Easter Bunny Books

Easter Bunny Books from Generations Past 



Liliana sets up her "Easter parade for Ann Eliza" based on Lois Lenski's The Easter Rabbit's Parade

 

      Usually I eagerly tote the dozen or more holiday picture books for that month's holiday up from the basement toy room at the start of a new month, but this Easter I sort of dragged my feet on it and thought maybe I'd wait until next year for the Easter Bunny books.  Why?  Well, while my Easter books are lovely gems, they tend to be old, out-of-print books which, while beautifully illustrated and charming, they also tend to be long and verbacious and I wasn't convinced that my 1 and 3-year-old had the patience to sit through them.  Plus, their from-another-generation stories tend to include parts I would not personally have written into a sweet children's book.  For example in Lois Lenski's (most famous for her Cowboy Small and other "Small" books) The Easter Rabbit's Parade, the Rabbit is not all-sweet and Eastery but seems to stem from the wily rabbits in the old trickster tales of yore.  Also, the character, Greybeard the Goat, is always bleating contrary statements in bold lettering throughout the book.   So, it was with trepidation and reluctance that I unearthed the Easter books a little over a week ago.
       Let's just say I should never underestimate children.  And also that unusual/undesirable character traits are not necessarily a hindrance to good storytelling, in fact,  Liliana's favorite Easter book is probably the long The Easter Rabbit's Parade! and Greybeard the Goat?  Well, she laughs non-stop at all his interjections (especially when I use a different voice for them).  And the Easter Rabbit is not necessarily the hero of the book since he's a bit vain and cocky, but the story itself is one of selfless sweetness where the barnyard animals decide to "make Easter for Ann Eliza," the little girl in the story.  Each animal gives up something (feathers, eggs) or makes something (a basket, etc) to surprise Ann Eliza on Easter morning with an Easter Parade (the parade of barnyard animals bringing her an overflowing Easter basket).  The illustrations are splendid, some of my favorite.  Liliana is so taken with the book !  And yes, I do skip over a couple places in the book (when the Easter rabbit has his comeuppance for his vanity due to purple egg dye splattering over his face, the other animals call him "Freckleface" and although it's satisfying in a story way, I don't like Liliana hearing any making fun of people [or animals] so I skip that for now).  And my happy reward for bringing out the old gems?  Liliana is so taken with The Easter Rabbit's Parade that she regularly uses her Holztiger wooden figures to set up the Easter parade and act out the story. 
      

Some of our favorite old Easter Bunny gems:

The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Heyward (another one of Liliana's favorites--and such sweet illustrations of children bunnies!)
The Easter Egg Artists by Adrienne Adams
The Easter Rabbit's Parade by Lois Lenski
The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous (a Pennsylvania Dutch book with the German Easter egg tree complete with traditional designs; seem open in one of the photos above)
The Golden Egg Book  by Margaret Wise Brown
Grandpa Bunny Bunny by Jane Warner (this is an all-time favorite book from childhood where bunnies paint everything from shadows to brilliant sunsets)
Happy Easter by Kurt Wiese (a short sweet book about hatching colored chickens--and the rabbits have their baskets strapped to the backs which I adore)
Two Hundred Rabbits by Lonzo Anderson and Adrienne Adams (not actually an Easter book but a bunny book)

 

 

PS.  We like these books too, and no Easter rabbits seen here!: