While a child watches a robin minding her nest, the girl's grandmother relates a legend connecting the robin to the first Easter. Mackall's prose is serviceable, but the stiff illustrations are frequently awkward and do little to pull together the legend and the contemporary story. Though no sources are provided, an author's note says the tale is of Pennsylvania Dutch origin. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Two stories fold into one as this contemporary tale reaches back to the first Easter. Tressa is worried about the robin's eggs outside her window. And even though Gran tells her to trust the one who watches robins and sparrows, Tressa knows everything from weather to raccoons could mean trouble. To get her mind off the eggs outside, Gran brings Tressa inside to make Easter eggs the Pennsylvania Dutch way: blowing out the insides, dyeing them, and fashioning paper into wings, heads, and tails for the egg bodies. It is while they are working that Gran tells Tressa a story. At the time of the Crucifixion, it was the small brown robin that pulled a thorn from Jesus' crown to spare him pain; the blood from the wound gave the bird its red breast. The next day, the baby robins have hatched, and Tressa knows whom to thank for their safety. Drawing from Pennsylvania Dutch tradition, this warm story incorporates intergenerational affection, religious faith, and the appeal of legends. Sturdy artwork brings all the elements together.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2010 Booklist

Mackall offers a trite, heavy-handed story of a little girl named Tressa and her grandmother, who are preparing decorations for Easter as they observe a robin's nest on their windowsill. Tressa worries about the safety of the robin's eggs, and her grandmother reassures her that God watches over robins as well as sparrows. The grandmother recounts a Pennsylvania Dutch legend about a robin that sees Jesus with his crown of thorns as he is carrying his cross. The robin tries to remove a thorn stuck in Jesus's forehead, and a drop of Christ's blood turns the robin's breast a rosy red. Robins with their red breasts are thus explained as an Easter symbol of Christ's suffering. Vojtech provides attractive full-page paintings with an appealing little girl and bright-eyed robins, but the story preaches rather than entertains. (author's note) (Religion/picture book. 5-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

During a chilly spring, Tressa is concerned about a robin's eggs, but her grandmother assures her that God will protect them. In a scene that readers might find unsettling in the context of the preceding, the two blow the "gooey insides" out of chicken eggs to make oschter-foggel (Easter birds). Tressa's grandmother then shares the Pennsylvania Dutch story of how the robin got its red breast-pulling a thorn from Jesus' forehead. A textured alternative to fluffier Easter fare. Ages 4-7. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved