Petook: An Easter Story

Proud and happy at the hatching of his first chicks, a rooster named Petook is at first disturbed when he hears that a young boy has entered the orchard where they live, in order to gaze on his hen-wife Martha and their brood. But when he actually sees the boy, his peaceful and loving manner convince Petook that all is well. Many years later, now a very old fowl indeed, Petook awaits the hatching of a new brood, and sees men being crucified on the hill behind his home. Although he doesn't know it, one of those men is the very boy who once visited Martha in the orchard. Cast down by a nameless sorrow, he eventually feels a sense of triumph and rejoicing when the new chicks hatch three days later, on Easter morn...

Originally published in show more the pages of The Children's Messenger, a magazine for British Catholic children, Petook: An Easter Story was then included in author Caryll Houselander's 1956 collection, Inside the Ark and Other Stories, before being made into a picture book by American children's author and artist Tomie dePaola in 1988. The picture book was subsequently republished as Petook: The Rooster Who Met Jesus in 2021. I was well familiar with Tomie dePaola's work when picking this one up—in fact, my recent project to read more of his books is the reason I sought it out—but I was unfamiliar with Houselander, an English Catholic artist, author and mystic. I'm glad to have been introduced to her, as I found the story here very moving. It highlights the significance of new life at Easter time by tying the story of Jesus, his youth and eventual crucifixion and resurrection to that of a very long-lived rooster and his hen and chicks. This is accomplished, not just through the parallel stories, but through the use of Jesus' lament from the Gospel of Matthew, inspired in this tale by the sight of Martha and her chicks, that he would have gathered Jerusalem to him as a hen gathers her chicks, but they would not. The accompanying artwork here is trademark dePaola, and has a lovely, gentle feeling in some scenes, and a brooding atmosphere in others, that is very appropriate. Recommended to anyone looking for excellent Easter picture books, with the proviso that readers and listeners will need to already know the Easter story, in order to get the most out of it. For my part, I think I will try to track down more of Houselander's work. show less