In Texas the bluebonnets came early this year, blanketing the sides of the highways and crowning common intersections with beauty. I love the spring and the return of green and growing things, and I love Easter, such a beautiful season of hope and miracles and chocolate bunnies. And of course, I love picture books about spring and Easter and eggs and gardens. There are so many good ones, it’s hard to choose just a few, but I tried. Here are my picks for April.
Peter Easter Frog by Erin Dealey, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
I love the cleverness of this book. You may think it would be sing-songy and a bit gratey on the nerves, the way repetitive melodies can be, but this book takes the familiar tune (hippity, hoppity, Easter’s on it’s waaaaay) and plays with it. You start singing, but keep interrupting yourself. Instead of “Easter’s on its way” it’s Hey! or Whoa! or No way! as the frog keeps meeting up with various animals who know this frog is definitely not the Easter bunny. He is undeterred, galavanting about with his basket of eggs and a growing crowd of animals who want to help. The real Easter Bunny is not pleased when he meets the crew and sees others taking over his job. Who knew the Easter Bunny was such a tough guy? Don’t worry, (SPOILER ALERT) he softens up when someone gives him an egg.
And Then It’s Spring by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Erin E. Stead
This author, and this illustrator, I swoon. I just love the style and the vibe that takes you from brown,
a hopeful, very possible sort of brown
to green, from seed to grass and sprouts. I currently have tiny seeds sprouting and it is a wonder, just like this quiet book. Careful illustrations encourage you to slow down. There’s the turtle with his magnifying glass and the bear with the flowerpot on his head and all the other fun things that aren’t commented on, just there in the illustrations, alongside the child who waits, and waits, and waits for something to happen in the yard.
and the brown,
still brown,
has a greenish hum
that you can only hear
if you put your ear to the ground
and close your eyes
Isn’t that lovely? It is a noticing kind of book, great for a kid on each side in a nice cozy chair and lots of repeat reads.
The Tale of Three Trees retold by Angela Elwell Hunt, illustrated by Tim Jonke
This book is based on a folktale, and tells the story of three trees with high aspirations. One wants to hold treasure, one wants to be a strong ship that carries kings, and one wants to be the tallest tree in the world so that when people look at it, they’ll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. Years pass, the trees grow, eventually they’re chopped down and their hopes are dashed, BUT, all is not lost. There is beautiful redemption, this book can be used for Christmas or Easter. One becomes a manger, one the ship where Jesus calms the storm, and the last, the cross.
Thank You, Garden by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Simone Shin
Simple, clever rhyming text and fun illustrations show a community garden plot being planted by all sorts of people, old and young, many cultures coming together. There are surprises,
Garden bed
and garden plot
Garden proper,
garden not.
I love the surprise phrase “garden not.” Two kids play in the mud while around them others carefully prepare their garden. And then this image:
Sometimes rainy, sometimes dry
Garden soaking up the sky
We see a beautiful sunset as two kids sit on the edge of a bed, the plants sprouting. In the end all the gardeners share a salad around a table, including those two kids who played in the mud. This book captures such a sweet season. Makes me want to put my hands in the dirt and connect with the earth and all the good people on it.
An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long
This one is a beauty that could sit out all year long, but especially in this season of egg hunts and new nests, this season of spring. Before you ever get into the text, the first end paper mesmerizes with dozens of different kinds of eggs, from the teensy lobster egg to the colorful Common Murre, the Dogfish egg with its curlycue ends and the spotted Black-necked Stilt. Such variety. Such wonders.
And such beautiful, lyrical text. The concept is to share what an egg is, and also share specific names of eggs and other information throughout. An egg is quiet, whether its under a mother’s feathers (Anna’s Hummingbird(, on top of a father’s feet (Emporer Penguin) or buried beneath the sand (Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle) Warm. Cozy.
You can go on to read the simple text, or linger on pages with more information depending on your child and your time. It is a book to be revisited. Who would think to call an egg shapely? Or clever? Dianna Aston would, and paired with Sylvia Long’s gorgeous paintings it’s truly a work of art. It even comes with a satisfying ending, reminding us of our beginning, “an egg is quiet, Then, suddenly . . .” turn the page, and “an egg is noisy!” Black-necked Stilt Nestlings crack out of their eggs and stand on their long, pink legs. And then the final end papers, where this time we see the variety of creatures hatched from eggs, from birds to an iguana and a beetle.