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A Classic Easter Tale Still Enchants
A young girl dreams of a magical journey on a fawn in a picture book that’s a holiday favorite
A Tale for Easter may be the closest we have to an Easter counterpart to The Polar Express.
First published in 1941 by Oxford University Press, this classic picture book by the Boston-born Tasha Tudor (1915–2008) has appealed to generations of young children with a gentle story and pastel watercolors that evoke the enchantments of spring.
Unlike The Polar Express, A Tale for Easter has a small, square format. But it resembles Chris Van Allsburg’s fable in its ability to evoke the mysteries of a holiday without focusing on its religious significance.
On the night before Easter, a young girl dreams of taking a magical journey on the back of a “wee fawn” that shows her “rabbits smoothing their sleek coats,” lambs “in fields of buttercups,” and other endearing creatures of the season. Her book sets the tone early:
“You never can tell what might happen on Easter. You’re not always sure when it is coming, even though you go to Sunday school…it is only when Good Friday comes, and you have hot cross buns for tea that you know for certain Easter will be the day after tomorrow.”
