The Story of the Easter Robin

by Dandi Daley Mackall, Anna Vojtech (Illustrator)

In the center of the nest lay one perfect egg, the color of a spring sky. The father robin sat on a branch nearby, guarding his family. Tressa spotted raccoon tracks below and a blue jay eyeing the nest. “Gran, how are we going to keep the egg safe?”“We’ll have to leave that one to the Creator,” Gran said.Robins have built a nest on the window ledge at Grandmother’s house! Tressa is thrilled―and concerned. What will happen to the sky-blue egg laid by the mother robin? As more eggs appear, Tressa witnesses the daily drama of the robins’ nest and learns how God cares for all creatures.Besides watching the birds, there are Easter eggs to color. And there is a very special story to hear―a tale of long ago about one small bird with a very big heart. How did the robin get its red breast? Tressa is about to find out as Gran tells her the story of the Easter robin.Brought to life with colorful, tender illustrations, The Story of the Easter Robin will captivate and teach your child about compassion and faith.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Religion, Birds, Holiday

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 14, 2010

About the author

A professional writer for over 20 years, Dandi Daley Mackall has written dozens of articles for popular magazines and published around 500 books for children and adults alike, with sales of over 4 million.

A frequent guest on radio and television talk shows, she lives in rural Ohio with her husband, three children, horses, dogs, & cats. Awards include the Edgar Award for Best YA Mystery, the Helen Keating Ott Award for Contributions to Children's Literature; Distinguished Alumni Award from Mizzou; ALA Best Book; Christian Children's Book of the Year, Amelia Bloom, Mom's Choice Awards. Her YA novel, My Boyfriends' Dogs, is now a Hallmark movie.

Reviews

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on an old Pennsylvania Dutch tale, this book explains how the robin, a bird's nest, and Easter eggs can be used to illustrate Christ's death and resurrection.

Ages: 5 - 9

Cleanliness: the word "breast" is used several times in regards to the robin.

#easter #christian

**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.

[Todd · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure if I disliked the text or the illustrations of this book more. I'm always interested in learning about legends such as "how the robin got its red breast" in this case. However, the heavy-handed, unfortunately sanctimonious Christian message is very unappealing. The relationship between the granddaughter (Tressa) and her grandmother is sweet enough, but Tressa seems awfully young to be having thoughts like "a million things could go wrong when a robin tried to nest this early". Really? How would she know that? Later, Gran tells her that the robin "warms her babies through that brood patch". Come again? Gran also suddenly uses the term "oschter-foggel", a Pennsylvania Dutch term. This wouldn't be so unusual if there was any previous PA Dutch references to the story, but instead it just comes out of nowhere.

The landscape illustrations are generally passable, but the imagery of the birds and humans is often quite amateurish. Birds are difficult to illustrate, and it shows on some of the pages. The scenes of the grandmother and Tressa blowing out the inside of the eggs are honestly, unpleasant to look at.

This is an example of an author given too much latitude to write whatever she wants, and the lack of editorial control in too many Christian publishing houses.

[Clwseattle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Story of the Easter Robin is a beautiful story. The explanations of the symbolism are wonderful and the illustrations perfectly representative of the author, the illustrator and the Pennsylvania Dutch, i.e. lovely in their simplicity.

The Story of the Easter Robin is absolutely religious because the Pennsylvania Dutch are mostly Mennonite and Amish, whose lives revolve around God and the depend upon him to provide for them, which makes The Story of the Easter Robin a perfect allegory for their faith.

[Marjorie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The “oschter-foggel” illustration was very disconcerting...a great tradition to have with your granddaughter, but everytime we came to that page my three year old son was very confused.

The drawings of the humans were clunky, but the landscape and animals were beautiful

With Easter fast approaching, T asked for this book repeatedly.

[Charlotte S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This BEAUTIFUL book is about a family of robins and the story of how they got their red patch on their chest. It wonderfully ties in the true story of Easter and how Jesus was crucified. This is one of my absolute favorite books of the Easter season! It's incredibly sweet and I highly recommend it! Follow @bronteandwilder on Instagram for more fun book recommendations!

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartwarming story of nature and the Easter Passion with lovely illustrations.

[Rachel Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

We really enjoyed this book! Will buy for my baby to grow up with.

[Clive]

Didn’t come in time for Easter, is just sort of a “meh” book.

The top review for this book is hilarious, though.

[Katrina Lybbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
An Easter story I had never heard before. Nice message overall.

[Nanny B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful story and illustrations about the legend of how the Robin got it's red breast and Jesus sacrifice for us.

[Elizabeth Mayberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did not know the legend before and simply loved the book. A great read for the Easter/ Spring season!

(Read & Reviewed March 2026)

[Christine L. Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you'd like to get something other than candy for the Easter basket, why not a book. There are 55 Easter books listed on Amazon published since 2009. Most are of course about eggs, the one noted here is not. It is a wonderful book about a child's concern for the baby robins and her "Gran" who tells her of the legend. It is beautifully illustrated and will catch a child's eye and imagination.

I did a post last week on my blog about Easter books.Each week I do interviews with published authors who share their experiences of getting published and give tips from what they’ve learned. If you would like to learn more about writing, you can find them at... http://TheWriteChris.blogspot.com.

[Emily (emjoy20) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't usually add children's books to my list but this is one I definitely want to add to an Easter collection for my kids. Beautiful illustrations and a wonderful Easter message.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had very ugly humans