5 Spring Titles From Harper Collins

Boxes of Harper Collins' roundup of spring titles have been gracing my doorstep for the past several weeks now.  I've enjoyed reading some aloud to my daughter and am looking forward to adding these titles to my school's collection as well.

Big Chickie, Little Chickie by Janee Trasler is a board book in a series featuring the chickies.  This is a great concept book featuring opposites like deep and shallow, and whisper and shout. It is also centered around a story of the chicks getting their picture taken, so there is a plot along with the introduction to opposites.  Throw in some humor as other farm animals make an appearance as well.  My nieces and nephews are all over these books so I can hardly wait to share the latest from Janee Trasler with them.  I'm going to recommend these for infants - age 4 (but my older nieces still get a kick out of them).

Five Little Bunnies by Tish Rabe with pictures by Dan Yaccarino is another cute and colorful board book.  The rhyming text in this one follows the bunnies hiding Easter eggs and children then finding them.  I can see young readers enjoying looking at the variety of decorations on each egg as they are hidden on the different pages.

Little Butterfly by Laura Logan is a wordless picture book that is beautifully illustrated.  The illustrations are a muted shade of gray, except for the cape that a young girl is wearing. It is the same orange/red as the butterflies that collect by her, drawn by her cape.  There is a bit of imagination to be utilized in this one, and I'm always interested to hear children tell the story themselves when they "read" wordless books.

The Happy Egg by Ruth Krauss was an absolute delight to read.  The text is simple and repetitive, the perfect story for a beginning reader to read and gain confidence with.  The Happy Egg is illustrated by Crockett Johnson, the creator of Harold and the Purple Crayon, and those familiar with his work will definitely see the similarities.  I can hardly wait to share this with teachers who have readers that are just getting ready to take off.  
Incidentally, I enjoyed the story as well as an egg spends it's time being sat on and eventually hatches.  A great spring/Easter book.

When Spring Comes by Kevin Henkes, illustrated by Laura Dronzek is a cute spring book that details the many ways we can see spring coming. From melting snow to an egg becoming a bird, there are many ways we notice spring coming.  This is a perfect book to use right now as Henkes describes the events that we are going through as spring is finally upon us.  The illustrations are colorful and bright pastels, which also scream spring to readers.  

I love getting these packages from Harper Collins, which never disappoint me.  Although the books were sent to me by the publisher, the opinions expressed here are my own.