Petook

As we begin Holy Week this week, I'd like to share some of my favorite Easter books for children.  For some reason, Easter-themed picture books seem much few and far between, at least compared to the innumerable picture books retelling the Christmas story.  (I am excluding, of course, books whose protagonist is the Easter bunny.)  The story of Christ's Passion is, of course, disturbing, and requires more delicacy to put it in terms a child would understand, but that does not make it any less necessary and important to be done.

That is why it is so valuable to have books like Petook, written by Caryll Houselander and illustrated by Tomie dePaola and published in 1988.  Petook belongs to an interesting sub-genre of Bible story, where the tale is retold by an insignificant witness to the main event, usually an animal.  Thus, I own at least two different Christmas books whose protagonist is the donkey who carried Mary to Bethlehem, and another starring the camel who delivered the gifts of the Magi.  Here in Petook, we get a unique perspective--the story of the rooster whose crow marked Peter's threefold denial of Christ.

Houselander's genius lies in the fact that this is actually a story of a rooster, who has an encounter with Jesus as a young boy, and again years later, experiencing his own drama of life renewed just as Jesus carries out his sacrifice on the Cross. (Do roosters actually live that long?  Best not to worry about it.)  Meanwhile, the Easter story as we know it literally happens in the background, primarily in the illustrations.

Holy Thursday, with the cross on which Jesus will be crucified just visible in the corner

Though dePaola is not my favorite illustrator, the simplicity of his artwork speaks to children.  When we read this book, my own children love noticing the details in the backgound, from Christ's arrest in Gethsemane all the way the empty tomb on Easter morning.  

I think Houselander, who is also known for her spiritual works such as The Reed of God, expresses a deep insight in her structuring of the story.  Christ's death and resurrection are hidden in the background of the story because, for most people who lived through those few days in first century Palestine, the significance of those events was hidden from view.  For almost everyone, it was just another week, another Passover, another troublemaker executed by the Romans.  Its supreme importance only became visible in hindsight.

Sadly, this book is extremely hard to find (the cheapest copy on Amazon is over $70), but it is definitely worth looking out for at used book stores.  Why can't someone think to reprint such gems?

Ages: 4-8

Rating: A+