BOOK REVIEW: The Birds' Gift - A Ukrainian Easter Story

The Birds' Gift - A Ukrainian Easter Story
Retold by E. Kimmel
Illustrated by K. Krenina
Children's book published in 1999 by Holiday House, New York

This quaint, rural tale begins with a late autumn snowstorm and describes how the villagers' goodwill toward tiny, snowbound birds is returned in kind the following spring when the birds bring beautifully decorated pysanky. I really enjoyed the beginning of this tale, but then the wise priest runs in to save the day multiple times. Apparently the simple villagers can't figure things out for themselves! (Yes, I know, it's a folk tale, and I realize the importance of the church in traditional Ukrainian lives.) The language used to tell of the arrival of spring and the villagers' Easter preparations is simple, yet effective. The vivid illustrations alone are worth the price of the book.

One thing I don't like about this version of the legend is how it ends (after the church intervenes), "Ever since that day, in memory of the birds' gift, people have made pysanky, the most beautiful Easter eggs of all." Pysanky were made in Ukraine during pre-Christian times. An author's note on the last page of the book mentions that eggs were used by people of the steppe in religious ceremonies before Christianity, but this note doesn't come close to explaining the origins of pysanky.

For more info on pysanky origins and meaning, read an excerpt from Sofia Zielyk's book The Art of the Pysanka. Also see The Ukrainian Easter Egg by Zielyk. (Go ahead and try not letting the background distract you from reading the text!)