cover image HAPPY EASTER!: Inspiring Quotes, Poems & Stories to Celebrate the Season

HAPPY EASTER!: Inspiring Quotes, Poems & Stories to Celebrate the Season

Lisa Hughes, HAPPY EASTER!: Inspiring Quotes, Poems & Stories to Cel. Honor Books, $6.99 (160pp) ISBN 978-1-56292-089-0

This smallish gift book (roughly four by six inches) is a hodgepodge of the sacred and the secular; Easter hymns and Scripture quotations are found alongside folklore, recipes and international customs to celebrate the holiday. Visually, the book works well, augmented by its greeting-card-style cover design and simple illustrations of flowers, butterflies and the like. The book's content, however, is sparse and somewhat superficial, sprinkled with historical facts and Easter traditions that are mentioned in a few brief sentences but not explained. Some of the book's more contemporary aphorisms (e.g. "Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there") seem banal when compared to the classical hymns and poems contained here. Despite its textual shortcomings, the attractive design and petite format will make this a natural addition to the Easter basket. (Feb.)