The Spring Rabbit: An Easter Tale

With a folktale-like spin on Easter traditions and vibrant, naïf-style paintings, McAllister and Corr offer up an Easter Bunny origin story in this seasonal picture book. When the sun touches Spring—personified as a light-skinned woman with flowing blonde hair—awakening her after a winter slumber, she brings life to everything she touches, including a cold, weak bird, which she transforms into a strong brown rabbit. As thanks to Spring for saving his life, Rabbit and his avian woodland friends—including “the blackbird, the nightingale, and the little wren”—offer her a clutch of eggs, which Rabbit places into a handmade basket. Explaining that she must keep her hands free to make things grow, Spring suggests that Rabbit instead distribute the eggs in a nearby village, heralding the changing season to residents of various skin tones. Gouache art bursting with flowers and light distinguish this volume that’s as much equinox fable as Easter tale. Ages 4–7. (Mar.)