With Easter upon us, here are a few Easter/spring-themed books for any last minute shopping. First up, My First Easter by Tomie dePaola. While the book doesn't mention anything about the meaning of Easter, it is filled with the many traditions families have around Easter time. And as always, the illustrations are lovely.
2. Easter Egg by Jan Brett
The Easter Egg is a really adorable story. In a community of rabbits, everyone is getting ready for Easter by making their very own Easter egg to present to the Easter Bunny. One of the rabbits, Hoppie is out and about collecting ideas for making his own Easter egg when suddenly a robin's egg falls out of its nest. Eager to be helpful, Hoppie stays by the egg, keeping it warm and dry until it hatches. On Easter Sunday everyone presents their Easter egg to the Easter Bunny but Hoppie arrives empty handed. But the Easter Bunny seems to know all and he quickly rewards Hoopi for his kindness towards the Robin's egg. Hoppie then goes with the Easter Bunny to deliver all of the beautiful eggs to everyone in the village.
3. Cheep! Cheep! by Sebastien Braun
A book bursting with spring, Cheep! Cheep! is yet another book in the Can you Say It Too? series that is full of animals to find behind the large lift-the-flaps.
4. Peter Rabbit P is for Peter
You can never have enough Peter Rabbit. With soft pastels and everyone's favorite characters, P is for Peter Rabbit is a lovely book for little ones. And while it doesn't mention anything about Easter, Peter Rabbit definitely reminds us of the Easter Bunny.
5. The Easter Story by Patricia A. Pingry
I am not a huge fan of these illustrations -- the children look too disproportionate and computerized to me -- but here is a book for toddlers that tries very hard to tell us what Easter is actually about. For parents who are looking for ways to describe the meaning of Easter through literature I'd say this book is a start.
