3rd April Easter Holidays

As we shelved the last of the Easter picture books at school yesterday, I thought about which were my favourites and then I wondered why they were all old. There has been some new Easter books published, but they seem so 'lightweight' and frivolous compared to those I read and reread each year.

For most children, Easter is associated with the Easter Bunny, chocolate eggs and egghunts, but I do think when reading to students that I should be enhancing their intercultural understanding and their child development, especially when it comes to emotional intelligence.

Three of my favourite books to share are inspired by the cultural practice of egg painting. Decorated eggs are found all over the world in many different countries. They are a wonderful celebration of family, culture and tradition.

• Beautiful Eggs  by Alice Lindstrom. This is a large-format board book, but it is not for very young children. It includes a stencil so that you can make your own beautiful eggs.

• Rechenka's Eggs  by Patricia Polacco is about Babushka, an old woman in Russia who is known for her beautifully painted eggs. One day, she rescues an injured goose whom she names Rechenka. After Rechenka accidentally breaks all of Babushka’s eggs, she suddenly starts to lay her own beautiful eggs so Babushka has enough eggs for the festival. She knows she must free her goose and sadly says goodbye. But Rechenka leaves a special gift.

• P. Zonka Lays an Egg  by Julie Paschkis is inspired by Ukrainian artwork. P. Zonka is a hen who appreciates nature more than laying eggs. When she does lay an egg, its designs reflect the patterns and colors of the natural world. All the other hens agree that P. Zonka’s egg is marvellous and beautiful.

Australian picture books that enable good Easter discussions are

• The Smallest Bilby and the Easter Games

• TheSmallest Bilby and the Easter Tale

• The Smallest Bilby and the Midnight Star

There are three books about Billy, the Easter bilby by Nette Hilton and Bruce Whatley and I particularly like the first two because they give teachers an opportunity to explain why an Easter Bilby would be better than an Easter Bunny in Australia, given the damage rabbits do. They also are stories where there is a problem to solve and the possibilities allow for lots of predicting and discussion.

•  Muddy Footprints  by Mary Small and Pat Reynolds is old, published first in 1987, but is still available to buy and it depicts a very Australian experience of Easter in Autumn, not Spring. I have never read it to a Kindergarten class where the students haven't been thoroughly engaged in what will happen.

And som others. I am not a huge Jan Brett fan, but I do love the sentiment of The Easter Egg.

• The Easter Egg  by Jan Brett. While I am not a huge Jan Brett fan, I do love the sentiment of The Easter Egg. Hoppi is excited to decorate his first-ever Easter egg. He searches for an amazing idea but isn’t sure what to do. Unexpectedly, a blue robin’s egg falls out of its nest. Hoppi takes care of it until the bird hatches. The Easter Bunny loves Hoppi’s kindness and decides the empty blue shell to be the best Easter egg of the year.

• The Easter Bunny's Assistant  by Jan Thomas is a book I like to read to my preschool classes with the help of their teacher. One of us is the Easter Bunny, the other the assistant who happens to be a skunk and we read the corresponding dialogue while the students do the actions eg holding their nose!

• Max's Chocolate Chicken  by Rosemary Wells is also a favourite preschool read, probably because it was my own children's favourite Easter book. My children were so like Max and Ruby!

See, all old! But very good. If you need newer, or you want a laugh try these:

• Bun  by Hana Kinoshita Thomson is not specifically an Easter book, but  it is fun and very young children will enjoy the hunt.

• I Am Not the Easter Bunny by T.L.McBeth Everyone, look! It's the Easter Bunny! He says he’s just a regular old fluffy white bunny, but he’s got a vest and a bow tie, and a big basket full of painted eggs. He MUST be the Easter Bunny! Right?

• The Easter Bunny Hunt  by Stacy Gregg and Sarah Jennings. Easter is here! But where are the eggs? Join Cat and Dog as they search for a much-awaited Easter visitor!  When Dog’s descriptions of the Easter Bunny leave a few imaginative gaps for Cat to fill in, they soon find their home full of many other long-eared, fluffy-tailed creatures who are more than ready to enjoy the celebrations…

The Easter Bunny's Assistant

Max and Ruby's Chocolate Chicken