The Easter Egg
by Jan Brett (Author) Jan Brett (Illustrator)
Jan Brett's lovable bunny hero, Hoppi, and her remarkable Easter Rabbit will enchant readers as they pore over illustrations filled with dazzling eggs made by Flora Bunny, Aunt Sassyfrass and others.
If Hoppi can make the best Easter egg, he will get to help the Easter Rabbit with his deliveries on Easter morning. But it is not so easy. Discouraged, he goes into the woods to think when a blue robin's egg tumbles out of its nest. Hoppi keeps it safe and warm until the baby bird hatches, and when the Easter Rabbit arrives, he declares the empty blue eggshell the very best one to reward Hoppi for his kindness.
Spring is everywhere in gorgeous illustrations framed with pussy willows, flowering vines and flowers. Side borders feature busy rabbits making their unusual eggs and, in a border above, the Robin's family drama unfolds.
A gatefold surprise reveals the Easter Rabbit.
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School Library Journal
K-Gr 2. A bunny hopes he will win the Easter egg decorating contest and thus gain the honor of helping the Easter Rabbit hide the eggs on Easter morning. The other rabbits in his neighborhood are busy working on their entries, each one more dazzling than the last, and Hoppi needs an inspiration. At last, he decides that the most important thing is to make something he will be proud of. He hops off into the woods, where he finds a robin's fallen egg. The bunny generously offers to guard it while the mother tends to the eggs remaining in her nest. On the contest day, the Easter Rabbit commends the crowd of rabbits for their beautiful creations, but then says "a very special one is not here." He hurries off into the woods to bring Hoppi back to the glen, where he reveals that Hoppi has won the contest for his heroic efforts in protecting the egg. Brett's elegant watercolor and gouache illustrations enhance this sweet story. Adorned with wreaths of flowers and decorative borders, the paintings bring to mind the romance of Victorian greeting cards. Each character is depicted as a distinctive breed of rabbit. The lovely pastel shades and lush pastoral details in the illustrations celebrate the beauty of spring. This book could be paired with Michael Garland's "The Great Easter Egg Hunt" (Dutton 2005). - Linda L. Walkins, Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Brighton, MA
Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Publishers Weekly
Brett's finely detailed watercolor and gouache art is a showstopper, spotlighting lifelikethough nattily cladrabbits decorating eggs in hopes of winning the role of the Easter Rabbit's helper. Hoppi is awed by bunnies' creations, which include an ornate chocolate egg and a whirling, twirling mechanical egg. But when an egg tumbles out of a robin's nest, he keeps it safe until the baby bird hatches. Borders of twigs, pussy willows, daffodils, and ferns add greatly to the warm, visually sumptuous setting of this gentle spring story. Ages 3-5. (Feb.)
Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly, Used with permission.
As a child, Jan Brett decided to be an illustrator and spent many hours reading and drawing. She says, "I remember the special quiet of rainy days when I felt that I could enter the pages of my beautiful picture books. Now I try to recreate that feeling of believing that the imaginary place I'm drawing really exists. The detail in my work helps to convince me, and I hope others as well, that such places might be real."
As a student at the Boston Museum School, she spent hours in the Museum of Fine Arts. "It was overwhelming to see the room-size landscapes and towering stone sculptures, and then moments later to refocus on delicately embroidered kimonos and ancient porcelain," she says. "I'm delighted and surprised when fragments of these beautiful images come back to me in my painting."
Travel is also a constant inspiration. Together with her husband, Joe Hearne, who is a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jan visits many different countries where she researches the architecture and costumes that appear in her work. "From cave paintings to Norwegian sleighs, to Japanese gardens, I study the traditions of the many countries I visit and use them as a starting point for my children's books."
JUV039220 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Values & Virtues
JUV017020 - Juvenile Fiction | Holidays & Celebrations | Easter & Lent
Contests
Eggs
Easter eggs
