Storytime Anytime-Here Comes the Easter Bunny

Before the Easter Bunny arrives here are some Eggceptional (haha) books to read with your children.

For the wee ones my favorite Easter-themed picture book is Piggy Bunny by Rachel Vail and illustrated by Jeremy Tankard. If you have a little boy who wears a superman cape wherever he goes or a girl who insists she is a princess (my own son wore a Darth Vader costume everyday for a year) they will be able to relate to Piggy Bunny.

Liam is a piglet who wants to be a bunny; and not just any bunny, the Easter Bunny. The book trailer below features Jeremy Tankard's vibrant illustrations bringing Liam to life. This story about a little piggy with big, bunny dreams is sure to be a year round favorite.

For extra fun put on bunny ears and practice hopping like Liam or have your child hide some eggs for you to find this Easter. Talk about who you emulated as a kid. My mother made me a Smurfette costume when I was five that turned grey because I wore it so often. I also went through a phase where I made my mother put my hair in pigtails with sausage curls because I wanted to be Cindy Brady.


Featuring a similar art style with bold colors and thick black lines is The Easter Bunny's Assistant by Jan Thomas.

Jan Thomas is the author of multiple picture books that are hilariously funny and great for younger kids because of larger than life illustrations and simple and interactive text. Rhyming Dust Bunnies and Can You Make a Scary Face are two other books by Thomas that I highly recommend.

As you can see from the cover, the Easter Bunny has a new assistant and the results are rather stinky. This book is sure to have the kiddos giggling and it will be great fun to read before decorating eggs together.

 The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Heyward was written in 1939 and I still have the copy that my mother read to me as a child. Imagine my surprise when it was discussed as a revolutionary book about modern feminism in a women's studies course that I took in college. As a child I never saw a hidden feminist message (and I doubt any child would), I just loved the story and the illustrations are beautiful.

Ha! Wouldn't this be nice?

In Heyward's story there are actually five Easter bunnies and the little country bunny has always dreamed of being one even though they are usually the long legged jackrabbits or the fancy white rabbits. After the country bunny grows up and has 21 baby bunnies to take care of it seems like her dream of being an Easter Bunny will never come true. However, the Country Bunny is smart and practical and once her children are no longer babies she teaches them to work together and take care of the home.

 If you are a mom you will surely appreciate how the Country Bunny trains her children to sweep, cook, and even decorate. I am not saying we should make our kids do all the housework, but hey it would be nice if they would help. This book could be an excellent introduction into having chores and responsibilities around the house. There are tons of chore charts that you can print, purchase, or make and young kids are easily motivated by praise and simple things like stickers.

The Velveteen Rabbit is not exactly an Easter story, but it does have a rabbit in it and it is hands down one of the most beautiful children's books ever written. It is sort of the literary version of Toy Story, but a little more somber and with a stuffed bunny instead of a cowboy. Of course, this book is longer so you might want to read it a little bit at a time ore reserve it for older kids.

"What is REAL?" the Velveteen Rabbit asked the Skin Horse 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 Velveteen Rabbit .

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand. But once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."

If your heart doesn't break a little reading that then you must have a heart of ice.

Personally, I prefer the original edition of The Velveteen Rabbit, but younger children may not care for the old-fashioned pictures. There are many other versions so choose one with illustrations that you and your child like.