This is an updated post with more bunny books + lots more pictures! You can find the original here.
What could be a better way to foster a love of reading in our children than making BOOKS front and center in all our holidays and celebrations?
Every turn of the season, I bring out that magical plastic bin where we store special holiday books. Each is only displayed on the shelf for a few weeks every year, and yet are some of the most cherished of our family library. Our kids LOVE this tradition. It’s like reuniting with dear, old friends. And absence certainly makes the heart grow fonder when it comes to books. I also like to splurge and buy a few new holiday books each season to add to the growing collection. I often wrap the new books and give them to the kids as a gift leading up to the next holiday. For Easter, I love wrapping them and putting a scavenger hunt together for an early Easter hunt. An Easter basket brimming with beauitful books is just too lovely for me to resist 😆 !
So, I invite you to join us in making books a central part of all our holidays! I’ve put together a few lists of our favorite BUNNY BOOKS sorted by age group to get you started for Easter. I even have two spooky bunny chapter books and one with a dragon listed for the 7-10 age group . . . you know, the kids who are too cool for cute little bunnies!
PLUS: I’ve included links for audiobook versions, sing-along songs, free ebook versions, and Amazon links!
*You can sign up for Hoopla Digital for FREE online through most library accounts!
~BUNNY BOOKS~ by age group
Hoppy Reading! (I can’t help the bunny-punnys…. I have a pre-existing genetic disorder for wordplay)
BABY BUNNIES (under 3)
Peter Rabbit Touch and Feel, Beatrix Potter
The best first Peter Rabbit for baby!
I am a Bunny, Ole Risom
A family favorite all year long, this one never even gets to come out for Easter! Both our kids have just loved this book. It is the cutest Richard Scarry-illustrated walk through the seasons. It’s a two minute read and 100% pure joy.
Pat the Bunny, Dorothy Kunhardt
A delightful hands-on classic for babies with busy hands.
Baby Touch and Feel: Bunny, DK
A more realistic hands-on bunny book for babies than the latter.
Guess How Much I Love You, Sam McBratney
Curious George and the Bunny, H.A. Rey
This cute little Curious-George-meets-bunny-tale is adapted from Curious George Flies a Kite and made into a perfect-for-Easter baby board book.
Home for a Bunny Little Golden Book, illustrated by Garth Williams
The story is simple and maybe even a little bit odd. But the illustrations are simply darling and our daughter cannot get enough of this book. So thanks to my love for her, as well as my love for the fabulous Garth Williams, it makes our favorites list.
Richard Scarry’s Bunnies
I think the cutest bunny in the world is one illustrated by Richard Scarry.
Bunnies ABC Little Golden Book, illustrated by Garth Williams
An ABC animal walk with a bunny tour guide! So cute, and illustrated by my favorite!
HAPPY HOPPERS (ages 3-5)
Seven Little Rabbits, John Becker
A poem, a song, a bunny sing-along . . . Seven Little Rabbits is pitch-perfect for Easter.
- Youtube Sing Along Song (your kids will love . . . but maybe put on noise-cancelling headphones for self preservation)
- Amazon
The Little Rabbit, Phoboe Dunn
A great real-life-look at bringing home a baby bunny through minimal words and charming photographs.
Curious George Flies a Kite, H.A. Rey
Little Rabbit’s Loose Tooth
An obscure favorite of my own childhood. The story is sweet and the illustrations rich and delightful. I just ordered a used copy to surprise my soon-to-lose-first-tooth son with on Easter.
Bunny Bungalow, Cynthia Rylant
The Runaway Bunny, Margaret Wise Brown
The Easter Egg, Jan Brett
An exquisitely beautiful bunny book for Easter. Lovely story, lovely moral of self-sacrifice, and enchanting illustrations.
The Carrot Seed, Ruth Krauss
Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne
A fabulous early chapter read-aloud featuring the world’s snarkiest bunny to foil the world’s most loveable bear!
COTTONTAIL CUTIES (ages 5-7):
Rabbits, Rabbits, And More Rabbits! Gail Gibbons
Everything you could really ever hope to know about rabbits in one, easy to read, illustrated book. This makes a great cross-curricular homeschool read the week before Easter!
The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter
An all-time favorite for very good reason.
The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, Beatrix Potter
Think Beatrix Potter is for babies? Guess again. After Peter Rabbit, the bunny trail gets grim pretty quick! Benjamin Bunny is full of danger and suspense, but still has the lovely look at charm of a sweet Easter bunny book. And thank God, it still has a happy ending! Unlike the next Beatrix Potter book on this list.
The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit, Beatrix Potter
*Warning: this tail is more than a hare terrifying! This story is both fierce, and yes, a little bit bad! And worse still, the ending is sad! If you need photographic proof, then look below. Yeah . . . that’s a hunter with a gun sneaking up on a fluffy Easter bunny!! And . . . yes. Next to that uneaten carrot there’s a . . . tail.
Ok, so why is it on the list? Because I actually love this book, and I think it is hilarious! :lol Yeah, I have a streak of dark humor in me. It’s sort of Grimm’s fairytale like in it’s attempt to scare children into good behavior. I think of all the Beatrix Potter books, this is the one that I spent the most time looking at growing up. It explains a lot, really. Also, it reminds me of my farmer-dad throwing his head back and laughing every time he read me the ending because he was so thrilled that another pesky rabbit had finally bit the dust. Yup, that’s my dad!
Suffice it to say, this book is not for every family and certainly not for every kid. But maybe it IS for yours.
The Peter Rabbit Spectacular (a Pop-Up Play Book)
This book was actually mine. My mom gave it to me on Easter many years ago, and I gave it to our son last Easter. It’s an absolute beauty, cherished now in the second generation. But sadly, it is out of print and only occasionally comes available on thriftbooks. But it it worth putting your name on the list for a “very good” copy!
Huge Harold, Bill Peet
*Warning: this book features guns and a hunting theme… but no rabbits were killed in the making of this book
I just adore Bill Peet. If you aren’t familiar with his books, do your kids and yourself a favor and start snatching some up! His stories and illustrations are so charming that Walt Disney picked him as the director of several of his films including the animated 101 Dalmatians.
The Velveteen Rabbit
A favorite throughout the generations. But I have to admit, it’s a little too much for mama.
JACK RABBITS & JILLS (ages 7-10):
Bunnicula, Deborah and James Howe
You may want to bring this title out twice a year . . . Easter and Halloween! It’s a great early thriller for young readers who want to be spooked! Please note: it deals with the concept of vampires and the cat repeatedly tries to murder the bunny. But no . . . the bunny does not die!
Rabbit Hill, Robert Lawson
Another not-so-Eastery bunny book, Rabbit Hill is quite dark. It even features a rabbit cemetery! Yeah. That being said, kids who are too-cool for baby bunnies at Easter will probably love this classic, life or death adventure . . . tail.
Kenny and the Dragon, Tony DiTerlizzi
If your kid is too cool for baby bunnies, what about a bunny and a . . . fierce dragon? What a fabulous combo!This book is sure to win points with “big kids”!
Bambi by Felix Salten
Charming doesn’t begin to describe the book that inspired the Walt Disney classic animated film of Bambi. The book is sheer woodland enchantment. For an all-around lovely springtime read, enjoy the original, unabridged Bambi!
LONG EARS & LITTLE WHISKERS (ages 12+):
Watership Down, Ricard Adams
This bunny book is not of the Flopsy, Mopsy, or Cottontail . . . breed. Watership Down is long, dark, and quite cumbersome. A teenage and adult read. Kids may be enticed into reading it if already having seen the movie. Or, you could use the movie as the . . . you know . . . dangling carrot.
For Christian families who celebrate RESURRECTION DAY, this is the BEST EASTER BOOK! (Ages 4-10)
- The Jesus Storybook Bible
Check out more of our Easter posts here!
Thanks for reading!
Love, ~Our Holistic Homeschool~
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