Spring Picture Books and Parties

Today, as I'm sure many of you gleefully realized, was the first day of SPRING! We've been talking about Spring over at Offering Hospitality. First Crystal shared these ideas for throwing a Spring Party and then I laid out a Spring Family Party challenge, encouraging people to find a way to welcome in the season with their families. Of course, I can't lay out a challenge and then fail to participate in it now, can I?! Nope!

Using a couple of Crystal's suggestions, we set the table (with our white dishes) and added colorful foods, like Rainbow Kabobs, Rainbow tortellini (with broccoli and carrots - not pictured so as to make us look quite unhealthy in the photographs below), berries and Greek yogurt, sparkling lemonade and a little cake I picked up at a bakery. I also made "dirt" pudding cups (using graham crackers instead of cookies for the dirt) and put them in these Blooming Cupcakes molds which went over well (as far as appearances and gummy worms were concerned.) We invited some of our close, dear friends over to join us for this Spring feast and enjoyed a lovely evening together. (Technically this challenge was to be a "Family party." But these particular friends ARE family so they count!!!) Here are some pics of our food, and a little boy who was very much anticipate the meal that was being laid out before him:





Now, this being a book blog and all, I would be remiss if I did not share some of our favorite Spring picture book titles that we will be enjoying over the next several weeks.



I Am a Bunny was a book that Jonathan grew up with and I hadn't heard of until we got married and had children of our own. If you haven't heard of it, hie thee to a bookstore and snatch up a copy. In this story, Nicolas bunny introduces us to the various seasons of the year. In the Spring he likes to pick flowers and chase butterflies. Of course, it does hit on all the seasons and is not strictly related to Spring, but whenever you are discussing the changing of the seasons, this one is perfect! Originally published in 1963, this book is a true classic.



Rabbits and Raindrops was written and illustrated by one of our personal favorites, Jim Arnosky. In this story, Mother Rabbit is with her little babies who are ready to hop out of their nest which is "under a hedge at the edge of a green lawn." Mother Rabbit makes sure the coast is clear and is quickly followed by her babies who delight in exploring the great big world around them. However, it soon begins to rain (as it always does in the Spring!) and they must get back to their nest. Beautifully illustrated (as always!) by Arnosky, this is a fun treasure.

By the way, bunny books are a favorite around here because we have a family of bunnies that live at the end of our driveway. Very exciting to watch them hop about in the yard!



Lost in the Woods is a gem of a Spring-time book. Heralded as "A Photographic Fantasy" it tells us the story of a new little fawn who has been told to wait in some tall grass by her mama. Some of the other woodland animals assume that the fawn is lost although she is not. One of the things the book intends to teach children is that fawns do not have a scent and so they are perfectly safe from predators when left alone. If you come across a fawn, you should let it be. It's mother will return to it. However, this situation does not stop the other woodland animals from worrying over the fawn! We meet chipmunks, spring frogs, newly hatched goslings and other animals in this beautiful book. Love it! Love it! Highly recommend during the Spring season.



How can I not mention The Golden Egg Book in this season of new life. Bookworm1 (age 4 1/2) is a particular fan of this story in which we meet a little bunny who stumbles upon an egg. What is inside the egg? Oh, how the bunny wants to know! Maybe it's a little boy? Or an elephant? His curiosity is about to be laid to rest as the egg begins to crack.

Last year Bookworm1 enjoyed wrapping himself up in blankets, pretending he was in an egg, getting ready to crack. Not sure whether this story will be reenacted in any way this year, but it sure holds some fond memories for us and I'm glad to have it in our collection.

Do you have some Spring-themed books that you love to read with your kids? I'd love to hear about them. I like adding to our home library each season with new titles that can be pulled out and enjoyed on a yearly basis. Do share!

To check out how other people have welcomed in the Spring, visit Offering Hospitality. If you wrote up a blog post talking about Spring Celebrations - please link up! We're always looking for new ideas and ways to celebrate LIFE in general!