Palm Sunday and a branch. This is similar to the Palm Sunday tradition over here.

Activity #2 involves Simon who helped the Savior carry the cross on Good Friday. This is similar to the Day #2 tradition over here.

Activity #3 involves a testimony tree. This is similar to Day #3 over here.

Activity #4 involves Mary Magdalene as a witness of Christ. The activity is dyeing Easter eggs red while sharing testimonies of Christ. This is similar to Day #4 over here.

Activity #5 involves the two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus. It involves writing down favorite scriptures. This corresponds with Day #5 over here.

Activity #6 involves Thomas and Easter lilies. It goes with Day #6 here.

Activity #7 involves the people of Jerusalem and choosing your own individual way to celebrate Easter Sunday. Watch the video here.

This is a lovely book. The illustrations by Ryan Jeppesen are sweet and simple, and the way the authors connect what happened involving people during Holy Week to our lives today is so thoughtful. Then to add a symbol involving a physical activity is so ingenious. This book definitely deserves a place on every Christian family’s bookshelf, and more importantly, a place in every family’s collection of annual Christ-centered traditions. I just wish it had been around when I had all my children at home. I take heart in knowing I can share these traditions with my grandchildren.

Of course, you can read this book anytime of the year. To make it as part of your Easter celebration, you could just read this aloud as a family in one sitting, anytime around or on Easter Sunday, or you could do each section, one a day starting with Palm Sunday. Or you could spread out the reading even more to be once a week, every Sunday before and even after Easter. So many LDS books are out now to highlight Holy Week that I’m actually thinking of using each one separately, devoting each book, one a week, to the weeks before and after Easter. Then, however often you read from the book, you could just discuss the questions as a family and leave it that, or you could actually do the activity. I love that the adaptation can be so flexible, and that the activities involve simple things. If you don’t have the money to buy Easter lilies you can make some out of paper like I did in the photo above.

If you go here you can get the ornaments involving the symbols from the book. How fun to print them out, make ornaments out of them with tape and string, and then put each one in an Easter egg, then put them in a basket for a table centerpiece. Then pull out one each day to open, in order. Then read the corresponding section in the book for morning or evening devotional, Morning Basket, or dinner time. If you do that, you will either have to get large Easter eggs or reduce them in size to 50 or 33% to fit regular sized Easter eggs. Or you could put them in Easter eggs and put them in your hunt, then go through the story and questions for each after the hunt as you eat the treats.

I am so grateful that President Freeman and Brother Butler wrote this book. Thank you! It is a companion book to the adult book above. Then these two books pair up with their two Christmas counterparts shown below to make a harmonious quartet. Involving these four books in your family’s Easter and Christmas traditions will add much enrichment and joy for decades. They will definitely help in fulfilling this ideal from Elder Gary E. Stevenson, quoting N.T. Wright:

“We should be taking steps to celebrate Easter in creative new ways: in art, literature, children’s games, poetry, music, dance, festivals, bells, special concerts. … This is our greatest festival. Take Christmas away, and in biblical terms you lose two chapters at the front of Matthew and Luke, nothing else. Take Easter away, and you don’t have a New Testament; you don’t have a Christianity.”  Elder Gary E. Stevenson, Liahona, May 2023

Want more Easter ideas? Go here for my list of stories, songs, and poetry for Easter.

Go here for a list of Easter picture books and how to decorate with them.

Go here for Easter object lessons and more Christ-centered Easter traditions.

Go here to learn how to make your own Resurrection Eggs (the Easter story told in eggs).

Go here for non-junky Easter basket ideas.

Happy Easter! He is Risen indeed!