Easter Egg Picture Books

Here are a few cute new titles available now to consider this Spring and Easter season . . .



Oliver, by Christopher Franceschelli and published by Lemniscatt USA, is unlike any book I've ever seen before. It is a novelty book, described as "page over board." Although this book presents as a very thick board book in some respects, it is only 8 page spreads in length. It feels like a very large chunky book with a simple story and text. Oliver tells the story of an egg (named Oliver, of course) whose activities are limited. He can roll to one side or the other and can even roll on his head. "Until one day . . . everything changed." Suddenly, of course, Oliver hatches!

As I said, this book is very simple. I would say that it is best suited for ages 1-4 (at most) but is presented in a manner that makes even its simplicity intriguing. With talk of Spring and Easter (and eggs) in the future, this is a cute addition.



Who Hid the Easter Eggs?, by Pirkko Vainio is another recent release from NorthSouth Books that has proved to be a fantastic addition to our home library. The basic story line is this - grandma is out hiding the Easter eggs which are to be found by excited grandchildren. However, Jack the jackdaw sees the eggs and decides he wants to steal them and hide them in his nest. Harry the Squirrel notices Jack's doings and convinces Jack that one day soon he'll have eggs in his nest, but the eggs that Grandma hid are for the children. The jackdaw and squirrel then re-hide the eggs. The only problem is that they have some difficultly remembering where it was that Grandma put the eggs! (And in the end, Jack meets Jackie and there eggs in his nest, just as Harry said there would be.)

I really like this story (for us) because we don't do the Easter Bunny deal. (We talk about him as a fun character but there is no belief.) We DO have an Easter Egg hunt and it is a highly anticipated and enjoyable event. However our kids know that mommy and daddy have filled the eggs and do the hiding. This book was a perfect story for us because it is very clear that Grandma is creating a special fun time for her grandkids and it also includes little animals (and we are very fond of little animals!)

Lastly, check out Roly-Poly Egg which is a new Spring title which comes courtesy of Tiger Tales books.



Bookworm1 (age 4 1/2) was a big fan of this one, breaking into a huge smile at the end of it. Splotch is the bird you see pictured on the cover. Splotch lays an interesting "small . . . spotty . . . and perfect in every way" egg that unfortunately gets knocked off the tree branch! (Poor Splotch doesn't have a nest!) Follow the dotted lines to see where Splotch's egg goes until the surprising and very fun and altogether perfect ending.

I love the look of Splotch and the bold, bright colors used in the illustrations. This book is both written and illustrated by Kali Stileman and I would say she did a fantastic job at connecting with her intended audience. Again, we ended this book with a huge smile and heartily recommend it to you.

Thank you to Lemniscatt USA, NorthSouth Books, and Tiger Tales for your generosity in sending copies of both of the above titles for my consideration. Loved 'um!