Reader Question: Lent and Easter Books

In the comments below Cecelia’s Mommy asked:

Cecilia is 14 months and like you I have been looking for and collecting good books for her to read in the future. Sometimes, I confess, I even browse your Amazon.com wish lists for ideas. I have searched a few times for good Lent/Easter books to get her and 1) the selection seems to be a bit slim, 2) some of them seem to be a bit Protestantized (e.g. – I found one where a review said the Last Supper refers to the bread as “symbolic”) and 3) even the Catholic ones seem to be watered down.

Frankly, I’m having a hard time thinking of any. However, I know what you mean about “watered down.” When I was teaching 4th grade CCD I tried to read them the story of the Last Supper from a children’s Bible that omitted the actual words of consecration. I improvised and told the children there was something missing… Happily they were all able to chant the words with me.

So far my collecting and wish listing have been opportunistic rather than methodical. When I see something that looks good or read a good review, I put it on the list.

The only book that comes immediately to mind, and that just because I was looking through it in the store the other day, is The Tale of Three Trees: A Traditional Folktale, it could be appropriate for Christmas or Easter… one of the trees becomes the manger, another the boat Jesus preaches from, the third becomes the cross.

My other thought was to check out the list in Catholic Mosaic, which is a program of year-round study of picture books to follow the liturgical year. I’ve not actually got the book yet or even looked at it, but I’ve seen it discussed on several Catholic sites and have been thinking about eventually adding it to my collection as a resource. I found the list online (I’ll copy it on the next page). But even that seems slim and I’m not familiar with any of the books.

Maybe other readers of the blog will have suggestions.