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He Is Risen: Rocks Tell the Story of Easter
This unique and unforgettable picture book uses rock art and simple text to tell children the story of the miracle of Easter—the resurrection of Jesus. Through the arrangement of a few rocks and powerful words directly from Scripture, the entire Easter story is told in He Is Rocks Tell the Story of Easter. Young readers will be intrigued by the nature-filled artwork that shows the death and resurrection of Jesus and the celebration of the very first Easter in a powerful and unique way. He Is Risen is perfect This unique holiday picture book : If you enjoy He Is Risen, check out A Savior Is Rocks Tell the Story of Christmas .
32 pages, Hardcover
Published February 5, 2019
4 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Zondervan
1,693 books105 followersZondervan is an international Christian media and publishing company. Zondervan is a founding member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). They are a part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc. and has multiple imprints including Zondervan Academic, Zonderkidz, Blink, and Editorial Vida. Zondervan is the commercial rights holder for the New International Version (NIV) Bible in North America.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
January 21, 2019
Um, well, I'm the author/artist. Am I allowed to say anything here? I just got my "early version" and it looks beautiful. I can say that "objectively" because I don't feel like I made that art. I've never done physical art before these rock books; but it's clear to me that someone wanted these rocks to "cry out" (Luke 19:40). After I discovered that a bucket of random rocks contained the Christmas scenes, I set out more methodically to make the scenes of the last week of Jesus's mortal ministry. This one took much longer, as I prayed over each sculpture, and tearfully made the Garden, Cross, and Tomb scenes--tears for the intense beauty of the story, and tears for the unexpected ways the rocks came together to tell it. How I found the head of Jesus with a crown of thorns, the crosses and the great stone of the tomb were bonafide miracles. At this point, I knew God was involved, and I watched in wonder the books come together and get published. Thank you for your support. I'm not sure who the real audience is for this coffee-table Easter book, but I'm sure it's more than the publisher thinks--Children 4-8 years old.
May 14, 2022
"Even the rocks cry out," and even rocks can tell stories. Rokus has made absolutely incredible artwork from rocks to illustrate the Easter story. The level of detail is absolutely wonderful--I am genuinely amazed at how much detail she could indicate through her medium. I'm definitely interested in her book on the birth of Jesus.
The rock illustrations are on black backgrounds and the text is white and gold. This allows the natural colors and textures of the rocks to come across richly, and the photographs are very well-lit. They're well worth studying, and would make lovely prints for meditation on their own.
The text was my least favorite part of the book. It's very simple, and would work well for children who already know the story. However, the spreads are crowded with Bible verses that don't really serve the book, in my opinion. They don't work well for reading aloud, and the illustrations do an excellent job of indicating the story's movements without citations. Some books like this that I've seen have a final spread with thumbnails of all the illustrations with the source material next to corresponding images. I think that would have made a much cleaner book with fewer distractions. Two thousand years after the fact, the story is well-known enough that we don't need to cite chapter and verse for readers to follow along. I also didn't like the concluding page, but that's a personal preference. If I were reading this with children, I'd simply skip the final page, rephrase the question, or use it to launch a discussion.
The rock illustrations are on black backgrounds and the text is white and gold. This allows the natural colors and textures of the rocks to come across richly, and the photographs are very well-lit. They're well worth studying, and would make lovely prints for meditation on their own.
The text was my least favorite part of the book. It's very simple, and would work well for children who already know the story. However, the spreads are crowded with Bible verses that don't really serve the book, in my opinion. They don't work well for reading aloud, and the illustrations do an excellent job of indicating the story's movements without citations. Some books like this that I've seen have a final spread with thumbnails of all the illustrations with the source material next to corresponding images. I think that would have made a much cleaner book with fewer distractions. Two thousand years after the fact, the story is well-known enough that we don't need to cite chapter and verse for readers to follow along. I also didn't like the concluding page, but that's a personal preference. If I were reading this with children, I'd simply skip the final page, rephrase the question, or use it to launch a discussion.
April 30, 2019
One of nephews, who is 3, loves rocks. And he really likes the book and they way the rocks form people, etc. He still requests it for a bedtime story, even though Easter has passed.
Read a feature about Patti Rokus and creating the book here.
Read a feature about Patti Rokus and creating the book here.
April 25, 2020
Beautifully created. Faithful text.
April 10, 2021
Beautiful pictures that tell the story of Easter. So many cool shaped rocks
April 26, 2019
Layers of text and illustration make this an awesome selection for readers and listeners of all ages. Works well as a read-aloud for a mixed audience. Artist will be particularly fascinated with the illustration techniques. Christians will appreciate the important story and the Biblical texts. Librarians and educators will like the large font and simple brief text making it ideal for little ones. The illustrations are basic and simple as well as profound and emotional.
May 16, 2019
The simple text is backed up with scripture on the same page. The figures formed from different shapes of rocks are depicted against an all-black background, making the figures pop off the pages. The result is beautiful and eye-catching.
June 13, 2019
A stunning depiction of the resurrection of Jesus, told using illustrations formed with rocks and pebbles on a black background. Scripture found on each page as the story is told simply and clearly.
Highly recommended!
Highly recommended!
May 3, 2019
Make no mistake...this is a religious story. But it's told through the careful placement of rocks. And it is VERY cool!
January 6, 2026
BOOK THOUGHTS:
> rock art tells the story of Jesus' death & resurrection
> includes Scripture references on each page
> ambiguous theology* in book and questionable theology of author**
Type: picture book
Ages: 4-8
*The biblical narrative is simplified so much that either Rokus is a universalist herself or she accidentally worded things poorly. Additionally, the final page asks the child, "How will you show your love for Jesus?" What? She totally missed the perfect opportunity to share the gospel. Sad.
**In digging deeper to her shared links and public website pages, I became even more uncomfortable. She's immersed in New Age activities and partners with Mormons. In fact, she very well might be one herself for all I know--she follows enough (*many*) of their accounts on Instagram, and the wishy-washy theology could also be related to that. Rokus has created plenty of public spaces online for you to do deeper digging. I did enough to form an opinion and will move on now to better books.
I really wanted to like this book. She has a lovely talent of telling a story with perfectly placed rocks--it's very creative. But no thank you...for all the reasons above.
> rock art tells the story of Jesus' death & resurrection
> includes Scripture references on each page
> ambiguous theology* in book and questionable theology of author**
Type: picture book
Ages: 4-8
*The biblical narrative is simplified so much that either Rokus is a universalist herself or she accidentally worded things poorly. Additionally, the final page asks the child, "How will you show your love for Jesus?" What? She totally missed the perfect opportunity to share the gospel. Sad.
**In digging deeper to her shared links and public website pages, I became even more uncomfortable. She's immersed in New Age activities and partners with Mormons. In fact, she very well might be one herself for all I know--she follows enough (*many*) of their accounts on Instagram, and the wishy-washy theology could also be related to that. Rokus has created plenty of public spaces online for you to do deeper digging. I did enough to form an opinion and will move on now to better books.
I really wanted to like this book. She has a lovely talent of telling a story with perfectly placed rocks--it's very creative. But no thank you...for all the reasons above.
April 1, 2022
Captivating book that uses rocks to tell the Easter Story! I highly recommend this book for Easter! The rock pictures tell the Easter story in the most beautiful way. I love the attention to detail on each page too. It is fascinating. For example, the crucifixion page has small rocks representing the nails on the hands and feet, a heart shaped rock that is broken for Jesus' heart, and a unique shaped rock for the head with a crown of thorns around it. The entire book captivated me and everyone I have shared it too. Again, you do not want to miss this wonderful Easter book!
If you want to hear more about this book and how Patti's rock art began, you can check out my conversation with Patti on episode 124 on the Depth Podcast. https://jodirosser.com/depth-podcast-...
If you want to hear more about this book and how Patti's rock art began, you can check out my conversation with Patti on episode 124 on the Depth Podcast. https://jodirosser.com/depth-podcast-...
September 10, 2020
Visually intriguing. Beautiful and creative. Altogether imaginative. Drawing on the inspiration of the "rocks cry out," she takes it literally as the good news of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection is crafted artistically using basic rocks. Because this is not done using conventional artistic mediums, we are invited to participate in the spectacle The result is something unexpectedly joyous.
February 24, 2025
4 1/2. The text is simple and theologically sound, and each page has a scripture verse as reference if you want to read more about that part of the story. But the real stars of the book are the illustrations. These scenes created entirely from rocks are so well done! My husband even got teary eyed when he saw the one of Christ in Gethsemane carrying all our sins and burdens. A perfect addition to our Easter book collection!
April 5, 2021
This book is truly amazing. It was something that I shared with my children. The Easter story shared through rocks. It is stunning, myself as an adult was amazed. Scriptures are included.
It definitely made me think “the rocks have cried out” and told us about Jesus. There are Emotions evoked through the rocks. Fantastic!!
It definitely made me think “the rocks have cried out” and told us about Jesus. There are Emotions evoked through the rocks. Fantastic!!
November 16, 2019
This book definitely has an interesting approach and will probably appeal to some children more than others. My 4 year old wasn’t very interested in it. I checked it out because I had not seen anything like it but it wasn’t appreciated much here.
August 24, 2023
Wonderful story told with Rocks
This is a delightful retelling of the easter story through the use of rock art. The clever arrangement of small rocks create the pictures that tell the story.
This is a delightful retelling of the easter story through the use of rock art. The clever arrangement of small rocks create the pictures that tell the story.
August 1, 2020
Creative way to tell the story of Easter
January 22, 2021
I thought it was cool, but my kids didn't really get into it. Definitely a unique artform.
March 17, 2021
3.5 stars
Beautiful art that is wonderfully done. It tells the story of Easter simply with supporting scripture from the New Testament.
Beautiful art that is wonderfully done. It tells the story of Easter simply with supporting scripture from the New Testament.
April 3, 2021
Really cool rock animated story that goes with it. The creativity of it is awesome!
March 18, 2022
This is a gorgeous and unique book.
May 11, 2022
A very creative way to tell the Easter story: through rocks expertly places to depict each scene! The text is amazing too. We also love the Nativity book by the same author. Great for any age!
March 7, 2023
Beautiful rendition of Holy Week.
March 22, 2023
The story of Easter using biblical scripture and rocks collected by the author, to convey the story in lieu of pictures.
March 13, 2024
Great illustrations of The Easter Story
April 12, 2020
Clever clay illustrations
I got this kindle book to read with my daughter. It was cleverly done & the resurrection story well told BUT it was difficult to read as it wouldn't rotate &
was impossible to enlarge. The script insets were very difficult to see/read. I would not recommend for kindle purchase.
I got this kindle book to read with my daughter. It was cleverly done & the resurrection story well told BUT it was difficult to read as it wouldn't rotate &
was impossible to enlarge. The script insets were very difficult to see/read. I would not recommend for kindle purchase.
April 8, 2020
Wonderful retelling!
The Easter story can be challenging to tell young children because of the crucifixion. This book does a splendid job presenting the story effectively so even preschoolers can understand. Bravo!
The Easter story can be challenging to tell young children because of the crucifixion. This book does a splendid job presenting the story effectively so even preschoolers can understand. Bravo!
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews