Easter Parade!

Well, it's that time of year again. Easter! It was always a big deal in our house in Indiana. Still is. The fridge overflows with cartons of expertly dyed and waxed eggs, baskets are filled with homemade cheese, bread, and sausage for midnight church services, and the Easter bunny leaves rhyming clue cards scattered from room to room for my brother and I to find. This scavenger hunt would take place every Easter morning, and each participant was forced to hop from clue to clue in order to claim their basket at the end of the hunt. The basket would usually be full of cartons of strawberries, jars of pickles, and a magazine or two.

My mom has this great habit of saving some of our old children's books (according to our ages, some of them are 40 years old). She now keeps them in different boxes divided seasonally, an interesting and intriguing method for a librarian...I like. Here are some of my fav old Easter books, and we're not talking Pat the Bunny:

The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Heyward, Pictures by Marjorie Hack, 1939

This mama bunny has about a gagillion baby bunnies (21 to be exact). Dang, mama bunny! And then she is somehow chosen to take on the exalted bunny duty: Easter bunny. Can she do it with all those needy babies?

The Golden Egg Book by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard

See that bunny next to the egg? He's waiting for the baby duck to come out so they can be buddies and make a story for you to read. There are lots of colorful illustrations to enjoy.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, 1903?

You know the idea...Peter Rabbit sneaking around Mr. McGregor's garden. I won't give away the ending. While you're at it, you should read Ms. Potter's other lovely little classics. Remember Jemima Puddle-Duck?




*There's also a real creepy book my brother Matt and I always manage to find in the pile. We flip through the pages in horror as pictures of real baby rabbits dressed in clothing tell some terrifying tale about getting lost and disobeying your parents. I'll make a point to look for it when I'm home and show you all pictures of your next nightmare.

Happy Easter to all! Dave and I are headed to Scranton to visit his family for a quick trip. I'm bringing a small carrot cake from Modern Pastry in Boston's North End to celebrate the occasion. I love carrot cake, but last weekend I had a piece from Modern while visiting the little shop with my friend Laura. My life changed. It brought my carrot cake love to a new level. It may, in fact, be my favorite kind of cake which is saying something because this girl loves some good cake.

And 3 other things that are coming along for the ride:

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, 2011

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, 1999

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, 2006











I'll probably only crack one of these books, but who doesn't like options?!

Thank you for the pictures BarnesandNoble.com!