Hoppy Spring! Hop! by Amy Bauman and Sue DiCicco

One sunny day, Bunny awoke in the meadow.

It was a special day. He was sure of that.

But which special day?

Well, one big clue is the die cut egg shape in the cover, which reveals a bunny, a bit reminiscent of Bambi's friend Thumper, in full hop.

This morning Bunny feels a change in the earth; it's still a bit cool, but the winter cold and snow are all gone, and he sees friends outside that have been missing for months. Flowers and birds are all about, and a line of waddling ducklings following their mom appear, and then a bumbling puppy tumbles along behind them, and Bunny just has to join in the waddling, tumbling line to see what's up.

Ahead are people in colorful hats, parading proudly, and as he marches with them, Bunny spots a brilliant yellow egg, painted with flowers in the grass. It has to be an Easter Egg, of course, and now Bunny knows why this day is special. And before you can say "Hoppy Easter," he's off to fill his basket with the beautiful eggs.

Skip, Skip, Skippity Doo.
Skippity Doo, Skip!

Joining the "movement" movement powered by Rufus Butler Seder in his best-selling Scanimation moving picture books-- Waddle!: A Scanimation Picture Book (Scanimation Picture Books),
Gallop!: A Scanimation Picture Book (Scanimation Books), and Swing!: A Scanimation Picture Book--Baumann's and DeCicco's Hop! Five Turn-the-page Animations! (Americhips, 2009) jumps right into the "moving pictures" subset of the toy and movable book. Creators Bauman and DeCicco offer a "junior" version of the genre: less sophisticated in execution than Seder's highly evolved creations, they provide just enough movement in their five animated illustrations for little fingers to manipulate as their bouncy Bunny hops, waddles, tumbles, and skips right off the page and into the Easter parade where he belongs.