The day has arrived! It’s a very Happy Book Birthday to Twas the Morning of Easter!
This premium picture book is written in the same style as the Clement C Moore classic and is a glorious celebration of the resurrection through the eyes of Mary Magdalene. 
To celebrate its arrival, Zonderkidz are generously offering to give FIVE copies away! Read on to hear some excerpts, peek at the stunning artwork by Elena Selivanova and to enter the giveaway!
It is early one Sunday morning in a quiet garden in Jerusalem. Two guards are snoozing outside a tomb, where Jesus, the Son of God, was buried, only three days before.
The stage is set…
’Twas the morning of Easter, before the sun rose,
Two guards on a hillside were just trying to doze.
You see, Jesus had died, only three days before,
A huge stone had been placed, to seal the cave door.
Here are two of my favorite spreads from the book…
Wouldn’t you like to win one of these gorgeous books? One winner will be chosen from this Website, two winners on Facebook, and two winners on Instagram. Enter on all three platforms for maximum chances! Contest open until Friday 5th Feb to USA residents only with a physical street address.
Here’s how to enter:
- Leave a comment right here on my website, under this post, telling me what is your favorite part of Easter.
- Leave a comment on this post on my Facebook Author Page.
- Enter on Instagram.
- Sharing or tagging friends on any platform = extra entries.
That’s it! The five winners will be announced on Saturday 6th.
UPDATE: Congrats to the five winners: Kristin Harwell, Julie Waldron, Jen Renee Hoerber, Jamie Houck and Jessa Nicolas!
Stay tuned for news of ten more giveaways beginning next week with Children’s Minister Vanessa Myers.
Purchase from: IndieBound, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Zondervan.
This looks beautiful. My favorite part of Easter is the sunrise, imagining that first day of the week when they ran to the tomb. He is risen, just as He said!! And I love telling this story to little ones who are so eager to know about God and His love.
Oh, I love the Easter sunrise too, Jeanne! Thanks for entering!
Beautiful book. My review has been posted on Amazon. 🙂
I’m so grateful, Peggy! Thank you!
That the ladies were the first to arrive.
YES!! The best part!
This is beautiful! And faithful to Scripture. Thanks, Glenys. My favorite part of Easter is my childhood memories. Our church members gathered around a bonfire at sunrise each Easter morning. We kids went in our pajamas. We sang, read the Scriptures, prayed and worshipped.
How lovely, Jean, to have a bonfire on Easter morning!
Pingback: Giveaway ‘Twas the Morning of Easter by Glenys Nellist | Walking With Jesus
My favorite part of Easter is the Seder Dinner with friends. The meal is quite good, too.
Hi, Regina, yes…I’ve been to Seder meals. They are lovely.
Sounds like a wonderful book, as usual. My favorite part of the Easter story is that the women were the first “evangelists” to spread the good news!!!! And I finding it so disappointing that the disciples(the men) didn’t believe them. I wonder if we’ve made much progress in this area over the last 2000 years.
I do think we’re making progress, Karen, albeit slowly!
Beautiful book and I love the story told to the cadence of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” !
Oh, thank you so much, Anita!
My favorite part Easter is the Resurrection and the promise it brings!
Yes, Elaine! Isn’t that the best!
I’m not happy with the Easter books I inherited, so your book is extra wonderful!
Oh, Maureen! I think it can be challenging to write the Easter story well, and so to be able to write it purely from Mary’s perspective was so refreshing for me!
The songs! Definitely the songs!
Yes! I love the Easter songs too! They are so uplifting!
My favorite part of Easter is dinner with my family.
Oh, yes, Julie! Let’s hope we might be able to do that this year!
Very nice.
Thank you Judy!
My favorite part of Easter is singing “Up from the grave he arose!”
Oh, I LOVE that song too, Becky!
Can’t wait to read the whole book! My favorite part about Easter is the signal of new beginnings and everyone’s excitement for Spring.
Suzy, it really is the season of new life!
My favorite part was braiding palm leaves and making crosses with them with my father.
Oh, what a lovely memory, Leela!
The joyous music! And being with family and church family too.
Laura, I am so hoping that we can be with family this year!
The musical inspiration through harmony is my favorite part of Easter.
Yes, Cassandra! That is magical!
My favorite part of Easter is hard to choose, but I’ll say it’s probably the hymns and songs that are sung in praise of the risen living Christ!!
Laura, music is such a vital part of Easter!
Glenys! This book is gorgeous! I’m so happy for you and all the kids who will have it read to them. I’ll add it to our school library list, too. My favorite part of Easter is singing all the joyful hymns!
Oh, thank you so much, Sonja! I love the Easter hymns too!
I’ve been a Youth/Children’s Ministry Director for over 10 years. Our youth are in charge of the Easter Sunrise Service followed by Easter Breakfast every year. My favorite part of Easter is creating the worship service, practicing the skits, selecting the songs and scripture readings, etc with them. I allow them to have ownership of it. Their devotion, willingness, and commitment to weekly practices and showing up early every Easter Sunday amazes me! I also love gathering with them on Saturday before Easter to prepare for the breakfast, set up tables & chairs, make over a dozen pans of egg bake, etc.
That’s a wonderful ministry to be part of, Tammy! I wrote a free, downloadable Activity and Resource Pack to accompany this book, which includes an Easter pageant and an Intergenerational Easter event.. would you like to see that?
My favorite part of Easter is sharing the story with my kids! We make resurrection rolls on Easter morning. He is risen!
How fun. Laurel! I love resurrection rolls!
My favorite part of Easter is the promise, the promise of Spring, the promise that one day we too will be raised from the dead, the promise of forgiveness and that one day we will live in the light and love of God, our Father.
Yes! I love that! Easter is all about PROMISE!
Glenys,
My favorite part of Easter is the tearing of the veil which opened our way to the Lord!
Yes, Trine… the Easter story is so full of wonderful, miraculous details!
Sunrise service 🌞
Sarah, who doesn’t love those!
My favorite part of Easter is attending Mass as a family and gathering with extended family to celebrate the Risen Christ!
Yes, Dorothy! Easter is such a wonderful family time!
Sharing in the HOPE of Easter!! I love telling people Christ is Risen and then saying Alleluia!!
Yes! Alleluia is THE word for the season!
What a lovely book, Glenys! It will be a lovely addition to my collection of picture books that share the Good News.
My favorite part of Easter is knowing that “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone!”
Oh, Stacey, I adore that song! It’s so joyful!
Congratulations on another lovely book, Glenys! The artwork and layouts are beautiful. My favorite part of Easter is singing “Up From the Grave He Arose!”
Thank you so much, Deb, and I love that song, too.. it’s so triumphant!
My favorite part of Easter is our tomb we have outside of our church each year!
Oh, how lovely, Beverly! I bet folks passing by love to see that too!
I can’t pick just one! I love the Easter egg hunts with all the little ones so excited and how every year there is atleast one bigger kid sharing their eggs with a younger child. I love to see our tweens and young teens turn into excited little kids during our flashlight easter egg hunt. And I love the tradition our church has where a blank cross turns into a beautiful overflowing flower cross after everyone adds their flowers on Easter morning.
Yes! We do the transforming of the cross with flowers too, but we’ve never done a flashlight egg hunt.. that sounds like great fun!
There are too many to select only one…time spent with family doing traditional things is fun but wouldn’t be possible without that empty tomb. Easter is such a happy yet somber time for me, like a giant emotional rollercoaster as the day goes on. Easter…a time of thanksgiving for Jesus and all he did for me and awe and wonder as the fact sinks in that he choose this…for me. I love all your stories and LOVE seeing pictures and updates of you and your family. Thank you for yet another amazing looking story that I can’t wait to read for my own enjoyment and for that of my children!
Oh, thank you so much, Cola! Lovely to see your name here!
I loved your read aloud on the @zonderkids IG page! My favorite part of Easter is the Easter play at my local church and bringing that to life year after year. It’s such a blessing in serving! 🖤
Yay, Jessa! I’m so glad you listened in on that! Thanks for entering!
I love the worship music of Easter!
Oh, I do too, Kristin!
Kristin, you are one of the winners! Please email your address to glenysnellist@gmail.com
Congrats!
Our church Easter cantata holds a special place in my head and in my heart every year.
Oh, I’m sure it does, Joyce! Thanks for entering.
My favorite part about Easter is the energy & excitement during worship, as we celebrate that Jesus is Alive!
Yes! Easter is such a celebratory time!
Loved the book. I received it this week. Beautiful age appropriate retelling and beautifully illustrated.,
Thank you so much, Chris. That means the world to me!
Thank you to everyone who entered! The five winners are: Kristin Harwell, Julie Waldron, Jen Renee Hoerber, Jamie Houck and Jessa Nicolas. Congrats!
My favorite part of Easter is the opportunity to reflect on the power the Resurrection provides to all who believe. It is the bedrock of our faith. I also love the new life that Easter symbolizes, both spiritually and in the season of Spring, pointing to new beginnings. Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful work. I am looking forward to sharing this with our church family at Easter 🙂
Thank you JoAnna! This giveaway is now closed, but you can enter a new one at this link: https://vanessamyers.org/twas-the-morning-of-easter-book-review-giveaway/?fbclid=IwAR0camp9D7ToHnq3L_lMpfIkeOznQEWuD77FkxqTtdjY3eq2UBZ0kcg-4aM