Bugging the Bunny! Easter Bug by David Carter

SPRING HAS SPRUNG AND LEFT WINTER BEHIND.

HOW MANY EASTER BUGS CAN YOU FIND?

Why should bunnies and chicks have all the fun? All bedecked in a fresh edition, master paper sculptor David A Carter's  popular Easter Bugs : A Springtime Pop-up by David A Carter (Little Simon, 2015) gives his fantastical bugs a chance to pop up and surprise young book lovers. Hiding behind or inside colorful Easter eggs are such imaginative critters as the Shiny Raindrop Bug, The Fleecy-Touchy-Feely Chick-Chick Bug, the Busy Brown Buzzing Bug, and... Wait!

WHO IS IN THE JEWELED EGG THAT WILL MAKE YOU SQUIRM?

THE SLIPPERY EASTER WORM!

(CAN YOU SLIP HIM OUT?)

The entire creepy-crawly crew reprise their appearances with a gloriously constructed open-weave pop-out Easter Basket filled with Easter bugs behind every egg-shaped flap, with a challenge to name and count them. Here's one Easter basket filler that is actually good for tots and that will be around long after the pastel jelly beans and sugary peeps are past their prime.

Eggstra! Pete the Cat: Big Easter Adventure by Kimberly and James Dean

UH,OH! THE EASTER BASKET WAS EMPTY.

PETE,

PLEASE HELP FIND THE EGGS. PAINT THE EGGS. HIDE THE EGGS.

THANKS,
THE EASTER BUNNY

Hey! This isn't cool! A Do-It-Yourself Easter Basket?

But for Pete, it's all good. If being a substitute Bunny is what it takes to get the fun off the ground, he's up for it!

Pete pitches in, putting on the fake ears and faux bunny nose and powder puff tail, and heading out to rustle some eggs, with help of the cheerful chicks in the chicken yard.

But this thing is on a tight deadline, and Pete has to hop off fast to the tool shed for some paints, where he does an egg-cellent job of egg art . As soon as the striped, dotted, and fully decorated eggs are dry, he heads off to hide the eggs for the big Easter Egg Hunt in his neighborhood.

With the work all done, the Easter Bunny puts in a brief personal appearance, just long enough to pin an award ribbon on his stand-in--the one with a bunny tail AND a long black cat tail.

But, it's all good. Happy Easter, Everyone!

Kimberly and James Dean's latest holiday tale, Pete the Cat: Big Easter Adventure (HarperCollins, 2014), breaks no eggs in the usual omelet of the helping-the-Easter-Bunny genre, but a hippety-hoppity Pete with his ever-cool countenance and two tails is pretty funny, and the twelve ever-so-cute Easter cards, pull-out poster, and eggs-traordinary stickers will go a long way to providing the sweet treats for Easter baskets for Pete the Cat fans.

Becoming Real: The Velveteen Rabbit (The Classic Edition) by Margery Williams Bianco

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become REAL."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. Generally, by the time you are REAL, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get very shabby. But these things don't matter, because once you are REAL, you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

An abiding story, Margery Williams Bianco's classic toy story has been associated with the Easter season, not just  for its toy rabbit hero, but for its deep spiritual theme, a resurrection metaphor, a story of spiritual growth and transformation in a warm, homey setting of a boy who survives a serious illness with the comfort of his once beautiful Christmas rabbit.  Generations of children have heard this story, some hearing only a fanciful story of  an outgrown toy, and some growing into the understanding of this story as they become adults.

Artist Charles Santore has given this classic transformation tale of How Toys Become Real, giving to its venerable narrative a new illustrative style, beautiful paintings in a masterful palette which rival those of the original in evoking this lovely story of childhood, old age, and the hope that they share.  His  The Velveteen Rabbit: Or How Toys Become Real (Applesauce Press, 2012), an elegantly tasteful reimagining of this text is a wonderful way to share this meaningful story with young children, a story that never grows old as its readers always do. A must read for all children in those magical years.

Easter Basket Bunny Books: I Love You, Honey Bunny and Easter

What sort of Easter basket is best for babies and toddlers? One with plush bunnies or ducks or chicks, sure, but maybe not jelly beans or yellow peeps or big chocolate eggs! What kind of sweet but not sugary treats are great for babies and toddlers?

BOOKS, of course, and luckily children's publishers are right there with lots of choices, small board books with bright colors and textures, that make a tot's basket just as inviting as can be, right along with those of older siblings!

Roger Priddy's lovely little touch-and-feel board book, Bright Baby Touch and Feel Easter (Priddy Books/St. Martin's Press, 2012) offers a different tactile experience on each page--slippery foil, fuzzy fur, glowing glitter, crinkly wraps--while presenting all the images associated with Easter--decorated eggs, an Easter basket, soft lambs, fuzzy chicks,  tulip flowers, and chocolate bunnies. Board books for babies are Priddy's specialty, providing plenty of eye candy in the way of hand-lettered fonts, bright colors, and lots of fun for little fingers as well.

Sandra Magnuson goes even further with her own toy and movable book for an Easter morning surprise--a book with soft, furry, plush rabbit ears built right in, coordinated with the bunny on its cover and each of its internal board book pages. Magnuson's art is tailor-made to be attractive to the eyes and fingers of tiny tots, a book to share and even one to take to bed! Her newest, I Love You, Honey Bunny (Earesistables) (Holiday Group Productions, 2013) is a a charming little Easter basket filler that will likely be the first thing a little one reaches for on Easter morning.

Team Eggsellent: Olivia and the Easter Egg Hunt by Ian Falconer

ONE MORNING OLIVIA WOKE UP BRIGHT AND EARLY.

"TODAY IS EASTER!

I BETTER WAKE UP IAN SO WE CAN CHECK OUR EASTER BASKETS!"

"I'M AWAKE! RACE YOU DOWNSTAIRS!" SAID IAN.

But Mom, Dad, and Grandma are way ahead of them!  There are chocolate bunnies in their baskets, but no time to nibble even one ear, because the whole family is soon heading out to the park for The Great Easter Egg Hunt!

None other than Olivia's teacher, Mrs. Hoggenmuller, is the mistress of ceremonies, ready to explain the rather arcane rules.  Each family has to work as a team to find special eggs with clues for silly stunts which lead to puzzle pieces with clues which point the way to the winning Easter Basket.

Hoggenmuller hits the gong and Team Olivia is off and running: Ian gets to do the Spaghetti Slurp; Olivia does the Hoop-De-Hoop hula, and even Grandma runs an obstacle course balancing books on her head! Finally all the stunts lead them to three clues--TREE, NUT, and WALL. Can Team Olivia figure out the puzzle in time to beat Team Francine to the hidden prize basket?

Ian Falconer's Olivia leads the way in the latest adventure, OLIVIA and the Easter Egg Hunt (Simon Spotlight, 2013) with the whole family getting into the spirit of Easter egg hunting. With Shane Johnson ably adopting Falconer's original illustrative style and Cornelia Evans adapting the script from Nickelodeon's popular series, Olivia and family let no festive day go by without giving it a go, and here the tradition of the Easter egg hunt reveals that special Olivia verve.

For Olivia fans, put  this one in the Easter basket with the other just-published title in Falconer's Ready to Read series, OLIVIA Measures Up (Olivia Ready-to-Read), in which Olivia is learns that some day her little brother Ian is probably going to grow to be bigger than she is!  How can Olivia retain her big sister status in the face of such a patently unfair outcome? If anyone can rise to the occasion, we know it's the effervescent Olivia!

Egg-stravaganza! Duck & Goose: Here Comes the Easter Bunny by Tad Hills

It's Easter Eve, and Duck and Goose listen to the voice of experience:

YOU'D BETTER FIND A GOOD HIDING SPOT

IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE EASTER BUNNY!

Duck and Goose put on their thinking caps. How can they spy on the Easter Rabbit?

Duck wades in and suggests that they hide in the pond.

But spring ponds are cold for standing all night, even for water fowl.

Goose struggles to climb into a tiny tree. Duck pronounces it too scary high.

Then the two decide to go undercover. Duck and Goose make themselves disguises with leafy twigs--a garland around their little heads and tiny branches under each wing. That busy Bunny will never notice them now. They settle down to stay awake for the no-doze duration as the moon rises and the stars come out. But soon nature takes its course and the two wee mock trees slip into a snooze.

But not to worry. In Tad Hills' new holiday tale, Duck & Goose, Here Comes the Easter Bunny! (Schwartz & Wade, 2012), (Scgwartz & Wade, 2012) the two may miss the Easter Bunny, but when they awake, their twig headdresses all wilted and their eyelids droopy, they find his pastel products all around. As a fine sugar-free Easter basket treat, this little board book, with its charming little fowl and glittery decorated Easter egg-stravaganza on the cover, will surely brighten an Easter morn.

Easter Buggy? Mater and the Easter Buggy by Kirsten Larsen

EASTER WAS JUST ONE DAY AWAY, AND THE CARS IN RADIATOR SPRINGS WERE REVVED UP FOR FUN.

AS LIGHTNING MCQUEEN DROVE DOWN MAIN STREET, HE SAW HIS FRIENDS GETTING READY FOR THE HOLIDAY.

All the motorized conveyances are in the spirit. Red the Firetruck has tulips coming along; Model T Lizzie is holding a "spring" (as in suspension) sale; and Fillmore the Van has painted up a pile of pastel gas cans for the annual can hunt. As always, Lightning is skeptical of fantastical characters such as the Easter Buggy, but like a good friend, he doesn't want his buddy Mater to be disappointed if his homemade cast-off tire basket, with its hopeful sign "Fill 'Er UP," isn't fully furbished by Easter morn.

LIGHTNING KNEW HE HAD TO DO SOMETHING.

IF THE EASTER BUGGY DIDN'T SHOW, MATER WOULD BE SO DISAPPOINTED.

It wouldn't be a Cars story if there weren't a car chase somewhere, and soon the chase is on! Lightning waits for Mater to doze off and races around Radiator Springs with Mater's empty basket, always just one step behind that evasive Easter Buggy, determined to fill that basket himself if the tricky Buggy fails to do the job.

It seems that I'm the not the only one who is a sucker for a silly pun and parody, and Kirsten Larsen's Mater and the Easter Buggy (Disney/Pixar Cars) (Disney Press, 2012) puts this groaner of a pun into best use as the premise for this timely takeoff on the venerable watching-for-the-Easter-Bunny theme in this holiday story honoring comic character Mater from the movie Cars.

Young motorheads may not quite catch all of Larsen' tongue-in-cheek touches (e.g., Mater's waiting Easter basket is made from a tire and ultimately filled with car parts and accessories), but the tale of that evasive bunny (er. buggy) who is always just out of Mater's sight (but not the reader's), works just as well here as it does in other Bunny-and-baskets stories for the picture book set, such as last year's hit, Splat the Cat: Where's the Easter Bunny?.

Little kids will giggle at the pink VW bug(gy), who, with air scoop "ears" and hood-mounted nose and whiskers, stays just one turn ahead of the chase, and everyone will be satisfied when the loyal Lightning returns to find Mater's tire basket already suitably set up for the season. For an appropriately shameless seasonal spinoff of a Disney hit movie, this one is short, spoofy, and certainly sweet. Anybody want a bite of my chocolate lug nut?

Eggs-tra! Read All About It! Easter Surprise: An Eggs-traordinary Slide & Find Book

READY, STEADY,

GENTLY CRACK!

Since ancient times people have wondered at the egg--hard, rock-like, but opening to reveal a living thing in all its wonder.

Artist-designer Roger Priddy makes good use of this phenomenon of nature in his brand-new toy-and-movable-book, Easter Surprise. (St. Martin's Press, 2011). In an original take on the pull-tab and flap board book for the youngest book lovers, Priddy's illustrations actually slide open and closed as he takes a light-hearted holiday look at what the Easter egg can reveal. Inside his brightly colored Easter egg is its secret, a darling duckling looking right at the viewer as if to say, "Well, who did you expect?"

Similar slide-and-find pages pull apart to reveal an Easter bunny inside a basket, a spring lamb behind a garden gate, fluffy chicks inside their coop, and a wood deer fawn in its thicket. But the best image for the little "reader" to discover is seen as the final pages open to reveal a mirror with baby's own image looking back.

EASTER SURPRISE!

YOU'RE HERE, TOO!

Priddy's Easter Surprise. uses the element of surprise to hold the attention of youngsters while introducing baby animals and the whole idea of the soon-to-be familiar Easter Bunny and basket.A clever and engaging first Easter book for the very young.

Case of the Purloined Eggs: April Adventure by Ron Roy

Brian sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Hey, what's this?" he asked. He held up a blue plastic egg. "It was on my pillow!"

"My egg had a note inside!" Bradley said, showing his egg.

"We all have notes!" Lucy said. "Mine says, GO WHERE A ROSE GROWS. SIGNED, THE SHADOW."

Nate crawled out of his sleeping bag. "Mine says, THERE YOU WILL FIND DIRECTIONS TO THE TREASURE. It's signed THE SHADOW, too!"

"Cool," Lucy said. "I love treasure hunts! But who's the Shadow?"

The second-grade siblings of those intrepid detectives made famous in Ron Roy's top-selling A to Z Mysteries, love a mystery, too, and when they head to the rose garden in the park downtown, they have no trouble finding the hidden plastic eggs. But one note inside tells them to find the golden eggs to claim their prize, but there are no golden eggs to be found. It's a mystery, and the young sleuths soon rise to the challenge.

A bit of traditional gumshoe legwork leads them to heir neighbor Mr. Pocket, who suggests that they concentrate on the nesting swans in the park. With that piece of information the four kids run back to the pond, where they find that the swans are not the least bit interested in letting them look for golden eggs in their nests. But like their super-sleuth siblings, these young detectives soon figure out what to do next, an investigation which also leads to an ecological adventure.

Young independent readers who are not quite ready for author Roy's popular A to Z detectives, will be glad to see his latest entry into the beginning chapter genre, Calendar Mysteries #4: April Adventure (A Stepping Stone Book(TM)), this one written in a very accessible Grade 1.8 reading level. With his illustrator John Steven Gurney's appealing illustrations, full- and half-page, throughout, this book boasts nine chapters and a real big-kid look for those just taking their first steps into reading an extended story on their own. Roy's Calendar Mysteries are a boon to the youngest beginning chapter readers with manageable vocabulary, familiar neighborhood settings, and appealing young characters who think for themselves.

Unflappable! Splat the Cat: Where's the Easter Bunny? by Rob Scotton

SPLAT CAN'T BELIEVE IT.

IT IS ALMOST EASTER AND HE STILL HASN'T TOLD THE EASTER BUNNY WHAT HE WANTS MOST!

Splat is back in another holiday adventure. This time he sets forth to find the Easter Bunny and make sure that he knows to bring him an extra large Easter egg.

Never mind that the day before Easter is E.B.'s busiest day of the year. Splat is an exuberant first-grader, and he's just sure he can uncover that undercover Bunny in time.

WHERE IS THE EASTER BUNNY? DO YOU KNOW?

Splat starts at home, looking behind his car. No Easter Bunny. He looks in his backyard shed. No Easter Bunny, just a lot of very strange-looking ducks! Hmmm!

The search continues through the town, with Splat repeating his question everywhere he goes--behind doors, behind the open front section of the town newspaper, THE SGRATGHING POST, with its headline EASTER BUNNY MISSING! where he disturbs a perturbed citizen reading, behind a sign proclaiming "Easter Parade Tomorrow" being put up by his teacher Mrs. Whimpydimple, behind umbrellas held by his buddies Spike and Kitten, and even in his own mailbox.

Nope. Just a package addressed cheerily to Splat the Cat.

There's a sturdy flap to be opened for each place Splat searches, and behind it a familiar character in this best-selling series, while in the background, of course, Splat overlooks the subject of his search, the Easter Bunny, partly visible on almost every page--his ears sticking up from the bathtub beside which Splat's sister has just donned her pink robe, in the store window displays he passes downtown, with his back turned in a phone booth, and just skedaddling over the hill ahead of Splat, leaving telltale colored eggs in his wake.

Kids will probably spot the evidence of the Easter Bunny way before grownups do in Rob Scotton's latest Splat the Cat: Where's the Easter Bunny? (Schwartz & Wade, 2011). Splat is an irresistible character, his fur bristling with energy and his jittery tail always a-wave, filled with the curiosity he shares with his young readers.

Scotton, author of the popular Russell the Sheep books, has a winner here. His series of lift-the-flap paperbacks for the preschool set are a welcome addition to the hardback Splat the Cat series, featuring sturdy flaps with jolly surprises hidden beneath and a repetitive text which youngsters can easily memorize, making this one an "I can read it all by myself" book even for the youngest non-readers, one with lots of visual humor, and an ending which ties the whole book together in a most satisfying way--in an Easter basket with a jaunty bow, some strange-looking ducks--and an EXTRA BIG Easter egg for Splat.

Le Grand Field Trip: Madeline at the White House by John Bemelmans Marciano

AT AN OLD HOUSE IN WASHINGTON, D. C.

LIVED AS LONELY A GIRL AS THERE COULD BE.

HER NAME WAS MISS PENELOPE RANDALL,

BUT EVERYOLNE ALWAYS CALLED HER CANDLE.

Nicknamed Candle for her flame like red cowlick, this President's daughter finds life at the White House quite dreary: Her dad the President is too harried even to keep his appointments to play with her, and at the White House school she is literally in a class by herself. And then her mom schedules a junket over Easter. But luckily, The First Lady has French connections, one fortunately with someone at an old house in Paris that is covered with vines. And, Voila!--the students of a famous, fashionable French girls' school flies in for a fortuitous field trip just in time to save Candle from a lonely holiday.

THEIR PLANE GETS IN AT HALF PAST NINE.
THE SMALLEST ONE IS MADELINE.

With the famous French redhead and America's carrot top First Daughter, the fun never stops. Even Miss Clavell cannot keep the twelve little girls in two straight lines at the big White House Egg Roll on the south lawn, and Candle, Madeline, and the rest fill their tummies on the treats at the fete. Then it's bedtime for the girls. But when Miss Clavell turns out the light, the girls are up and off on their finest adventure. Conjuring up her magician friend, Madeline persuades the dutiful Candle to sneak out for a magic carpet ride around Washington, D.C., hitting all the sights from the sky--the Capitol, the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, and the Washington Monument, all by the light of the starry heavens.

Then with many boo-hoo-hoos from the little girls, the new friends depart for their plane back to Paris with many hugs and promises, as the ever-firm Miss Clavell reminds them that

TO SAY GOODBYE IS ALWAYS SAD.
BUT COMING HOME IS NEVER BAD.

For grownups, who can't remember a time when the Madeline books were not there, seeing those twelve little girls, togged in their matching yellow coats and beribboned hats peering through the iron fence at the White House and its fountain is a happy sight. John Bemelmans Marciano's illustrations for his latest, Madeline at the White House (Viking, 2011) closely approximate those of his grandfather Ludwig Bemelmans, and this story, although perhaps lacking la tension of such cliff-hangers as Madeline's Rescue, provides an agreeable tour of Washington, D.C., a colorful Easter event for holiday reading, and introduces an interesting American character to the Madeline series.

Marciano's previous addition to this venerable picture book series is Madeline and the Cats of Rome.

Chick Lit: There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick by Lucille Colandro

THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A CHICK!

I DON'T KNOW WHY SHE SWALLOWED A CHICK.

BUT SHE DIDN'T GET SICK!

But, of course, if you've encountered Lucille Colandro's old lady before, you know she's not heading for digestive distress at all. Not this gal. Her consumption always ends in gustatory glory, and in her latest alimentary adventure, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick, this old lady has an appetite for Easter excitement.

In short order, so to speak, this old lady goes on to gobble an egg, some straw, candy, a basket, a bow ... and, well, you can see where this one is going. As she skips down the trail on a day that is sunny, there's a strategic stumble, and OOOPS! out pops the entire Easter basket, chick, egg, straw, candy, with perky bow somehow tied jauntily atop the handle!

And...surprise, surprise, surprise...

GUESS WHO SHE MEETS?

THE EASTER BUNNY!

With Jared Lee's familiar illustrations, the author's newest addition to her seasonal stories of the old lady who always gets it together for a holiday, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Chick (Scholastic, 2010), with its familiar folksong rhythm, rhyming triplets and cumulative story line, is a fine addition to the Colandro catalog. Kids who already know the There Was an Old Lady 3 Pack: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat! / There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow! / There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Shell! There Was an Old Lady 3 Pack: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat! / There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow! / There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Shell! stories will immediately chime in on the building refrain in a rhyming Easter story just made to be read aloud. And, after all, for Easter, it's more than appropriate to ham it up!

Eggshell-ent! Easter Crack-Ups: Knock-Knock Jokes Funny-Side Up by Katy Hall and Lisa Eisenberg

KNOCK KNOCK!

WHO'S THERE?

BUNNY!

BUNNY WHO?

BUNNY-TH THIS ROCK I FOUND AN EGG!

Combine bunnies, colored eggs, happy kids, and clever lift-the-flap tricks and knock-knock puns to dye for and what do you get? Well, if it's Easter time, you'll want to get Katy Hall's and Lisa Eisenberg's Easter Crack-Ups: Knock-Knock Jokes Funny-Side Up (Lift-the-Flap Knock-Knock Book), a springtime stalwart in the over-lightly genre of knock-knock joke books. Billed as knock-knocks funny-side-up, this standby combines eggs-traordinary pun-ditry with clever flappery to keep early elementary readers, as advertised, cracking up and turning those pages.

KNOCK KNOCK!

WHO'S THERE?

SHERWOOD!

SHERWOOD WHO?

SHERWOOD LIKE TO BE IN THE EASTER PARADE!

Those wizards of wordsmithery, Hall and Eisenberg, roll out practically every groaner in the basket in more than a baker's dozen of punny-side up fun as a group of kids come together for an Easter picnic and egg hunt ("Easter a picnic in this park today?") on the village green. For early elementary readers just beginning to appreciate the fl-egg-sibility of their native tongue, this sturdy and in-eggs-pensive little book is just what the Easter Bunny ordered:

KNOCK KNOCK!

WHO'S THERE?

ABBY!

ABBY WHO?

ABBY EASTER!

For more of Hall's and Eisenberg's holiday pun-ditry, take a look here.

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.

Laying a Trail: Happy Easter, Mouse by Laura Numeroff

The night before Easter, Mouse decorates some eggs.

When he wakes up on Easter morning, he finds a yellow egg under the covers.

And the hunt is on. Mouse finds red eggs on the kitchen counter, hiding behind a gallon jug of milk and peeping out between two cannisters. The fridge door is suspiciously ajar. Some mischief is "afoot" here.

In short order Mouse detects blue eggs under the rocking chair where a boy is snoozing and orange eggs decoratively tucked among the sofa cushions.

Who balanced all those purple eggs on the table?

Who would hide green eggs in plain view on the counter? Who indeed would do such a deed?

Little ones sharing this cheery little board book will already know the answer to that one. In each double-page spread they will catch just a glimpse of a jaunty bunny ear or two, a fluffy tail exiting page right, or a front paw with a colored egg to be "hidden" on the next page. Of course it's the Easter Bunny on his annual visit, and Mouse is just jumping with his usual joie de vivre to catch the fuzz-tailed funster in the act in Laura Numeroff's latest holiday board book adventure, Happy Easter, Mouse! (If You Give...) (Balzer & Bray, 2010). Illustrated in bright spring eye-candy colors, with Felicia Bond's inimitable Mouse in his little denim overalls jiving through the pages, this one is as much fun as a basket of jellybeans! Listening tots, too, will be inspired to start coloring, hiding, or hunting their own eggs right away!

A great Easter basket stuffer which says "Happy Easter, Mouse!" and Happy Easter, everyone!

Pastel Posh: Fancy Nancy's Elegant Easter by Jane O'Connor

IT'S ALMOST TIME FOR THE EASTER GALA!

(THAT'S A FANCY WORD FOR A FANCY PARTY.)

Not that Nancy Clancy needs a reason to primp herself out in party pastels! But this day she's fully decked out in a purple frock with polka dots and yellow posies, an Easter bonnet all a-peep with golden chicks, and matching Mary Janes, all ready to greet the guests for the family get-together with a bounteous "BONJOUR."

Nothing novel here. Nancy is always ready to dress up and play hostess with the mostest. But Jane O'Connor's latest seasonal soiree, Fancy Nancy's Elegant Easter (HarperFestival, 2009) does have a new plot twist for the ever-elegant Nancy: this one is a "Lift-The-Flap Book," and preschool fans will find it fine and festive fun.

It's definitely spring at Nancy's. Mom, still in her dowdy dungarees, hustles to hide the rest of the Easter eggs around the chateau, while best friend Bree arrives, a monochromatic vision in lilac, to help set up for the festivities. The two friends take on the table setting, opening (with the help of the reader) the Clancy kitchen cabinets to reveal the pastel Easter party ware inside.

FOR AN ELEGANT EASTER PARTY, PLAIN WHITE WILL JUST NOT DO!

Nancy and Bree then go outside to bring back some bouquets for the table from the garden, where one flap finds a bunny among the blooms and a second reveals Nancy's fancy dog Frenchy "helping" by digging up a few daffodils for the bouquet. Back inside, the girls "open" the buffet cabinet to find pastel teapots and platters and vases to finish off their fancy flower arrangements.

The finest flap trick, however, is the Clancy family table, a plain-jane wooden job, clearly not up to Nancy's festive standards. But not to worry. A well-concealed notch allows the reader to lift up and fold down the entire table top, which reveals a spotless white linen cloth perfectly set with pastel place settings, party favors, and posies. Dad, still in his regular uniform of khaki bermudas and plain tee, returns from a run to the store with a huge box hiding an elaborate Easter egg cake and a bunch of pastel helium balloons, and Nancy's parents hurry off to deck themselves out in their version of elegant attire--a tailored linen suit for Mom and a staid blue suit and tie for Dad. Everything is in place for the party at last.

Or is it? Suddenly Nancy realizes that there is a key element missing--the Easter Bunny! What kind of gala doesn't have its guest of honor? But then, whose big, furry feet are those barely visible beneath the lift-able living room drapes? You got it! It's the missing member of the Clancy clan, dressed to play the principal role. And the Easter fete is fait accompli (which is fancy for "the party is on!)

Author O'Connor's venture into the toy and movable genre does a fine job of integrating the tricks of the type into this light and light-hearted holiday story. Fans of the Fancy Nancy series won't want to miss the gala premier edition of the unflappable lift-The-flap Nancy Clancy.