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The Story Of Easter

By Aileen Fisher; illustrated by Stephano Vitale

As Easter 2015 approaches, I am always looking for picture books for young readers that emphasize both the holiday and holyday components of Easter.

For young children growing up today whose families celebrate Easter, perhaps it is harder than ever to find picture books that combine both.

The Easter Bunny, rebirth and spring, dominate the cultural landscape in April, and that is not necessarily a bad thing for children. But, for those families for whom Easter is the central holyday of the Christian calendar, they are looking for something more.

And Aileen Fisher’s “The Story of Easter” is one picture book that offers that “moreness.”

Originally published in 1968, her book opens with the central theme of “rejoicing.” Nature, it appears is reflecting the greatest holiday of the year for Christians as it signifies their belief in the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Ms. Fisher and the elegantly subdued pastel folk art feel of Stephan Vitale combine completely in a depiction of the events in the life of Jesus leading up to Easter,  whose events can be a difficult thing to present to very young children. Ms. Fisher, I think, does a fine job here.

Her picture book also provides an interesting overview of the spring festivals that preceded Easter, as people celebrated the renewal of life from winter. I can certainly identify with that after our “winterus horribilus.”

 

“After the Christian religion spread

to many lands, the joy of Jesus’

Resurrection became mingled with

the joy of the spring festival. Both

celebrations stood for new life. Both

stood for new hope in the hearts of people”

Ms. Fisher gives a wonderful thousand  years perspective on many of the symbols of Easter such as the egg. It takes its significance of new life from cultures as ancient as Persia and China. Plus the egg is also ….”one of the ritual foods eaten at Passover.”

From Ukranian and Polish dyed eggs to the beauties that Carl Peter Faberge created, the Easter egg takes on a whole new history. Did you know that Sephardic Jews invented a way to dye eggs using ONION SKINS? Who knew?

And the Germans, Ms. Fisher relates, were the first to initiate the Easter Egg Tree. Poked holes in an egg shell with the liquid blown through, then dyed or painted and hung on a tree or bush, is a tradition that we have done with our children ourselves for years. Try using quince branches in a pot to hang the eggs from. It blooms beautifully and usually in time for Easter!

Traditional Easter egg hunts are here of course.

And the tradition of new Christians baptized at Easter with white robes as a sign of renewal, perhaps is also reflected in the wearing of new Easter outfits?

Sunrise Easter services and lilies blooming all announce to your young reader in this great picture book, a very interesting perspective on the history, holyday and holiday combination of celebrations that make up Easter.

Ms. Fisher’s book is an entertaining and informative prelude to the old saying concerning Easter Sunday – “The sun dances as it rises on Easter morning.”

Most states celebrate Arbor Day at some point in April, although the actual date varies somewhat. Arbor Day was started in Nebraska by J. Sterling Morton. Morton missed the trees he had known when he lived in Detroit, so he decided to start planting trees at his new home. In honor of the day, here’s a “tree” poem by Aileen Fisher.

Let’s Plant A Tree
by Aileen Fisher

It’s time to plant a tree, a tree.
What shall it be? What shall it be?

Let’s plant a pine—we can’t go wrong:
a pine is green the whole year long.

Let’s plant a maple—more than one,
to shade us from the summer sun.

Let’s plant a cherry—you know why:
there’s nothing like a cherry pie!

Let’s plant an elm, the tree of grace,
where robins find a nesting place.

Let’s plant an apple—not too small,
with flowers in spring and fruit in fall.

Let’s plant a fir—so it can be
a lighted outdoor Christmas tree.

Let’s plant a birch, an oak, a beech,
there’s something extra-nice in each…
in winter, summer, spring or fall.
Let’s plant a …

why not plant them ALL?

From: Hopkins, Lee Bennett, Ed. 1992. Ring Out, Wild Bells: Poems About Holidays And Seasons. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

*Invite the kids to cheer the words "Let's plant" at the beginning of each stanza; with practice, pairs of kids can each read aloud their own stanza; or create a paper version of pine, maple, cherry, elm, apple, fir and other trees mentioned in the poem and use them as "props" for the read aloud.

Happy Arbor Day!
And for a listing of more "tree" poems, check out my entry for April 22, 2007.

Picture credit: media.collegepublisher.com and thanks to Nora Sanchez for poem-finding.

I’m happy to report that poet Aileen Fisher is having a comeback! A selection of 15 of her poems originally published in 8 different poetry books from as long ago as 1946, have been gathered in this lovely picture book collection, Do Rabbits Have Christmas, with a forward by Karla Kuskin. The delicate illustrations by nature artist Sarah Fox-Davies are the perfect accompaniment, placed just so for each poem, whether as a small cameo image or a double-page spread. Her careful, naturalistic renderings of the animals, in particular, keep the images from veering into preciousness. And Fisher’s language is ever fresh and crisp, providing glimpses of moments with an intimate first person voice in lines that rhyme effortlessly. The subject is unabashedly Christmas, full of anticipation, wonder, speculation, and delight, with a focus on the weather, the woods, and small animals-- the mouse, the kitten, the chickadee, the rabbit. Whether your view includes a snowy landscape or not (it's 73 degrees here in Texas today!), the poetry evokes a thoughtful quietness and sparkly spirit that is irresistible. Here’s just a taste.

Before Christmas
by Aileen Fisher

We sing, and plan,
and watch the date,
and write some cards…
and wait and wait.

We look for presents
at the store
and make some, too…
and wait some more.

We wrap our gifts
and tie them straight,
and frost some cookies
on a plate,
and buy a tree
to decorate,
but most of all
we wait… and wait.

From Fisher, Aileen. 2007. Do Rabbits Have Christmas? Illustrated by Sarah Fox-Davies. Henry Holt.

Pair this book with Valerie Worth’s out of print gem, if you can find it, At Christmastime (HarperCollins, 1992) illustrated by Antonio Frasconi.

And for more on award winning poet Aileen Fisher, check out my previous Sept. 9, 2006 posting, in honor of her birthday.

Join the rest of the Poetry Friday gathering at AmoXcalli.

Picture credit: www.overstock.com

Thanksgiving is coming up soon, so I looked around for some appropriate poems for the occasion. I gathered a collection of titles for a quick list and two poems that represent two distinct perspectives on being thankful. Enjoy!

All in a Word
by Aileen Fisher

T for time to be together, turkey, talk, and tangy weather.
H for harvest stored away, home, hearth, and holiday.
A for autumn’s frosty art, and abundance in the heart.
N for neighbors and November, nice things, new things to remember.
K for kitchen, kettles’ croon, kith and kin expected soon.
S for sizzles, sights, and sounds, and something special that abounds.
That spells THANKS-- for joy in living and a jolly good Thanksgiving.

Fisher, Aileen. “All in a Word.” in Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Side by Side Poems to Read Together. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988. (Thank you for your poetry collections, Lee!)

and

Our Daily Bread
by Janet Wong

Nine p.m. we close the store,
wash the counter, mop the floor.

Ten p.m. we finally eat.
Father pulls a milk crate seat

to the table and we pray.
Thank you for this crazy day.

Wong, Janet. A Suitcase of Seaweed, and Other Poems. New York: Margaret K. McElderry, 1996. (Thank you for your poetry, Janet!)

More poetry about giving thanks and Thanksgiving:
Bruchac, Joseph. 1996. The Circle of Thanks. Mahwah, NJ: BridgeWater Books.
Carlstrom, Nancy White. 2002. Thanksgiving Day at Our House: Thanksgiving Poems for the Very Young. New York: Aladdin.
Grimes, Nikki. 2006. Thanks a Million. New York: Amistad.
Hopkins, Lee Bennett. 2005. Days to Celebrate: A Full Year of Poetry, People, Holidays, History, Fascinating Facts, and More. New York: Greenwillow.
Livingston, Myra Cohn, comp. 1985. Thanksgiving Poems. New York: Holiday House.
Prelutsky, Jack. 1982. It’s Thanksgiving. New York: Greenwillow.
Rosen, Michael, J., ed. 1996. Food Fight: Poets Join the Fight Against Hunger with Poems about Their Favorite Foods. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace.
Swamp, Chief Jake. 1995. Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message. New York: Lee & Low Books.
Wing, Natasha. 2001. The Night Before Thanksgiving. New York: Grosset and Dunlap.
Young, Ed. 1997. Voices of the Heart. New York: Scholastic.

Picture credit: www.lakejunaluska.com

Just a few things....

Lucy Anne pointed out that there was a tiny promotional film up for Wolves in the Walls at the New Victory site. I just popped it up on YouTube, suspecting that they won't mind at the New Victory, especially if a few of you watching it are impelled to order tickets... (http://www.newvictory.org/show.m?showID=1028522)



YouTube embiggened it slightly, I'm afraid.

I was both saddened and sort of glad he was properly remembered when I saw that Melvin McCosh had died and had a nice obituary and photo in the Star Tribune. I loved going to McCosh's house of books (his motto, You Need Them More Than I Do) as long as it, and he, were there. I bought my favourite book in the whole world there (it's a huge 150 year old 500 page leather-bound blank accounts book. Either I will write a novel in it, or I will want to write a novel in it until I die. Either's fine). The obituary is up at http://www.startribune.com/west/story/1221731.html -- you may have to log in to read it.

Many years ago I put a character based on Melvin McCosh into an SF TV series I never made (it was called Back of Beyond), because I had never before met anyone so transparently fictional in real life. And my love for John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester's poetry goes back to buying some books from McCosh, and when he looked at the pile he wandered off into a back room and put a book of Rochester's poetry on top of the books I was buying. "If you like all that, you'll like this," he said.


Hey Neil,
I picked up American Gods this weekend and have been really enjoying the book. What's been bugging me, however, is the chili recipe you describe in Chapter 2. It sounded delicious and I'm pretty curious to try it. Is it a personal chili recipe you use? And if so, are you willing to share it?

Thanks,
WDW

It was my variant on the Silver Palate Chili for a Crowd recipe (which I just googled and found at http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_collections/simply_delicious/recipe_arch/06_01_29_R#r_1) I could never be bothered with the olives or sausage meat, and everything else was a sort of generalised "adjust quantities to taste", which is how chili works best anyway. I still don't think the dill ought to work in a chili, but it does, magnificently.

Neil,

Today is the World's End Message Board's 6th Birthday, and I just wanted to thank you for providing a place for all these lovely people to get together.

Thank you :)


amy/aitapata

Which is one of those unexpected side effects of something like this. You turn around and there's a whole community there, and I tend to forget they exist until they turn up at signings bearing red balloons and alcoholic beverages and chocolate and suchlike. Happy Birthday... (They can be found at http://neilgaimanboard.com/eve/forums for anyone not using the neilgaiman.com website as a way to read this.)

Just a short one ... did you know that there is a book out there, written by some Miss Laurell K. Hamilton, (fantasy and quite different from your writing) that is called DANSE MACABRE?

(It's not one of my faves by her, I admit, but I remembered the title and wondered how it comes that both of you got to it ... have to check my French and see whether it is some saying or ...)

BB

There are many, many things called Danse Macabre out there. Stephen King's excellent non-fiction book about horror, for a start, not to mention a very wonderful piece of music by Saint-Saëns. It refers to the Dance either of the dead, or of the dead with the living, to remind people that they are mortal. It goes back to the Fourteenth Century, to the plague times. Lots of interesting stuff in this Wikipedia article. Did you know that our word Macabre comes from the dance, and was a reference to the Maccabees? S'true.

And it was originally pronounced macabray. (More details at http://thomondgate.net/doc/companion/Companion.htm#dance)

Rich and poor dance in the same way, said poet John Lydgate in The Dance of Death, and that squashed together in my head with Shelley's "I met murder on the way..." and instead of thinking "He had a mask like Castlereagh" I thought "I met murder on the way, come to dance the macabray..." and suddenly there was a story in my head where there wasn't one before.

Which is too much information, and won't make much sense until you've read the story, but there are probably a few word-buffs out there who will take as much joy in it as I did.

Hey Neil,

Its not so much as a question as shameless self promotion. I did an interview with Barron Storey today. It was for my radio show Inkstuds. The show is all about interviewing alternative and underground creators. I thought your fans would be interested in this interview. We talk a little bit about the 15 portraits of Despair.

Here is a link directly to the posting. http://www.inkstuds.com/?p=173
Cheers,

robin

Of course. (And if you don't know what Barron Storey's work looks like you can find some of it at http://www.geocities.com/negsleep/main/links/barron/barron.html)