Looking for Easter

I have worked with families for years to celebrate the different holidays. Often parents will ask, ''How can I explain Easter to my little one?'' Now I know the book to hand them.

Very young children understand best what they can see, touch, and experience through their bodies and senses. They love exploring, and the natural world is their playground, their source of wonder and learning. The heart of the Easter message is revealed by nature when the newness of life returns in the springtime of the year.

This message is charmingly captured in this sweet and very wise little story. All Little Bunny's friends tell him that the fresh air ''smells like Easter.'' But what is Easter? Bunny sets forth through the forest to find out. The watercolors are as soft and vibrant as the story is. What a perfect little gift of wisdom.

(Ages: 2 - 5 years)

The Easter Bunny that Overslept PreSchool-Grade 3-In this updated and newly illustrated version of a 1957 favorite (Lothrop), which was first revised in 1983 (Morrow, 1987), the Easter bunny sleeps through a rainy Easter Day and doesn't wake up until Mother's Day. He tries to deliver his brightly colored eggs then, but no one wants them. Undaunted, he paints them red, white, and blue; dons an Uncle Sam hat; and joins the Fourth of July parade. No one wants them then either. Sadly, he returns home and naps until October when little ghosts knock on his door for trick or treat. They don't want Easter eggs either. Suddenly a fierce wind snatches up the bunny and blows him all the way north to Santa's house, where he can at least help make children happy. A grateful Santa presents him with a gold alarm clock, and the bunny never again sleeps through Easter. The clever story is written in simple, sprightly language and illustrated in an unusual combination of collage and gouache in brilliant colors and a variety of sizes. The flat, decorative style and lively, cartoon figures have a folk-art charm. A welcome addition for a new generation of readers. Patricia Pearl Dole, formerly at First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, VA Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

My Easter Basket: And the True Story of Easter

The Night Before Easter "Twas the night before Easter, just before dawn, Not a creature was stirring out on the lawn" The Easter bunny takes center stage in this delightful spin on Clement C. Moore's beloved poem that will send families hopping to the bookstore for an Easter treat sweeter than any sugar plum!

The Very First Easter

It's Easter, Pooh! (Glitter Board Book) Pooh's basket has a hole in it, but he still wins the Easter egg hunt-thanks to all his friends! This Disney Glitter Board Book is filled with colorful art and sparkly glitter on every page.

Little Bunny's Easter Surprise (Mini Egg Books) t's Easter time, and Mother Bunny has given each of her children a special egg to decorate! Little Bunny is so excited, until he sees a crack in his lovely yellow egg. But Little Bunny soon realizes that something wonderful lives inside of his very special Easter egg! Children will delight in this little book's bright colors and lovable animals on every spread!

The Story of the Easter Bunny PreSchool-Grade 2 - An elderly couple's petite white rabbit observes, assists, then eventually takes over the task of weaving baskets, coloring eggs, concocting candy, and delivering the gifts to village children. When the man and woman become too old to continue their labors, the bunny moves the operation to the woods, where he works inside a hollow tree, assisted by other rabbit friends. Tegen's text teems with sensory details: the eggs were "...the color of daffodils and of soft new leaves and of robins' eggs and of violets." Lambert's watercolors make merry with spring's pastels, providing detailed images of the cozy cottage kitchen as well as the rabbit den. However, some children may be concerned when the rabbit preserves the tasks' secrecy by leaving the humans when they are too frail to carry on. Nevertheless, this visually splendid story with folktale rhythms makes a good choice for holiday sharing. - Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown! The snow has melted, flowers are blooming, and the Easter Beagle is on his way! At least, according to the ever-trusting Linus Van Pelt. Charlie Brown, Lucy, Peppermint Patty, and the rest of the Peanuts gang are a little skeptical. "Good grief!" crabby Lucy says. "There's no Easter Beagle!" In the vein of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, this Easter classic, based on the television special, features the beloved characters created more than 50 years ago by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. Peppermint Patty is perennially aggravated with Marcie, Sally is still lovelorn yet litigious ("Never trust a man with a blanket," she fumes. "Get me my lawyer!"), and Charlie Brown is disappointed once again in his holiday hopes. The story may be better suited to television, but the adaptation will please fans who long for a taste of the bittersweet comic strip about miniature philosophers, idealists, cynics, and a canine dreamer. (Ages 4 to 8) --Emilie Coulter --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Happy Easter! (Board book) Have a hoppy holiday with this shimmery Easter treat!