The Easter Rooster

Written by Daniel Williamson

Illustrated by Kleverton Monteiro

This rhyming picture book written in British English laments the fate of a rooster who cannot protect the chickens’ eggs on Easter. The rooster vows that this year will be different. He tries his best but falls asleep while counting sheep.

Undeterred, the rooster traces the path of the bunny thief and attempts to retrieve the eggs. Will he succeed in returning them to the farm? Will the children waiting for their Easter eggs be disappointed?

Read this picture book to find out. Recommended for preschool and primary grade readers.

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The Further Adventures of Mrs. Trimble’s Magic Teapot!

Written and illustrated by Steven-Watson Morris

So delighted that the author is giving us a sequel. Book Two contains seven more magical adventures. Readers meet a one-eyed giant, a silver snake, a naughty goblin, the Easter bunny, an alien planet, some bubbles, and a castle of dreams. Children learn that we should be kind and understanding toward others even when others are angry with us. Mrs. Trimble teaches us that when we are naughty like the goblin, we need to undo the harm we have done to others. Then apologize, and make restitution for our mistakes. When Mrs. Trimble meets the Dream Maker, she learns how sweets can turn into healthy fruits. What child would not like to have a bubble adventure!

When the Easter bunny oversleeps one year, our heroes must rescue him.  In their last adventure, our friends land on the Teapot planet where everything is shaped like a teapot. Here they meet Earl Grey, who will restore the magic to their teapot. To return his kindness, Mrs. Trimble leaves him a special gift.

As in the first book, there are delightful pencil drawings. The book ends with coloring pages that feature all the characters in the book’s stories. I recommend the book for elementary and middle-grade readers and anyone who likes to let their imagination soar.

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A Rabbit’s Tale: An Adult Easter Story (Praying Mantis Series Book 1)

Written by Diogenes Ruiz

An interesting Easter story for teens and adults. Written from a Christian fiction perspective, though not a preachy story with a totally one sided perspective. At the outset the reader gets the impression she is reading a middle grade novel. Juan Arias is a fifth grader growing up in non-religious Catholic family with his father who is a computer programmer, his mother a homemaker, and his younger sister, Angie. Juan has a passion for photography; he is eagerly waiting for a subscription to National Geographic to arrive in the mail. A new family rents the house across the street, but Monty turns out to be a mean-sprinted bully. Their first encounter involves Monty placing a dead squirrel in Juan’s mailbox. Monty terrorizes Juan and threatens his sister if Juan reveals that Monty stole Juan’s photograph to submit as his own.

The scene shifts as Monty moves away and Juan grows to adulthood. Sadly, Juan follows in his father’s footsteps and gives up his dream of photography to marry Leigh, who turns out to be a self-centered selfish brat. But Juan’s sister Angie marries Ray and has two beautiful children who adore Juan. When Ray talks Juan into dressing up as the Easter Bunny for a holiday party, an outlandish set of events is put into play leading to a shakeup of family relationships, embezzlement, and attempted murder. Juan becomes a victim once more; it appears that his life will be ruined. Characters from past and present are intertwined in a melange of emotions and devious plots.

The Easter story is woven into the well-developed plot and interesting characters. As the title indicates, this book is part of the Christian fiction genre, though it relates a sometimes funny, sometimes sad commentary on what life can dish out.

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Easter is Cancelled

Written and Illustrated by Sally Huss

Sally Huss never seems to run out of ideas to inspire our youngest readers to think about what is really important. Eastertime is coming up soon, but it seems this year will be very different. While the other animals are already working hard, the star of the show is not! The pigs have been gathering grass, the dogs are mixing chocolate, the chickens are laying eggs, and the cats are dyeing the eggs. To their dismay, they find the Easter Bunny relaxing in a hammock, with a sign nearby that says he is cancelling Easter this year. Why? No one ever thanks him. The wise old owl comes to the rescue by giving the animals his advice. He suggests that the animals find a child to make the Easter Bunny feel more important. What is that message and will the animals succeed in finding the right child to give him that message? Exactly what does the Easter Bunny need to hear to change his mind and rescue Easter for all?

Like most of this series, the book is targeted for children ages two through eight. This one is probably more geared to preschoolers. Bright, happy illustrations and a simple message will warm the hearts of young readers and the parents or teachers who are reading it aloud.

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Four Fantastic Surprise Endings for Children 3-6

Written and illustrated by Scott Gordon

Four stories centering on familiar themes and characters with surprise endings. Each story features one protagonist speaking to the reader in first person. The first story showcases a frog who was once a king now trying to woo his sweetheart. In the second book, a little chickadee discovers there is a certain someone that he cannot get off his mind. How can he tell her that he loves her? The third book features a rather self-centered Easter bunny who is attempting to train the “new guy.” He gives a lot of history about the Easter bunny and what it takes to fill the job. Finally in the fourth book, a robot from the planet Infinim, which is a replica of earth, is interviewing candidates who want to be robots for his planet. Readers will be surprised at the current candidate who is interviewing for the position. Who is he and will he make the cut?

The photos and illustrations are delightful. While the stories feature somewhat familiar characters, the clever surprise endings will delight both the child and adult reader. Each story is about the average length of a picture book. These tales are targeted for the three to six age audience, but older children will appreciate the subtleties and clever twists. The collection is a nice set of bedtime stories or family read aloud. Highly recommended.

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Mrs. Trimble’s Magic Tea-Pot!

Written and illustrated by Steven-Watson-Morris

This book is really an early chapter book which could also be used as a classroom read aloud or bedtime story. All the stories center around Mrs. Trimble, her assistant Rose and her twin nephews, John and Jack. Mrs. Trimble owns a tea shop where she serves tea and delicious home baked cakes. While working one day in her shop, suddenly a giant cloud of smoke arose and a giant tea-pot appeared in the center of the shop. A wizard wearing a pointed cap adorned with stars popped out. Walter the Wizard needs her help because the king’s cook is ill, and he is in need of someone to bake cakes for his party. They all climb into his tea-pot and are whisked away to the kingdom where Mrs. Trimble saves the day by baking the cakes. Walter is so grateful that he gives her a magic tea-pot as a gift that will take her anywhere in the world she wants to visit. The magic words are magic teapot backwards—“Top eat Cigam!” So begins the magical adventures of our characters.

In the first book of adventures, they decide to visit a spooky house and some ghosts where they meet Arthur Halloween, they take a trip to the moon and visit four purple men who are in need of polishing dust to keep the moon shiny and then visit another moon to gather supplies, convince a greedy dragon that he is eating too much and needs to go on a diet, and visit a land of dwarfs where Jack and John receive some surprise birthday presents. Mrs. Trimble even manages to confront an ogre and rescue the key to the city for the mayor. Perhaps my favorite adventure involves her ingenious solution to save the day when Santa Claus is unable to deliver presents on Christmas Day because his reindeer are sick.

There are just enough black and white pencil drawings to hold the interest of young readers just getting accustomed to longer story books. I like the mixture of conversation and prose. Neither one overpowers the other so that the story flows

The Further Adventures of Mrs. Trimble’s Magic Teapot!

Written and illustrated by Steven-Watson Morris

So delighted that the author is giving us a sequel. In Book Two the reader is treated to seven more magical adventures. This time the reader will meet a one-eyed giant, a silver snake, a naughty goblin, the Easter bunny, an alien planet, some bubbles, and a castle of dreams. The children will learn through Mrs. Trimble that we should be kind and understanding toward others even when others are angry with us, but she also teaches us that when we are naughty like the goblin, we need to undo the harm we have done to others, apologize, and make restitution for our mistakes. When Mrs. Trimble meets the Dream Maker, she learns how to drink hot chocolate as well as tea and sees how sweets can be turned into healthy fruits. What child would not like to have a bubble adventure! Mrs. Trimble and the twins are astonished when the Easter bunny oversleeps one year; they must rescue him and save the day! In their last adventure the stalwart group get to land on the Teapot planet where everything is shaped like a teapot, and where they are introduced to Earlgrey who will restore the magic to their teapot. To return his kindness, Mrs. Trimble will leave them with a special gift of her own. As in the first book, there are delightful pencil drawings. At the end of the book, readers will find a special bonus, coloring pages that feature all the characters in the book’s stories.

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