Hoppi's Big Heart:
When my girls were small, a holiday tradition I established for our family was buying a yearly book. On the inside cover, I would write "The Cook Family" and then the year the book was purchased. I bought Christmas (of course!), Easter, and Halloween themed books. With each passing year, we accumulated quite a library. I would pack the books away once the holiday was over, and then pull them out as the corresponding holiday approached. I usually stacked them on the coffee table in the den/family room so that the girls could read them whenever; they became an intricate part of our "holiday decorating." Even though the girls are now in their twenties, they still love for me to pull out their holiday books. They love reminiscing past holidays through the books.

I've begun the same tradition for my granddaughter. For this Easter, I've purchased "The Easter Egg" by Jan Brett. It's a darling book about a rabbit named Hoppi. "Brett's finely detailed watercolor and gouache art is a showstopper, spotlighting lifelike — though nattily clad — rabbits 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." Publishers Weekly

Jan Brett is one of the nation's foremost author illustrators of children's books... with over 35 million books in print (yes, I said 35 million!). She is a very talented artist who also has an amazing blog that I recommend to you.