The Legend of the Easter Egg Board Book

by Lori Walburg

In this adaptation of the best-selling story of the Legend of the Easter Egg, little ones ages 4 and under will discover the extraordinary message of Christ's sacrifice.

Genres: Picture Books, Holiday, Childrens, Christian, Religion, Family, 2nd Grade

26 pages, Board Book

First published February 2, 1999

About the author

Lori Walburg attended Dordt College and graduated from Calvin College and the University of Iowa. Lori is the author of the bestselling The Legend of the Candy Cane and The Legend of the Easter Egg. She lives with her husband and two children in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Reviews

[Debbie W.]

From the author of The Legend of the Candy Cane, Lori Walburg brings back the same beloved setting and characters, this time in this heartwarming story with a reflection on the mystery of Christianity (Easter). Illustrator, John Bernardin's illustrations (who also illustrated The Legend of the Candy Cane) are once again stunning in a stirring way.

A very moving story, for young and old alike, that I loved to read during the Easter season!

[Kimberly]

Beautiful illustrations.
A boy's sister gets very sick, and he's sent to stay with friends. When he asks the lady he's staying with if his sister will die, the lady says everyone will die someday. Even God died. Then she tells him a simple version of Jesus' death and coming back to life, and ties chicks coming out of their eggs to it.
On Easter morning, he sneaks out and brings his sister a basket of Easter eggs. Then tells her the story the lady told him.

[Luisa Knight]

It's a nice story and some explanation is given regarding a few of the tie-ins of Easter traditions, but some are left unattended and children might not get them. It's not the strongest or most compelling parallel I've read.

Ages: 4 - 9

Cleanliness: someone says "Goodness gracious."

#easter #christian #eastereggs

**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar.

[Margaret Chind]

Originally posted on Creative Madness Mama. Newly Illustrated Edition: The Inspirational Story of a Favorite Easter Tradition

Already we know that we love Richard Cowdrey's illustrations, and he did a great job with his version of Dandi Daley Mackall's The Legend of the Easter Robin and now an equally great job of Lori Walburg's The Legend of the Easter Egg. This is a beautifully done glittery cover! The Legend of the Easter Robin illustrated by Richard Cowdrey includes beautiful full-page full-color illustrations that tell a historical and traditional tale for Easter time. Carrying over characters from other Lori Walburg Legends of stories, this book shows a perspective from a little boy with an ill sister with scarlet fever. In this story, the tale of resurrection is told through the curiosity of a little boy and beautiful images as he learns to pray, prays and hopes for health for his sister and for Easter to come. There are also dyed eggs and the relation of the rolled-away stone and new life.

This is perhaps my favorite one yet!

This review was originally posted on Creative Madness Mama.

[Janette Fuller]

"The Legend of the Easter Egg", by Lori Walburg, is a fiction story about the meaning and orgin of Easter Eggs. A legend is defined as "a story handed down through the years and connected with some real events, but probably not true in itself". This book was illustrated by James Bernardin and was published by Zondervan, a Christian publishing company.
The setting of the story appears to be a farm in the late 1800s. A young boy is sent away to stay with John and Mary Sonneman while his sister recovers from scarlet fever. The Sonnemans own a candy store so Thomas feels like he has died and gone to heaven. He helps John work in the store and on Good Friday he goes to church with the Sonnemans. Thomas listens to the story of Jesus's death. Mary Sonneman explains to Thomas that "just as a chick breaks out of an egg, so had Jesus broken free of the tomb of death. Easter eggs remind us that Jesus conquered death and gives us eternal life."
On Easter morning, Thomas fills a basket full of colored eggs and walks home to see his sister. Lucy is recovering and Thomas is anxious to tell her about his faith in Jesus, his hope for new life and the Easter eggs.
There is a page in the back of the book that explains the traditions and symbols of Lent and Easter.
I think this is a wonderful book to share with children. Children will hear the story of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and learn the meaning of new life through the symbolism of the Easter egg. Parents and teachers will want to share the entire Easter story with their children after reading this book. This is a great story to read at Easter or anytime of the year.

[Penelope]

We read Walburg's The Legend of the Candy Cane at Christmas time, so this was a logical choice for Easter. The town and some of the characters are the same in each book, but I'm not sure my children remembered that. The Easter story was lovingly told throughout the text as the young boy struggles with not knowing if her sister will recover from her illness.

While I'm not certain of the validity of the legend, it is a good object lesson for teaching of Christ's resurrection. It's nice to be able to give kids this visuals to help tell the truth of the Gospel. Walburg is a good story teller and we enjoyed the journey to the hopeful end.

[Clwseattle]

The old fashioned illustrations of The Legend of the Easter Egg are quite lovely, but the story is very disjointed. It explains finding eggs, then has a suddenly sick sister, being sent away from the sick sister, eating candy at church during a ferocious hail storm then sneaking back home on Easter morning. While there are a few mentions of the symbols of Easter and the story takes place a Easter, it's not a very happy Easter book.

[Susan Faloon]

The illustrations are really nice. The story is ok and will prompt a discussion with parents and children.

[Sue Mosher]

A beautiful story about Easter eggs and Jesus' resurrection.

[Stacy Atherton Johnson]

The story is enjoyable and the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous.

[Monica Holz]

beautifully illustrated

A gentle and loving way to tell the story of Christ’s death and resurrection. Perfect length for 5-10 year olds.

[Catarina]

Easter is a Christian holiday, so please keep that in mind when picking up this book. It talks about Jesus and does it in a wonderful way. Overall the story was kind of sad for a children's book, but remembering the Christian undertones it makes perfect sense. I would recommend reading during Easter.

[Beverly]

I didn't realize there were any legends associated with Easter eggs. Now I do. The illustrations are gorgeous and realistic. I loved how the author shared the legend through the events in the young boy's life.

[Cheryl Willams]

I really enjoyed this story.

[Anna Sangrey Roussel]

A picture book that delves into the origin of why eggs are associated with Easter.

[Della Tingle]

I love Walburg’s The Legend of the Candy Cane. It is a five star book, while this one isn’t as good. However, this is a sweet book focusing on Jesus opposed to the Easter Bunny!

[Samuel]

It's a really good book and I highly recommend it. It tells a Christian view of the Easter egg thing.

[Rosa Cline]

I have never heard of 'why' there are Easter Eggs all my life; so when I was looking for stories to read to my special needs teenage sons and my 2 year old Granddaughter and came across this book I was excited-interested. After checking it out from our library and reading it the illustrations are wonderfully done realistic but yet shows the love the artist has for drawing, pulling you into them even without the story.

Story begins with a young girl and her brother gathering regular chicken eggs. She mentions to him that Easter is soon and they should pretend that it's Easter Eggs they are gathering. He asks why they have Easter Eggs but before she could explain the chickens run away and make a fuss. The next morning he is awoken by his parents saying he has to go live with another family for a while as his sister is badly sick. He goes and stays with a local family who run a candy store. He has to stay with them for a long time while his sister is sick. He misses her and his family but the couple he stays with is fun and they understand him and his feelings. They also explain to him about Easter and Christ and explains and compares the modern day Easter egg to the way chickens are born out of the egg into a new animal so are we as human when we are reborn in Christ. (Didn't write that as pretty as it is in the story but maybe you'll get what I'm trying to say.) His sister recovers and on Easter Sunday he gets to go home and he's not only happy to see everyone again but Happy to tell his sister how he does understand and KNOW for himself Christ in his life.

[Lindsey Silvestrini]

The Legend of the Easter Egg immediately caught my kids attention because of the fun sparkly eggs on the cover.

The book is much more of an in depth story than I anticipated based on the cover. It’s a beautiful story about a little boy named Thomas and his sister Lucy who are excited for Easter to come. When Lucy gets really sick and Thomas is cared for by friends, he experiences a wide range of emotions, questions and confusion. What is Easter all about? Where does the Easter Egg come from?

As I was reading this to my kids, I realized I never really thought about what the Easter egg means or how it came to be associated with Easter to begin with. I was glad I had this story to read to my kids because this is the year they will probably start asking questions about this! It’s funny the things you realize you don’t know as a parent until your child asks you. I’ve just always known eggs go with Easter, but why?

This is a sweet story of Thomas’s journey into understanding. The illustrations, the clothing and even Lucy’s sickness of Scarlet fever suggest that the story took place many years ago and my kids actually picked up on this. I liked the older illustrations that took us to another place and time.

This year if your kids have started asking more questions and “who, what, where, when, why?” have become commonplace in your home as they have mine, The Legend of the Easter Egg offers a great explanation in a beautiful story.

[Nana]

This beautiful over-sized hardcover book is an inspirational telling of a favored Easter tradition. The story explains the tradition of the Easter egg. Thomas and Lucy gathered eggs, pretending to hunt for Easter eggs. That night Lucy became very sick with scarlet fever, and Thomas was taken to stay with the Sonneman's at their candy store while Lucy recuperated. During his stay with the Sonneman's he learned about the tradition of the Easter egg and the story of Easter.

This is a timeless story with beautiful, colorful and vivid illustrations that represent a time many years ago. The focus of scarlet fever also leads one to the conclusion that this story is based in the past. It's a sweet and poignant story of a little boy's journey to understanding some confusing and concerning issues. Told with a simple message the story of Easter is rich in representing Christ and the resurrection.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Zondervan in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own, and no monetary compensation was received for this review.

[Victoria Salzmann]

This christian based picture book shows the true meaning of Easter through an Easter egg. This author portrays Ester eggs as the stone in front of the tomb that was rolled away after Jesus' resurrection. The story is told through a little boy's perspective who seeks to find the meaning of the Easter egg so that he can report back to his sister. As a child I loved this book because of the way my mother used to present it. She made every page an adventure. However, looking back at it as an adult I find it to be a little boring and wordy. It needs more pictures because the age range of children that would normally read this book is 4 to 7 years old.

[Brandy]

A cute story with a wonderful message and BEAUTIFUL illustrations.

I read this to my Sunday School class of third through sixth graders. Many had trouble paying attention so I might recommend this book for a little younger crowd.

[Kimmy]

This was such a wonderful story, I loved it. My five year old son hung on to every word, but it lost my 4 year old half way through, so it was a bit to wordy for her. This brought tears to my eyes and a smile to my face.

[Lori Kuder]

Great read for my girls...lots of neat symbolism regarding Jesus and Easter. We're going to do a lapbook about it.

[ShaRhonda]

An absolute favorite! I love how the Easter Egg is compared to the Tomb in this book! Great way to get get the commercialism out of Easter and the meaning back in!

[Kelli Shoemake]

Beautifully illustrated.

[Mary]

This is a longer story about the Easter tradition from a religious standpoint. The illustrations are lovely, but the story does not really resolve.

[Franklyn Kornn]

Good book to use for summarizing/comprehension/fluency and use around Easter time.

[Teri]

Pretty wonderful Easter story about a boy and his sister that teaches how Easter eggs are symbolic of new life and the resurrection. This is a breath of fresh air after so many empty Easter stories.

[Danette]

4/13/17 Read with Naomi & Julia
3/31/2018 Read with Naomi & Julia
4/20/19 Read with Naomi & Julia.
4/6/20 Read with Julia #covidreader
4/1/21 Read with Naomi and Julia
4/22/22 Read with Julia