I am not and never have been all that religious and have also not had all that much religion (and with religion I mean Christianity) taught to me either at home or at school. But I do believe in God, and for me, any published piece of writing specifically about Jesus Christ which is being geared towards children (either as a picture book or as something more substantial) needs to be respectfully penned and would if I had my own choice in the matter also use as many direct quotes from the Bible as possible (and preferably from the King James version, which definitely tends to be my personal favourite). And sorry, but the presented text for The First Easter Ever (which might have been both written and also illustrated by Dennis Jones, although I am by no means certain of this), albeit that it does textually present a biblically authentic enough seeming rendition of Jesus Christ's life until his resurrection from death during the as the book title points out "first Easter ever" the narrational tone of voice for The First Easter Ever feels almost a bit sneeringly denigrating and sometimes with a suppressed and totally uncalled for and inappropriate sense of humour (well, at least that has been my own personal feeling regarding the textual representation of Jesus Christ's life as it is shown in The First Easter Ever and it most definitely does rather rub me both emotionally and spiritually the wrong proverbial way, not massively, not painfully, but enough so to be noticeable).
However, the main reason why my rating for The First Easter Ever is only two stars, this is actually not so very much due to the narrative, is not really hugely because of the presented printed words. For although I do find that the featured penned account of Jesus Christ in The First Easter Ever is definitely a bit too “modern” for me personally and equally kind of feels more than a trifle trivialising at times, the text for The First Easter Ever does generally still present the tale of Jesus Christ like it is for the most part shown in the three synoptic gospels of the New Testament of the Bible (in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke). And well and honestly, it is actually and in fact the artwork, it is Dennis Jones’ illustrations for The First Easter Ever that I totally visually despise, that I find both majorly aesthetically unpleasant and also visually rather an insult towards not only Jesus Christ but in fact towards everyone who is part of the Easter story. Because those pictures for The First Easter Ever, not only is Dennis Jones’ utilised colour scheme horribly gaudy and exaggeratedly bright, but come on, ALL of the human figures, and yes, even Jesus Christ himself, they appear as deliberately caricature like, and I for one do find the entire concept of Jesus Christ being drawn, being illustrated by Dennis Jones in a decidedly visually parodistic manner not only ridiculous but also aesthetically inappropriate and unsuitable.