Whether you’re celebrating Easter this week or just want to honor the arrival of spring, here are a dozen bunny books from classic to modern, sweet to silly to help set the scene.
Check them out from the Montclair Library to jump-start (pun intended!) your celebration, or buy a rabbit-themed book to toss in your Easter basket this year.
The classics:
The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown (J PICBK BROWN) – A little rabbit who wants to run away tells his mother how he will escape, but she is always right behind him.
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney (J BOARD McBRATNEY) – During a bedtime game, every time Little Nutbrown Hare demonstrates how much he loves his father, Big Nutbrown Hare gently shows him that the love is returned even more. Also available in Spanish.
The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter (J PICBK POTTER)
Peter disobeys his mother by going into Mr. McGregor’s garden and almost gets caught.
Spring bunnies:
Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present by Charlotte Zolotow (J PICBK ZOLOTOW) – Available as both a book and a book/CD read-along kit at Montclair, this personal childhood favorite features dreamy, wistful illustrations by Maurice Sendak accompanying a tale of a little girl searching for the perfect present for her mother, with the dubious help of a friendly rabbit.
Little White Rabbit by Kevin Henkes (J PICBK HENKES) – As he hops along a little rabbit wonders what it would be like to be green as grass, tall as fir trees, hard as rocks and flutter like butterflies.
Max’s Chocolate Chicken by Rosemary Wells (J PICBK WELLS – Holiday Books) – Max and his sister Ruby go on an egg hunt and vie with each other for the prize–a chocolate chicken.
Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: A Book of Changing Seasons by Il Sung Na (J PICBK NA) – While other animals migrate, hibernate or stay busy all winter, a little white rabbit watches.
Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (J PICBK ROSENTHAL) – A clever take on the age-old optical illusion: Is it a duck or a rabbit? Depends on how you look at it! Readers will find more than just Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s signature humor here, there’s also a subtle lesson for kids who don’t know when to let go of an argument.
The Story of the Easter Bunny by Katherine Tegen (Holiday Books – J PICBK TEGEN) – A little rabbit watches an old couple paint eggs, make chocolate and braid baskets for the village children at Easter, and he eventually becomes the Easter Bunny.
For kids who like their rabbits books with a little bite instead of sweet and fluffy:
That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell (J PICBK COWELL) – Emily defends her stuffed rabbit from the naughty queen who is determined to acquire it any way she can in this funny story with a strong heroine. (And a much better story about the love between a child and a stuffed rabbit than the maudlin Velveteen Rabbit, in my opinion, although I know that statement is bound to stir up debate….)
Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds (J PICBK REYNOLDS) – The carrots that grow in Crackenhopper Field are the fattest and crispiest around and Jasper Rabbit cannot resist pulling some to eat each time he passes by, until he begins hearing and seeing creepy carrots wherever he goes.
Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett and Alex (J PICBK SCIESZKA) – Alex gets a boring bunny book for his birthday and turns it into a story about a battle between a supervillain and his enemies in the forest.
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