God Gave Us Easter by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Little Cub and Papa Bear talk their way through what Easter is, why God gave us Easter, and how we listen to Jesus. They talk about traditional secular Easter symbols and how they all point to Jesus’ gift of Easter. They discuss death and how it’s difficult but that because of Easter, out of death comes life.

Papa Bear explains how because of Easter, we will get to see Jesus in heaven one day. He also touches on the flood and how God wants to be connected to us, but our disobedience gets in the way. But again, because of what Jesus did on Easter, we can be connected to God.

It ends with the discussion about prayer and how we listen to Jesus, but we listen with our heart. Little Cub tries very hard to listen with her heart and she tells Papa that she thinks she heard God, and that he said “I love you.”

There is much about this book that I enjoy. The author does a wonderful job of pointing to Christ for the reason we celebrate. There is also a clear rejection of Christian Universalism within the dialogue. The first reason this book isn’t on my list is that the word sin is never used. The author alludes to sin, using the word “disobedient,” but I find the phrasing confusing for the little ears for which this book is intended.

“A long time ago, God’s children wouldn’t listen to him. They didn’t even believe in him anymore…but when his children, who said they’d follow him, were disobedient again, he had to find a way to keep us connected…So Jesus keeps the promise we broke…”

The target audience for this book is children 2-6, and I find this phrasing far too vague to accurately communicate even elementary principles of sin. Our children always, but even more so at a young age, need clear, understandable explanations of the Gospel. While this book does touch on Christ’s death and resurrection, I think it is too abstract at answering why Christ did this.

The second reason this book doesn’t appear on my list is because of some dialogue about listening to God/hearing Jesus. The author does push back on the idea that we should be listening for an audible voice from God, which I greatly appreciate, but again I find the text unclear for children.

“Does [Jesus] talk back?”

“In a way. It’s like he whispers in my heart.”

“In your heart? I thought we listened with our ears.”

“We do, but to hear Jesus, it takes a special kind of listening.”

“‘Little Cub was silent for the rest of the walk home. She was trying to listen with her heart… That night…she turned over and remembered she was God’s child too. In that moment, she felt comfy and cozy and cared for, almost as if Jesus had whispered I love you in her heart.

The next morning, Little Cub said, ‘Papa, I think I heard God last night.’

‘You did?’ he said…’What’d he say?’

‘I love you.'”

Some of you may read that text and think it’s a beautiful explanation of the indwelling and leading of the Holy Spirit. You are certainly allowed to disagree with me, but again I find this language confusing and even misleading for children. I believe the author intended to encourage children to be aware of the Holy Spirit’s leading and comfort, but with a target age of 2-6, saying something like “listen with your heart” presents problems.

While it is certainly not impossible, it is much less likely that a child in this age range will have truly been born again and thus have the indwelling Holy Spirit. If we are telling our children to “listen for Jesus with their hearts,” but their hearts have not been made new, this is dangerous business because you can be sure their hearts (and other forces) will be telling them plenty of things.

Even if your child is truly a believer, the words we use matter. If we mean to teach our believing children to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and know He comforts us, then those are the words we should use.

The phrasing used in this book leans more towards what has come to be known as “Listening Prayer” which has its roots in Contemplative Prayer. This is not a Biblical approach to prayer. For these reasons, I do not recommend grabbing this title for your home library.