By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: April 4, 2011
Spring brings warmer weather, fragrant and bright colored flowers, adorable baby farm animals, and taller children. Spring also brings more books—books that encompass all of those topics and more, for our taller children with blossoming minds. It’s time to select a book that matches the tone of the season, grab a blanket and find a nice spot outside for a spring story time session.
From bunnies to eggs to butterflies to chicks and even a spring shower, these books that have been selected all harness some kind of special spring power and celebrate Easter in its secular form.
Picture Books
By Lisa McCue
Reading level: Ages 4-6
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Sterling (March 1, 2011)
Source: Publisher
Hands down, the best spring book of 2011. The colors, the critters, the bugs, every illustration captures the essence of spring. The story is light and bounces with fun read-aloud words and finishes with a gentle-but-powerful message of self-acceptance. Simply gorgeous!
Add this book to your collection: Quiet Bunny’s Many Colors
By Kevin Henkes
Reading level: Ages 2-7
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Greenwillow Books (January 25, 2011)
Source: Publisher
Kevin Henkes is brilliant and so is Little White Rabbit. The pastel colors of the pencils and acrylic paint give off friendly charm as the rabbit explores nature and his own abilities. The gentle details given to the rabbit’s face allow the readers to truly experience the delicate emotions experienced on every page—especially the bliss of true devotion from his mother. The double-page spread of Rabbit imagining what it would be like to flutter through the air with butterflies provides sheer elation.
Add this book to your collection: Little White Rabbit
By Il Sung Na
Reading level: 1-5
Hardcover: 24 pages
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (January 11, 2011)
Source: Publisher
This is a beautiful tale of the change of seasons—winter into spring. A white bunny, along with many other animals brave the stark winter and celebrate the colors of life which have been masterfully brought to life with rich inks and oil paints.
Add this book to your collection: Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: A Book of Changing Seasons
By Betseygail Rand and Colleen Rand
Reading level: Ages 3-5
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Tricycle Press (January 11, 2011)
Source: Publisher
The illustrations have a folk-tale and tribal feel that make this new take on the story of the Easter Bunny worthy of belief.
Add this book to your collection: Big Bunny
By Maryann Cocca-Leffler
Reading level: Ages 0-7
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins (March 1, 2011)
Source: Publisher
Rain Brings Frogs is a little book of sunshine. Nate, the main character, always looks on the bright side of life: “When Dad says, mud. Mud. Mud. Nate says, Rainbow! Rainbow! Rainbow!” Spring is the warmth after a cold winter and Rain Brings Frogs captures this feeling beautifully. It’s a little book of hope and optimism paired perfectly with endearing watercolor illustrations.
Add this book to your collection: Rain Brings Frogs: A Little Book of Hope
By Diane DeGroat
Reading level: Ages 3-8
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins; Reprint edition (January 25, 2011)
Source: Publisher
This is for the family that dreads the Easter Egg Hunt! DeGroat’s story provides enough entertainment and the right amount of “lesson” to induce good behavior, a decent amount of competitiveness and a healthy dose of sharing.
Add this book to your collection: Last One in Is a Rotten Egg! (Gilbert and Friends)
Board Books
By Sarah Emaneulle Berg
Reading level: Ages 1 and up
Board book: 16 pages
Publisher: NorthSouth; Brdbk edition (February 1, 2010)
Source: Publisher
A bunny and a chicken go on a quest to find one last egg. After a trip around the farm meeting many different animals, the chicken realizes the power is within her to produce the last egg. A comical and delightful story that will leave readers wondering whether this leading bunny might actually be the Easter Bunny!
Add this book to your collection: One More Egg
By Margaret Wise Brown
Reading level: Ages 0-4
Board book: 24 pages
Publisher: Golden Books; Brdbk edition (January 11, 2011)
Source: Publisher
This is a classic book by a classic author, Margret Wise Brown (Goodnight Moon), in a great new format for babies and toddlers. This padded board book is light, chewable and has easy to turn pages that tell a wonderful springtime story of a bunny looking for a new home.
Add this book to your collection: Home For A Bunny (Golden Baby)
Early Readers
By Hans Wilhelm
Reading level: Ages 4-8; Scholastic Reader: Level 1
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Cartwheel Books; Original edition (January 1, 2011)
Source: Publisher
Egg hunts, sharing, and pastel hued watercolor illustrations—this is a lovely Easter choice for beginner readers. The text is large with one to two sentences per page.
Add this book to your collection: Noodles: I Love Easter!
By Jeff Mack
Reading level: Ages 4-8; Scholastic Reader: Level 1
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Cartwheel Books; Original edition (February 1, 2011)
Source: Publisher
Fans of Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie series will love Hippo and Rabbit in Three Short Tales. Great comedic timing with small amounts of large sized text in speech bubbles and entertaining comic style illustrations make this a great choice for beginning readers—even the reluctant ones. Highly recommended.
Add this book to your collection: Hippo & Rabbit In Three Short Tales
By Nic Bishop
Reading level: Ages 4-8; Scholastic Reader: Level 2
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (February 1, 2011)
Source: Publisher
Stunning close-up photographs, real facts; and a great author’s note, glossary of words, and photo index are found on the last two double-page spreads. Large text well placed on the pages makes it a great choice for a non-fiction early reader book.
Add this book to your collection: Butterflies
By Lexi Ryals
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Reference (March 1, 2011)
Source: Publisher
It’s the cover that got me with this book—it just shouts springtime. Open up the book and you’ll discover each double page spread dedicated to a different tiny animal. From dogs to snakes to the Pink Fairy Armadillo, there is something for everyone.
Add this book to your collection: Teeny Tiny Animals