Easter-Themed Books for Babies and Toddlers

It feels like every time I turn around there is another holiday coming up, and now we are counting down to Easter.  We always celebrate each holiday with several books, both familiar and new.  I keep the holiday books that we own in special closet, and I put them on baby bookworm's bookshelves a few weeks before the big day. What I love about holiday-themed books is the excitement and anticipation they give to a young child.  Not to mention, they teach about traditions, religious beliefs, and customs.

Here's the books that have gotten us into the spirit of Easter.

Minerva Louise and the Colorful Eggs 
by Janet Morgan Stoeke



The hen Minerva Louise finds herself confused by the unusual eggs she discovers one springtime day at the farm.  Not only are the eggs in strange places, but some of them have spots and stripes!  In this story, your child will be taken on a fun egg hunt through the eyes of this lovable hen as she tries to figure out what kind of hen would do such a silly thing!

With text that is rich with springtime vocabulary - this book lends itself as a nice educational tool for the under 3 crowd.  The illustrations are full of bright colors that are contrasted by black outlines, and at 27 months baby bookworm already sees the humor in this tale which means she wants to read it again and again (and I don't mind).

Where Are Baby's Easter Eggs?
by Karen Katz



Over the past two years we have read many of Karen Katz's lift-the-flap books.  Why?  Because they are a guaranteed hit.  Karen Katz has the formula for a successful baby book, and has created several books that follow it.  Where Are Baby's Easter Eggs? is a great book for little bookworms under the age of 2 because the language is simple and fun.  But, those in the 2 - 3 age range will also delight in searching for the hidden Easter eggs in this book.

It's interactive. It's colorful.  It's a surprise on every page. And, it will give your baby a trial run before his or her own big Easter egg search.

My First Easter
by Tomie DePaola



What things do you associate with Easter?  Blooming flowers?  New clothes?  The Easter bunny? Coloring eggs?  Easter lilies?  My First Easter highlights some of the traditions of the holiday in a baby-friendly way. Use this book as fun conversation starter about how Easter is celebrated in your home - that's what we did.

Dora's Easter Basket
adapted by Sarah Wilson and Illustrated by Susan Hall



A fun tale for the adventurous child.  Like other books in the Dora the Explorer series, this book asks the reader to help Dora on her journey and, in this case, it's a hunt for twelve special eggs.

What I like about the Dora series is that: 1) it does teach kids Spanish, without "teaching" kids Spanish. In fact, one morning baby bookworm rattled off 1 - 10 in Spanish with ease.  I've never "taught" her this, but I'm thinking Dora did, and 2) there is an interactive adventure that asks the child questions throughout the book that are educational in nature.  It kinda makes the parent's job a little easier!

Baby bookworm is a huge fan of this book, and of this Spanish-speaking character.  And, I will have to admit that I enjoy them, too.

Little Rabbit's Easter Surprise
by Kenn and Joanne Compton

Little Rabbit wants to help his father the Easter Bunny on Easter morning.  As his father loads up a cart full of eggs for that day's Easter egg hunt, little rabbit decides he wants to decorate one more egg. When it's time to hide the eggs, little rabbit has a hard time letting go of his special egg. This book has a comic-book feel, which baby bookworm enjoys, and I love how it makes the Easter bunny family come to life.

Looking for a book about the real story of Easter, and not an Easter bunny tale?  Check out The Berenstain Bears and the Easter Story by Jan and Mike Berenstain.

We haven't read this one yet, but I overheard a mom at the library mention it and definitely want to check it out.

And what did baby bookworm ask the Easter Bunny for this year? 

Books.  

I can't make this stuff up.

And, because I can't let the Easter Bunny disappoint her, her basket will be filled with The Lorax,

Olivia Saves the Circus, and Flat Stanley.

Since she's very allergic to eggs - I figure it's the least he can do.

Library "Daze" - Be a model reader

Yesterday was a perfect morning for a library day, since it was pouring down rain.  Nothing better than snuggling up to some new books on a day like that.....and that is exactly what we did. 

We attended our usual story time session and this week's theme was the city.  One of the books Ms Carla read was a book by   Karen Katz called Subway.  Unfortunately getting baby bookworm to sit during these toddler sessions is next to impossible these days, as she is very distracted by the other kids, by the yellow sheets of laminated papers parents get so they can say the rhymes along with Ms Carla, and by all the other books on the bookshelves (although, I must say, I AM proud when she picks one up and says "read it" to me, even if she's not listening to Ms Carla's book).  Nevertheless, I thought this book was cute and it tied nicely into the city theme.  Karen Katz has written lots and lots (22 I think) of books for babies and toddlers.  Her illustrations are quite distinctive and she has some cute lift-the-flap books such as Where are Baby's Easter Eggs? (a fun one for this time of year). My baby bookworm really enjoys Counting Kisses, which by the way, is great at teaching numerical skills (see my post on Baby Math for some other ideas) and body parts.  On a side note, this whole city lesson got me thinking that baby bookworm does need to take a trip into the city soon!  Ah...but the rain and the weather in our city has NOT been cooperative as of late, but I can feel a trip on the train downtown coming up soon.  Hopefully. 

Now, on to the books we will be reading this week:

The City Kid & The Suburban Kid
written by Deb Pilutti and Illustrated by Linda Bleck

This was a baby bookworm pick (um...maybe she was listening to Ms Carla after all?!).  It's a story about two friends, Jack and Adam.  One lives in the city and the other in the suburbs and they each go take a visit to the others house and discover what they do and don't like about their friend's surroundings.  The book is really two stories in one.  You read one of the boy's adventures and then flip the book to read the other boy's.  Baby bookworm really likes the illustrations because they are busy with lots of colors.  I don't have a huge learning agenda for this book, other than to reinforce the vocabulary words of city and suburb (more on exactly how to do this in a post to come), and we've been going over opposites lately so this does fit right in.  Good pick bookworm.

My "t" Sound Box
by Jane Belk Moncure and illustrated by Linda Sommers
copyright 1977

As I have mentioned several times, even though baby bookworm is only 16 months she has recently taken a very strong liking to letters and their sounds.  I attribute this not only to reading with her so much, but several toys she likes to play with (the Leap Frog word builder fridge phonics toy and a Leap Frog mini-laptop - which I highly recommend) and her favorite TV shows on PBS (Sesame Street and Super Why).  A few weeks ago we checked out the "d" sound box and she loved it, so here we are at "t".  As a lesson on the "t" sound I plan on reading this book as well as one of my favorites The Teeny Tiny Woman (the book repeats teeny-tiny over and over and over; my favorite version of this "ghost tale" is in Richard Scarry's Animal Nursery Tales book) which will reinforce the sound and letter through alliteration.




Leap Frog Word Builder

I Broke My Trunk! (An Elephant and Piggie Book)
words and pictures by Mo Willems
copyright 2011

Because you can't ever go wrong with a Mo Willems book, we had to get it.  And it's brand-spanking new.  Hopefully it looks as new when we give it back to the library.  Baby Bookworm tends to want to read his books a million times.





Finn Throws a Fit!
by David Elliott and illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering
copyright 2009

And last, but not least, we got this book because the title sounds oh so familiar from time to time.  This book is just plain fun.  Baby bookworm LOVES it, partially in part because I imitate Finn throwing a fit, and partially in part because she likes the pictures. OK, loves the pictures.  I don't know a thing about art, but there is something in the pictures that does remind me of David Shannon's books and illustrations, which is probably why she likes it.  Well, anyway, we look forward to reading this book over and over....it may be one we end up buying.

Thanks to Ms Carla, I left the library with some reading material for myself....a photocopied newspaper article titled "Johnny's dad doesn't read: Men must set a better example for their sons by encouraging curiosity" by Walter Bowne.  The author makes the valid point that reading needs to be modeled in the home, particularly by men. So I guess the point is, if you want your baby to be a bookworm and enjoy reading.....you better get out the reading materials yourself!  And that brings me full circle - make that trip to the library with your daughter AND son today - they will thank you for it in the long run.  Even check out a few books for yourself (you know I did).