Favorite Easter Books

This will be Pooka's third Easter. As such, we have several Easter books that we bust out around this time of year. Starting with our youngest book, we read Karen Katz's Where are Baby's Easter Eggs?. You would think these books would get old (since she also has similar books about jackolanterns, Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, etc.) and yet somehow they still seem to delight her. As an infant it was the excitement of lifting the flaps. Now she likes to "read along" and tell me what is behind each flap before we lift it, which probably means the Little Man will never know the joy of discovery for himself since she will always be blurting out what's behind the flap before he opens it!

Last year we added Jan Brett's The Easter Egg. This sweet book is about a bunny who wants to make the most fantastic egg so he will be chosen to help the Easter Bunny deliver his eggs on Easter morning. We love Jan Brett, having both The Mitten and The Hat, so this book did not fail to disappoint. In fact I think it is my favorite of the books of hers that we own. We also bought a beautifully illustrated book called Little White Rabbit by Kevin Henkes. I have considered cutting out the illustrations and framing them for Pooka's walls more than once. It is a sweet story about a rabbit using it's imagination, which Henkes then brings to life in his illustrations.

This year we are considering three new books to add to the repertoire. The first is a classic by Dubose Heyward called The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes. Despite being written in 1940 the tale of the country bunny working hard and persevering to be chosen as the Easter Bunny is an enduring story that should be shared with all little ones.

On a lighter note, Pooka adores all her Olivier Dunrea books (which have all been thoughtful birthday gifts over the last few years). Any of his board books would suffice for Easter because they are based on goslings (which scream springtime to me), but we don't yet have Ollie's Easter Eggs. These books are great for the younger set and are still read regularly as bedtime books at age three. Pooka even wears "bright red boots" like Gertie, and shouts out "follow me" to the Little Man so I guess Gossie (Olivier Dunrea's main character) has really captivated her.

Finally, I'm a sucker for any book with a big ole' Caldecott Medal stuck to the front and Marshmallow by Clare Turlay Newberry is no exception. It's a story of a rabbit that moves into a house with a not so excited cat and how they become friends. This seems like the perfect topic for any preschooler, especially one that may have a new sibling in their life! And the illustrations are simple and lovely!