The Very First Easter

by Paul L. Maier, Frank Ordaz;Frank Ordaz (Illustrator)

Easter is filled with fun things to celebrate the turning of winter into spring, and even more importantly, to celebrate Christ's resurrection. There are many other traditions that have started blocking out the true meaning of Easter. Bring the children in your life back to the truth of Easter and the real story of the holiday. Follow along with Christopher, a ten-year old boy who only wants the real stories of Christian holidays. His family sits him down and reads him the story of Easter straight from the Gospel of Luke. Scripture verses are included as you work your way through the text and beautiful, lifelike illustrations. The award-winning team of Paul Maier and Francisco Ordaz work together to bring children ages 5 to 10 vivid pictures of Jesus' last days on earth. With vocabulary to challenge children's critical thinking and understanding, The Very First Easter makes a wonderful gift for children, families, and friends. Recognized by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association as a Gold Medallion Book Award winner for excellence in Evangelical Christian publishing.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Christian, Religion, Nonfiction, Holiday, Theology

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Paul L. Maier was an American historian and novelist. He wrote several works of scholarly and popular non-fiction about Christianity and novels about Christian historians. He was the Russell H. Seibert Professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University, from which he retired in 2011, retaining the title of professor emeritus in the Department of History. He previously served as Third Vice President of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.

Reviews

[Shanna Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Maier, a professor of Ancient History, brings his expertise to bear in explaining the significance of the Easter events and subsequent Christian traditions. As in the companion book The Very First Christmas, a father and mother read the Bible with their son Chris, while he peppers them with questions about the meaning and historicity of the Easter story's events. They explain why Jesus rode a donkey into town, how the Jewish Passover became the Christian Lord's Supper/ Holy Communion, how much Judas' thirty pieces of silver was worth, why Jesus (as a man) prayed to God (when he was God and man at the same time), why Judas kissed Jesus, and other details that help an elementary audience engage the Easter story from a historical perspective.

The author does make a couple of interpretations that aren't universally accepted. He states that Jesus miraculously appeared in the locked upper room (Luke 24:36 and John 20:19) because after the Resurrection He was able to appear and disappear at will. The biblical text doesn't explicitly make this claim, and some scholars believe it's possible Jesus simply unlocked the door and walked in. Maier also states that during the Ascension, "Jesus moved into a higher dimension of reality -- beyond our human ability to see." This might be true, but it would have been simpler to just say the cloud that hid Jesus was a cloud of glory, often associated in Scripture with the presence of God (Exodus 16:10, Exodus 19:16-20, Luke 9:28-36). Still, most of the content is both factual and enlightening, and children and adults will learn quite a bit from it.

Ordaz's artwork is impressive, although the Biblical characters look more European than Middle Eastern. (Someone with a better art-history background than mine might be more appreciative of the artistic conventions.) Maier is a good writer, but Chris's conversation with his parents is rather contrived, and the information could have been effectively presented without the question-answer setup. That said, this is a great resource for helping elementary-aged children transition from simply rehearsing the Easter events to understanding their historical and spiritual significance.

[Ebookwormy1 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was only able to read this book once. It is the second in the series that begins with "The Very First Christmas". My impression was that was even more wooden and heavy handed than the first, which I wanted to give 3.5 stars. I also found the little boy a bit too easily satisfied.There is not a foot put wrong here from a theological perspective, it's just a stodgy and wooden presentation that was difficult for me to read and uninteresting to my student.

I am hoping to get a hold of book 3 "The Very First Christians" which is a unique topic. See recommendations below.

The Lamb, John R. Cross, 2007
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Story of Easter, Doyle, 2005
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Easter Story, Wildsmith, 1993
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The Very First Christians, Maier, 2001
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Luisa Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic: here's a book you'll want on your shelf! In this book, two parents tell their son about the story of Jesus's death and resurrection. And it's not just story telling, but doctrinal explanations that they give too, with many scriptural references. Their son asks lots questions throughout the dialogue, and probably a few your child is thinking too, which is why I think this discussion styled question-and-answer format is great!

Wonderful for leading into family discussion time!

Ages: 6 - 12

#easter #christian

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[Deanna Sutter · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was way off on the theology for me. I changed it around as I read it though, but there is so much I disagree with that it's not worth saving. It provided the basics for the Easter story but it left so much out even though it was trying to be detailed. Someone gave this book to us but I'm afraid it's headed for the trash can.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are amazing - so lifelike. However, I didn't really like the way the story was told.

[Clwseattle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Very First Easter is a gently told, beautifully written and illustrated of the last days of Jesus, the horror of His crucifixion and the confusing glorious days after His resurrection. It left me quite speechless. I do not agree with the designation it is for "Grade Level: Kindergarten - 4" as it is too mature for a 5 or 6 year old.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars from me.

3 stars from my 4 year old grandson.

I found this rendition of the Easter story very detailed - good for me, not so much for my grandson). It took us a while to get through it. He lost interest here and there. I will look for a simpler version and try this one again when he is older. The Illustrations are beautiful and extremely detailed.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Like the Christmas book, this has beautiful illustrations (albeit very European), but this will not be on our yearly Easter list: the text is very wooden and wordy (and the dad's "answers" to the boy's questions are unhelpful), but more importantly, there are theological issues (is this written by a Catholic?).

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is ok, but SO long and littered with extra words to make it “dialogue.” My son stayed interested, but I found it very dull to read aloud - much prefer our collection of storybook bibles or something from the Tales that Tell the Truth series.

[Cathy Q de V · Rating 5 out of 5]

not my favourite illustration of Jesus however the theology is sound, biblically correct and treats the Lord Supper and the Gospel accurately. explains how in partaking of the Eucharist we partake of the Body and Blood of Christ and and how the Holy Spirit comes to us in Baptism.

[Izzy Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read this lots of times and it never gets old. The illustrations are lifelike and amazing. 3.8 stars.

[Nyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much to say about this one. It was as I expected it to be - for younger kids than me, so a little boring but still educational.

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Struck me as very Caucasian and catholic.

[Asho · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was in a big box of hand-me-down books that my son received from his older cousin. I noted this one and meant to pull it out of the pile because I knew it would be too intense for my three-year-old. Instead, I forgot to remove it, and he found it and gave it to another cousin to read to him. It's very wordy, so the cousin doing the reading quickly gave up, leaving my son to page through the pictures. Obviously, he had a TON of questions. I did my best to summarize the theology, but I really wish I'd been able to stick to my original plan of hiding this one for a few more years.
It has really nice illustrations--realistic--but I haven't managed to read through the whole text yet because, as I said, it's wordy. I'll reassess when my kids are a bit older.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Level: Grade 3
Interest Level: 5-10

The illustrations in this book are beautiful. I read this to my 4 and 5 year old, but to keep them interested in it I had to read it like a chapter book and split it up among many days. Well, my 4 year old would lose interest very quickly, but my 5 year old son wanted me to keep reading, he loved it. I recommend either waiting or reading it over time with them if you have young ones like me.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story of easter starts with a page about the miracles of Jesus, goes through Palm Sunday, the Last Supper and the Crucifixion to Easter Sunday. The narative is short, and easy to understand but doesn't shrink away from vital details. The illustrations are rich and meaningful.

John's favorite part: When Jesus rose from the dead

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Maier is a renowned scholar on the life of Jesus and could go in a lot of depth but in this book writes about the first Easter in a way that is easy for kids to understand. It includes full page color illustrations. The Easter story is framed inside a story about a other reading about it to her kids.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations were beautiful! However, there was a lot of text, so my children and I each read it to ourselves, rather than me reading it aloud to them. I found several inaccuracies in the text.

[Olivia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not the best Easter book there is. There was lots of theology problems.

[Jack Nieporte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent !!

[Tam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book gave a good basic understanding of why we celebrate Easter for my 9-year-old.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures and well done, but definitely for old children (+7) because there is a lot of text on the pages.

[Chapel Heights]

2 copies

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

We read this book every year for Easter. The pictures are wonderful and capture the feelings of the events. Given to us by a friend.

[Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most beautifully illustrated Easter stories I've come across.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great illustrations, they are beautiful; suited for second grade and up.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrator of this classic account brings the text alive with snapshot realism, rich characterization, and in-the-moment portrayals. Highly recommended for any age.