Waiting... Again! When Spring Comes by Kevin Henkes

BEFORE SPRING COMES, THE TREES LOOK LIKE BLACK STICKS AGAINST THE SKY.

Tell us about it.

It's that time in late February and early March when even the staunchest mitten fancier is ready for a change.

A proud snowman, snug and smug in his knit cap and buttoned-down jacket, grows disheveled as he shrinks and slumps, until he's just a lumpen figment of his former self. The brown grass underneath and the abandoned garden begin to show ragged tufts of tender green weeds.

Of course, we mere mortals have no choice about the waiting, for as even the youngest among us will learn, spring has a mind of its own.

SPRING CAN COME QUICKLY OR SLOWLY.

BUT WHEN SPRING IS FINALLY HERE TO STAY, YOU WILL KNOW IT. . .

The daffodils always win, and even in the face of sudden freezes and soggy late snows, they survive and show their colors, and then...

Spring has come, with its birds and blossoms and bees and warmth to bask in, to ride bikes and fly kites in, to plant seedlings and chase butterflies in, to glory in, to forget the dull and dismal days of winter in long hours of sunshine. But. . .

NOW YOU HAVE TO WAIT... FOR SUMMER--

For, as the poet said, "What is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days."

And it is all worth the wait, as Kevin Henkes makes clear in When Spring Comes (Greenwillow Press, 2016). A Caldecott and Newbery Award winner, Kevin Henkes portrays the bated-breath waiting for the coming of spring in simple but elegant English that makes the heart sing. An award-winning artist himself, Henkes calls on his sometime illustrator, his wife Laura Dronzek, for the lovely, iconic artwork that brings his spare prose come to life. Dronzek's bowed by not broken daffodils, her melted snowman reduced to a splayed-out splotch, and of course her cheeping baby birds and bouncy kittens speak volumes of the welcome rebirth of life that spring brings.

This one recalls the veiled mystery and loveliness of Henkes' other memorable nature-linked books, like Kitten's First Full Moon and his other collaboration with Dronzek, Birds.

Down and Dirty: There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Frog by Lucllle Colandro

THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FROG.

I DON'T KNOW WHY SHE SWALLOWED A FROG.

SHE WAS IN A FOG.

There's hardly an event on the calendar that doesn't inspire this infamous Little Old Lady to go for a gastronomical glut, so why should spring be any different?

Instead of reveling in the sounds of the first spring peepers, she eats one. As ever, however, the first course doesn't sit too well on her stomach.

Frogs don't exactly settle the tummy. They're jumpy and not that yummy. So....

THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED SOME DIRT.

IT DIDN'T HURT.

Does that put her off her feed? No indeed. She swallows some seeds.

If you haven't figured out where this one is going, here are a few more hints. Down the the hatch goes some rain, some sunlight, some gardening gloves, and finally ... a rake.

A RAKE?

"BURP!" THAT WAS A MISTAKE.

But everything coming up roses for a lovely spring garden, in Lucille Colandro's latest There Was Old Lady saga, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Frog! (Scholastic Press, 2015). Colandro's bouncy meter, unexpected rhymes, and sweet silliness, stirred up with just enough of the YUCK factor to keep youngsters gagging and giggling, work their magic with the help of trusty illustrator, Jared Lee, whose goofy artwork fits the bill for another of Colandro's tall tale romps through the calendar.

Time this one just right and you can cash in your coupon for the two-for-one special with Colandro's companion Easter entree', There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick!

Everything In Its Time: Finding Spring by Carin Berger

THE FOREST WAS GROWING COLD.

MAMA SAID SOON IT WOULD BE TIME TO SLEEP.

BUT ALL MAURICE COULD THINK ABOUT WAS HIS FIRST SPRING.

Everyone says that Spring will be something really special.

But Mama says he has to lie down and hibernate first.

How can little Maurice sleep when all he can think about is this wonderful thing called Spring?

Like a kid on Christmas Eve, Maurice can't sleep. Mama Bear snores on, but her cub steals outside to see if Spring has come yet.

It hasn't. At least, everything looks the same, and Squirrel and Robin and the rest all say it's going to be quite a while before he sees Spring.

Maurice wanders through the forest, noting the changing smell of the wind and windblown leaves falling all around him. But then something else falls from above.

MAURICE FELT AN ICY STING ON HIS NOSE.

A BEAUTIFUL CRYSTAL LANDED ON HIS PAW.

SPRING?

Maurice climbs the big hill for a better view, and strangely, the crystals are everywhere in the air and covering the ground. It's beautiful! This must be the something special everyone told him was coming. The little cub scoops up a ball of snow, wraps it in his red scarf, and sets off back to the den to show his Spring to Mama, looking like a little Santa with his pack.

But Mama is sleeping too deeply to wake, and little Maurice himself suddenly feels very tired. Putting his snowball bundle beside him, he snuggles up beside Mama and sleeps, too.

After a long sleep, Maurice wakes up with Mama.

"I BROUGHT YOU SOME SPRING!" MAURICE ANNOUNCED.

But Maurice's snowball is gone! Has he missed Spring?

Not in Carin Berger's Finding Spring (HarperCollins, 2015), when Mama and Maurice head outside to see what spring has done to their forest. The white snow is all gone, birds are busy, and buds are flowering all over the big hill.

AT LAST, HERE IT WAS!

With a literary nod to Ezra Jack Keats' The Snowy Day and Raymond Briggs' The Snowman, Carin Berger concentrates on the coming of spring, saving the best--her gorgeous cut-paper collage art--for the beginning of spring. Berger's use of ephemera--scraps of script-filled handwritten notes, newsprint, bits of books, fabric, ticket stubs, and cut strips of of art paper--gives her illustrations a three-dimensional weight, whether picturing the tall, mossy-trunked trees of the forest, the variety of cut-out snowflakes, or the fields full of spring flowers. Even the youngest preschoolers will know that a snowflake is not a sign of spring and will giggle at Maurice's naivete' as he wraps his snowball to keep for Mama.

With shelves full of books about the cycle of the seasons and the glories of spring, this one is a standout. "Exceptional, exhilarating artwork perfectly suited for a story about anticipation, discovery and joy," says Kirkus Reviews.

Spring Forward! Happy Spring, Chirp! by Satoshi Iriyama

Spring has sprung, and little peeper Chirp springs into action when Mama Hen asks him to take a basket of fresh flowers to Auntie Duck's birthday party. With a peep and a cheep, he's off with the bouquet basket in his beak.

OFF CHIRP GOES.
BUT WHO IS HIDING BEHIND THE BUSHES?

Through a cutout on the verso page, Cheep spots a fuzzy face and part of one ear!

With a page turn we see Bear pop up with a big BOOOOO!

Cheep drops the basket and the flowers are scattered, a little the worse for wear!

Bear apologizes and offers an alternative idea for replacing the posies.

"I'LL TAKE YOU TO GET A NEW PRESENT!"

Chirp clings valiantly atop Bear's head, as with a beep, Bear bumbles on, even swimming across a pond with much splishing and splashing and a spooked Chirp precariously hanging on.

And there they are, at Bear's favorite strawberry patch. Bear hunkers down to eat a few, while Chirp searches for the sweetest, biggest, most perfect strawberries to fill his little basket. He assures Bear that he knows just how to find Auntie Duck's pond all by himself, but after a while all the meadows begin to look the same. As Chirp stops to get his bearings, a bird swoops down and makes off with the most perfect strawberry from the basket. The startled Chirp drops the basket and the birthday present berries begin to roll down the hill, with Chirp tumbling behind....

Will Chirp fail in his solo mission? Not to worry, in Sateshi Triyama's just published Happy Spring, Chirp! (Chirp the Chick) (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015). In a grand eight-page gatefold spread, Chirp and his berries tumble down, down, right into Auntie Duck's pond just in time to make  a dramatic splash at the birthday bash.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AUNTIE!" SAYS CHIRP.

"THANK YOU, MY SWEET CHICK," SAYS AUNTIE DUCK. "AND A HAPPY SPRING, TOO!"

With flaps, cut-outs, pop-ups, and vertical and horizontal gatefolds done up in sturdy stock, there is plenty for young fingers to do in this sun-drenched, pastel-paletted springtime story. Chirp is as cute as an Easter basket peep, and with the many critters--rabbits, ladybugs,caterpillars, moths, beetles, and birds--in the background, youngsters can have fun seeing how many of those pictured on the endpapers they can spot throughout the story.

Triyama's latest "toy and movable book" board book joins the earlier Good Night, Chirp (Chirp the Chick).

Deepest Regards! Rooting for You by Susan Hood

It's spring at last, and that means it's time to put out down under. Enough of this dozing in the deep, dark underneath.

At least, that's what everyone is telling a little green seed who, thus far, seems to be resting peacefully down there in the soil. Who knows what's lurking up there? Things that want to eat you, probably.

I'M NOT COMING OUT!

The little green seed knows that there hard knocks and challenges to putting down roots and putting up shoots. But everybody seems to expect it of him. And... it is a little, um, dull down there in the dark.

Okay. He tries a little root sprouting. So far so good.  Now for a green shoot out of the top of his head. (Whoa! That feels kinda weird!)  And then...

"YOUCH!"

He bonks his sprout on a big rock buried just above. That smarts! Suddenly a friendly earthworm pushes through and offers to be the little seed's life coach! "Hey, Buddy! I'll help you find your way!"

There are beetles and ants in tunnels down in the dirt, but they are actually pretty friendly. But what's that thing? Nobody said there'd be spiders under the ground! Suddenly the little seed sprout feels the need to move on--fast!

But... what might be lurking up there in the sunshine?

But all his new-found friends are rooting for him, and what else can he do but GROW!

"KEEP GOING, KEEP GROWING!" his booster club cries.

In for a penny, in for a pound, the little sprout thinks! Push harder!  And then, there's that final breakthrough!

"I DID IT!"

It's not easy getting to green, but once he's up in the atmosphere, up where the air is clear, there's so much to see and so much to do that the little sprout hardly notice that he's got it made in the shade.

He has BLOOMED!

Susan Hood's little seed story, Rooting for You (Hyperion Books, 2014), makes light of getting into the light, something every good little seed has to do, pointing out that all the world is truly rooting for seeds to make it into the limelight, As the little flower opens, butterflies and bees are there to meet and greet and all is sunny indeed. To underline its uplifting premise, the book is designed with an impressive vertical gatefold which shows the finished plant, above and below, from root to stamen. Matthew Cordell's faux naif illustrations, done in matte color and delicate black-line drawings, take a light-hearted look at the life cycle, with childlike drawings that make light of life changes while teaching a little lesson on plant life and just plain life itself. Bloomin' good!

Show Me the Baby! The Book of Babies by Il Sung Na

WHEN THE WORLD STARTS TURNING GREEN,

ANIMALS EVERYWHERE ARE BORN.


Mama Duck is excited to see her own babies hatching, but she knows that they are not the only new ones being born.

So Father Duck flies off to report on who's new.

It seems babies are everywhere.

Papa swims beneath the water and finds that fish have too many babies to count or care for: Mama has to get them into their school right away.

On the other hand, a mother monkey has only one baby, and she has to carry him around in her arms or clinging to her body for a while. Baby zebras, however, stand up after only a minute of getting their land legs, and know how to follow their mothers everywhere.

OTHERS NEED A LITTLE HELP!

Baby kittens can't even open their eyes at first and take a few weeks to learn to get their legs working. Some as different as sea horse babies and little kangaroos hang out in their father's or mother's pouches for quite a while before they venture out into the big world outside. Some, like bear cubs, are born with a fluffy, warm coat to keep them warm during the first cool days of spring, and some have slippery skin or scales to help them slide over the ground or slip through the warming waters.

But after their first days in the world, all babies need to rest, and that's just what Father Duck finds his ducklings doing back in their nest, in Il Sung Ya's sweet essay on all kinds of babies, A Book of Babies (Alfred A. Knopf, 2013). The author offers a variety of babies, shown in his lovely textured and layered multimedia illustrations, giving toddler humans a view of the wide world of young ones, and as most such books do, his text brings it home to a cozy bedtime, with a subtle suggestion that babies everywhere need their sleep. Kirkus Reviews gives Na's latest a starred review, concluding that "Undulating rainbow colors, circular patterns and fibrous textures swirl across leaves, animal bodies and sky, creating a lively natural world. Here's evidence that digital tinkering can yield richly layered, cohesive artwork that captures the kaleidoscopic beauty of the animal kingdom, its shadows, lights, colors, textures and shapes."

Other best-selling books for tots by Il Sung Na include A Book of Sleep and the seasonal Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: A Book of Changing Seasons.

First Born: Daisy Duckling's Adventure by Maurice Pledger

Daisy Duckling has just hatched. But something is missing! Where is everybody? An independent and determined little yellow duckling, Daisy sets out to find her family.

DAISY WANDERED ALONG UNTIL SHE NOTICED A NICE WHITE EGG LYING IN THE GRASS.

IT WAS JUST ABOUT TO HATCH. PERHAPS IT WAS ANOTHER DUCKLING!

In Marice Pledger's bright little board book, Daisy Duckling's Adventure (Silver Dolphin Books, 2014), Daisy finds a variety of eggs, all beneath cleverly constructed flaps, but strangely enough, none of them have another duckling like her inside.

Daisy's first find is large and leathery, but inside is the scaly Sammy Snake.  SSSSSSSS!

But Sammy is curious, too, and they set off together along the river bank in search of more eggs. There's a big one, almost covered in sand.

"ONLY ME!" SAID TIMMY TURTLE.

Timmy crawls out, ready to join the egg hunt, however, and  the next ovoid they encounter is even more surprising!

"CASEY CROCODILE! YOU'RE NO DUCKLING!"

By this time, Daisy is leading quite an egg delegation. There's a hopeful hunk of yellow fluff under that egg there....

But under that shell is Charlie Chick. And then... there are two bigger eggs, and from under their shells Daisy sees... Sally and Sydney Cygnet!

Lots of things are hatching all over, it seems, but Daisy is beginning to wonder if she's the only duckling to be found. Tired, she falls asleep with her friends until she's awakened by a new, but strangely familiar sound:

"QUACK!  QUACK!  QUACK!"

First-born Daisy finally finds her family, and introduces them to her other hatchling friends, in this jolly little lift-the-flap treatise on things that come from eggs. With touch-and-feel patches and sturdy flaps for young fingers, there's a little lesson on nature and a lot of fun in this nicely illustrated springtime story. Pair this new one with Jill Esbaum's endearing latest, I Hatched! (see review here) for a springsome twosome. Or for a hatch-batch, add Jennifer Ward's delightful die-cut egg book, What Will Hatch?  (see the review here) for an Easter egg-stravaganza.

Compelled to Tell: Bear Has a Story to Tell by Phillip C. Stead

IT WAS ALMOST WINTER AND BEAR WAS GETTING SLEEPY.

Bear's fur is looking a bit frazzled and his eyelids are drooping, but still, he has a story he feels compelled to tell.

He slogs through the fallen leaves in search of a audience.

MOUSE, WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR A STORY?"

But Mouse's attention is consumed with laying in a serious supply of seeds for the winter. So Bear suspends his narrative and helps Mouse stock his larder, and Mouse pops into his burrow without a backward glance.

Bear continues crunching through the leaves, looking for a listener. Ah, there's Duck. He's not gathering seeds. Bear repeats his offer.

But Duck ducks Bear's offer.

I'M SORRY, BEAR, BUT IT'S ALMOST WINTER AND I AM GETTING READY TO FLY SOUTH.

Bear tries to help, raising one paw to check out the wind direction for Duck's liftoff, and waves a friendly bon voyage.

Bear finds Frog, who's wholly absorbed with his hunt for a snug mud hole to hibernate in for the winter. Although he's growing more and more sleepy, Bear thoughtfully digs a hole and tucks Frog in for the winter. But  Frog dozes right off before Bear can begin a bedtime story.

Maybe Mole? But Bear is disappointed to find him already at the bottom of his deep burrow, dutifully dozing.

GOODNIGHT, MOLE.

Bear's eyes are simply too heavy to pursue storytelling further, and the next thing he knows, it's spring and he's waking up in his den. Still, he has the feeling that there is something he's got to do. And when his four friends finally find him, he remembers that he had a story to tell.  He takes his seat on a log and takes a deep breath.  Only...

BEAR COULDN'T REMEMBER HIS STORY.

Happily for Bear, in Philip and Erin Stead's delightful second book, Bear Has a Story to Tell (Roaring Brook, 2012), his  buddies are willing to come up with the necessary prompts. Philip Stead's understated narrative is appealingly illustrated by Erin Stead's softly engaging drawings, set modestly against a white background. Her woodland animals are no cutesy, cartoon critters, but are both realistic and emotionally evocative, with big Bear's helpfulness being returned eventually by his little friends who return his kindliness by helping him recall his story. There is gentle humor in Bear's persistence, especially in the vertical double-page spread where he is shown peering earnestly down Mole's long, winding tunnel to see if he is available for storytelling. Youngsters will find that they have the time to listen to Bear's tale when this one is ready for storytime.

Philip and Erin Stead first book together, A Sick Day for Amos McGee, received the 2011 Caldecott Medal, awarded by the American Library Association for the best-illustrated children's book of the year.

It's Here! And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano

FIRST YOU HAVE BROWN,

ALL AROUND YOU HAVE BROWN.

Snowscapes may be stunning, but when the white stuff melts, what remains is drab--brown mud and dour dirt, gray skies and grayer trees, and the human heart cries out for relief.

Into such a scene comes a small boy, hopefully hauling his little red wagon loaded with gardening gear, trailed by two friends, a rabbit and a turtle. He plants his seed packets in brown heaps, admires his work, and then settles down to wait--and wait--and wait.

In bright galoshes, under his red umbrella, he watches the rain fall on the still brown earth. Blue puddles reflect a blue sky, though, and he feels that maybe something is changing.

A red cardinal appears on the still bare tree, but no hopeful green seedlings are showing, and the boy has a sad thought. What if the visiting birds are eating his seeds? He hangs milk-carton bird feeders to spare his seeds--and waits--and waits--and waits.

Weeks pass, and although the boy finds nothing alive in his garden except a wiggly brown worm, the reader sees hopeful signs. Bluebirds appear. There is sun and the boy puts his ear to the ground to see if he can hear his seeds stirring.

AND A SUNNY DAY RIGHT AFTER THAT RAINY DAY,
YOU WALK OUTSIDE TO CHECK ON ALL THAT BROWN.

BUT THE BROWN ISN'T AROUND,
AND NOW YOU HAVE GREEN, ALL AROUND.

Patience and persistance pay off in Julie Fogliano's And Then It's Spring (Roaring Brook, 2012). Artist Erin Steed, Caldecott Medalist for A Sick Day for Amos McGee, provides strong pencil and block printed illustrations which practically tell this spring story on their own, showing that Mother Nature know what she's doing as the seasons turn.

What's Up? Little Mouse's Big Secret by Eric Battut

OH! WHAT A DELICIOUS TREAT!

I'LL HIDE IT!

Mouse is NOT a share-the-wealth kind of guy, and he's NOT a carpe-diem kind of guy either. When he finds a perfect red apple, does he eat it on the spot? Does he look for a friend to share it with?

None of the above! He furtively digs a hole and hides the apple in the earth.

IT'S MY SECRET AND I'LL NEVER TELL!

And he doesn't. First Squirrel, then Bird, and in succession Turtle, Hedgehog, Rabbit, and Frog query him about his secretive behavior, but Mouse stonewalls them all, resolutely repeating his pledge not to tell.

But in Eric Battut's just published Little Mouse's Big Secret (Sterling, 2011), there's something to be said for taking the long view. While Mouse takes the fifth, so to speak, behind him the little seeds in the apple begin to give their own testimony to Mother Nature's generosity. First a seedling, then a sapling, and then a budding tree grows from his hiding place, a tree that leafs out and bears fruit. And when the bountiful red apples drop their own largesse to the ground all around, Mouse finally sees the value in sharing the results of his secret.

Artist Battut tells this simple parable of plenitude through his striking illustrations. The animals are small, almost lost in the amplitude of his large, square pages done up in a creamy background, and as the tree grows bigger and bigger, filling the page right behind him, young readers will chuckle with glee at the oblivious Mouse and the secret that is a secret no longer. This is a story with a humorous but subtle lesson about hoarding. as well as a nice one to use with a preschool springtime unit as they plant their own seeds and wait to see what Mother Nature does with them.

Bearly Spring: Spring Is Here by Will Hillenbrand

MOLE WOKE UP.

"IS IT SPRING?" HE WONDERED.

HE OPENED THE WINDOW. HE SMELLED THE AIR.

"Sniff, Sniff, SNIFF!"

Mole tiptoes politely past his snoring friend Bear's room and rushes outside.

It IS spring! The snow has been replaced with mud and the birds are singing. It's time for Bear to wake up from his long winter's nap.

But Bear snores on. Nothing Mole can do--tickling his nose with a feather, tooting his trumpet, tapping on his window--wakes his sleeping housemate. It's time for Plan B.

Mole knows his pal well. He milks the cow, churns some butter, and mixes his ingredients in a big bowl. Into the oven goes his creation.

And when the fragrant muffins are right under his nose, Bear wakes up in a hurry.

"YUM!" BEAR SAYS.

HE LOOKED AT MOLE.

But it looks as if Mole has worn himself out in the effort to wake Bear and found Bear's still warm pillow irresistible.

"WAKE UP, MOLE!" BEAR SAYS. "IT'S SPRING!"

Will Hillenbrand's newest Spring Is Here! (Holiday House, 2011) is a charming spring tale, filled with delightful use of onomatopoeia and a bit of irony as he delicately explores the nuances of friendship between two unlikely buddies. His illustrations are equally charming, with a world of meaning in the facial expressions of the two characters. A fun readaloud for the changing seasons.

Growing: My Garden by Kevin Henkes

MY MOTHER'S GARDEN IS VERY NICE, BUT IF I HAD A GARDEN...

Grownups have learned that getting there is half the fun, but to a youngster, digging, weeding, watering, even chasing away hungry rabbits from the new lettuce is short on excitement. But if she had a garden....

An imaginative girl imagines her dream garden, one where sunflowers come up, not just a bright golden color, but in polka dots and plaid as well. A new blossom would instantly replace any she picked. Planting jellybeans would produce a huge jellybean bush, ripe for the harvest any time she wants. Her crops would be designer plants, producing buttons, seashells, and umbrellas, and birds and butterflies would fill the air with the humming of their wings. On the other hand, things she doesn't care for, like carrots, would just refuse to grow there!

And those pesky rabbits? Well, our gardening girl knows just what to do with them!

IN MY GARDEN, THE RABBITS DON'T EAT THE LETTUCE BECAUSE THE RABBITS WOULD BE CHOCOLATE, AND I WOULD EAT THEM.

Caldecott artist Kevin Henkes lays out his latest, My Garden (Greenwillow, 2010) in lusciously muted but glowing spring-like color, accented by his broad pen-and-ink line, this time executed in a dark blue which gives this book a different look from his wide black line in his Caldecott book Kitten's First Full Moon, giving the picture book reader an imaginative and sweet spring treat. "Mary, Mary, quite contrary" never had it so good.

Egg-cellent! The Easter Egg by Jan Brett

"Cheer up! Cheer up! Spring is here!"

"Time to start on my first-ever extraordinary egg," Hoppi said.

Each year the bunny who decorated the winning egg got to help the Easter Rabbit hide the eggs on Easter morning.

Young Hoppi is finally old enough to submit his own extraordinary egg to win a chance to help on Easter morning. But as he searches for ideas, the creations of the older, more-skilled rabbits are intimidating. Flora decorates eggshells and uses them as exquisite little containers for spring wildflowers. Buster Birch carves and decorates beautiful wooden eggs. Aunt Sassyfras' delicious-smelling chocolate eggs perfume the air around her hut, and Granny Ireny adds layers of glowing pastels from her paint pots to create fabulous story eggs. Old Master Hans VanRabbit creates a glowing portrait of the Easter Bunny himself on his egg, and Roberto creates a bouncing, boinging, mechanical robot egg.

All the hard-working artisans are happy to share their materials and advice with Hoppi, but he realizes that trying to copy their creations is not the way to go.

"Thank you," says Hoppi, "but I think I better make the egg that is right for me."

Hoppi hops deep into the woods, hoping for an artistic inspiration, when he suddenly encounters Mrs. Robin, who has a more immediate problem. One of her eggs has fallen from her tree, and she despairs of any chance that she can keep it and the two remaining eggs in the nest warm enough to survive.

Hoppi knew just what he had to do. He sat down carefully and covered the blue egg with his soft, warm fur.

"I'll take care of you the best I can," he whispered.

And in Jan Brett's just published The Easter Egg (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2010), it is the art of the heart that wins the Easter Bunny's attention at last, as he chooses Hoppi's cracked but still beautiful robin's egg, from which the young one has safely hatched, as the winning egg.

As always, Brett's illustrations are drawn with soft but elegant detail and enclosed in her signature frames, here of budding pussy willows, delicately unfurling fern fronds, creeping vines, and the violets, trilliums, and hawthorn flowers of early spring, each page topped by a vignette of Mrs. Robin's developing family. Brett has made each rabbit a different breed to give individuality to each character, with her masterful Easter Rabbit portrayed as a Flemish Giant, driving a gypsy egg wagon pulled by a team of golden Cochin hens.

Brett's latest is one of her best seasonal tales, with a gentle and meaningful theme celebrating individual gifts and delightfully detailed illustrations which charm the eye and intrigue the mind. You can watch as Jan Brett talks about her real-life animal models in her video here.