Likewise in the crossing of the Red Sea we are told of “the Egyptians lying dead on the shore” but dePaola shows us only a chariot upturned in the waves, no drowned soldiers or horses. Only Noah was left and those with him in the ark.” He doesn’t mince words, but his illustrations show torrential rains and high waves but no struggling beings or drowned corpses. Yet in Tomie dePaola’s Book of Bible Stories he quotes the New International Version of the Bible: “Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. One children’s picture book that graphically showed this in a two-page spread was left abandoned on the bookstore’s remainder table. All the people and animals not safely housed in the ark were drowned. Noah’s Ark is a popular story for children but presents a gruesome reality. Similar challenges exist in the Old Testament. But for older youth the actual crucifixion scene is more graphic and needs to be. And in all of them he is shown later dead. But even for this age group, Christ is seen wearing his crown of thorns and bearing his cross. In picture books for kindergarten and early elementary children the crucifixion might be shown from behind or at a great distance, and with little or no blood so it appears less gruesome. In The Tale of the Three Trees preschoolers see only a man bearing his cross through the streets, though they are told the man’s hands were later nailed to the cross. So one rule of thumb is that you can include more detail in the text than you might show in the art work. Images generally speak louder than words. So how does one portray it visually for very young children? But the crucifixion is central to Easter. It is not front and centre in the narrative, although it portrays and foreshadows the shedding of innocent blood. With the Christmas story we can easily skip over the slaughter of the innocents, the young baby boys and toddlers ordered killed by Herod in his jealous rage. But Christians want to teach their children about a spiritual rebirth as well.įinding what is age-appropriate is particularly a challenge with the Easter narrative.

After a long winter, we certainly all crave some Spring. IF SO-CALLED ‘Christmas’ children’s books are full of Santas, elves, reindeer and Christmas trees with nary a mention of the Nativity, so ‘Easter’ books for children are full of springtime bunnies and chicks and eggs – a new birth of sorts.

The robe lloyd c douglas 1942