Review by Sam Stoker.
Another selection by Alexandre Ravenhart this issue owing to the last one being so delightful. We’re looking this time to Ostara. The book starts gently, its verse depicting sleeping animals awakening for the springtime before moving on to the hare who is surprised to have found that he has laid an egg. The hare is prompted to find the goddess Ostara for answers… and sadly this is where Ravenhart lost me. At POTN, we know Ostara to be the Wiccan Sabbat and not a goddess. The associated deity is Ēostre and there are some accounts claiming that she may have been known as Ostara or that Ostara could have been a similar goddess but this hasn’t been fully confirmed anywhere.
If you can look past this (which I think may be an Americanism as our Grani Hulda Ostara book also refers to the goddess Ostara), then the story is lovely and, like the previous book, the glossary is useful. In the second half of the book, the children’s activity pages are utterly charming. Aimed probably at children aged 5+ working on reading comprehension, the book can also easily be photocopied if you want to be able to use it multiple times.
I’m sure my young children will enjoy this book and I will begrudgingly as well. If you have any recommendations when it comes to accurate children’s pagan books, I’d love to hear them! Email me at sam.pagansofthenorth@gmail.com, or message our Facebook page.