I have been looking for a kids book about Easter for a while. I specifically wanted one that had nothing to do with bunnies or chocolate eggs. In desperation I turned to social media and posted asking if anyone could recommend a book. A recommendation came back quickly for Dave the Donkey by Andrew McDonough.
Dave the Donkey is a fun book that explains the Easter story to children through the eyes of the donkey who carried Jesus on Palm Sunday and his Grandpa.
The language is simple and the bright pictures bring the story to life. I enjoyed the idea of Jesus racing in to Jerusalem on the back on the donkey with robes flying.
The pictures also explained what happened at Easter without going in to any details that children or parents may be uncomfortable with.
If you are looking for an Easter story without eggs or bunnies, this is a great book to read.
Buy the Book:
Amazon.com – Dave the Donkey, An Easter Story (Cecil and Friends)
Amazon.com – Dave the Donkey, An Easter Story: Storytelling Kit (Show & Tell / Cecil and Friends)
As you can probably tell from the picture, Let’s Play Colours by David Bedford & Leonie Worthington was a well loved book when my kids were small. This was given as a first birthday present for one of my kids (I think) and it came with another book in the same style.
The book is a simple story about Rabbit, Harriet and Wallace. Each double page spread has a different colour, complemented by gorgeous illustrations that are made of felt and other materials. The detail in these images is amazing. My kids loved watching how Wallace ended up with something that wasn’t quite as cool as the others, such as a blue hat with a hole in it. There is even a fun twist at the end.
One thing I loved about this book was the Australian spelling of “Colours” as most of the books about colours we have are from America and the spelling is different.
I keep trying to find these books again as I think they would make a great gift for a little person, but I haven’t found the… yet.
The Dinosaur Who Couldn’t Sleep by Michael Salmon is a fun story about Lola, a shy diplodocus who has trouble finding a place to have a quiet night sleep. Lola ends up with a fun solution to her problem, ensuring her a good night sleep.
This was one of the books we picked up when my sons were going through their dinosaur phase. As a dinosaur story, we enjoyed reading this and the quirks of Lola and her loud neighbours, although it wasn’t much help with getting a boy to go to sleep. Somehow I don’t think a meteor will fall out of the sky to help him have a good night sleep.
The illustrations are also fun and simple. All the dinosaurs are easily recocnisable with expressive eyes. They are all very cute.
One feature of the book that we enjoyed is a general fact sheet about dinosaurs and another about the diplodocus before the story began. There is also a guide on how to pronounce the names of the different dinosaurs. This was both interesting and useful as some of the dinosaur names I didn’t know how to pronounce.
Buy this book:
Amazon.com – Lola the Dinosaur Who Couldn’t Sleep
If you have a child who like to imagine, Spaceman PiggyWiggy by Christyan and Diane Fox is a book especially for them.
PiggyWiggy lies in bed and looks at the stars and imagines what it would be like to be a spaceman, so long as he’s home for breakfast.
This is a charming story with fun pictures. We liked how PiggyWiggy’s teddy bear and other toys also had a space helmet and joined him on his adventure in space. The illustrations are bright and simple, with some cute details in them, like the teddy bear reading the instructions to PiggyWiggy as he is learning how to use the controls.
This is a fun book for kids who like to imagine what life could be like, as well as kids to like space.
Buy this book:
Amazon.com – Astronaut PiggyWiggy
My kids have quite a few picture books that were given to them, and this was one of them. Frog Gets Lost is a sparkle book, and has cut outs with shiny coloured paper in various places.
This book is about a frog who goes for a walk when a friendly caterpillar points out the matching flowers on his path. When frog gets lost, he remembers the matching flowers and this helps him find his way home.
I enjoyed the simple story about things that match and using this to help frog find his way home. It’s a board book so it’s hard wearing for toddlers. The thing that bugged me was all the shiny bits on every page. They took away from the story and the gorgeous illustrations. The funny thing I remember from reading this to my kids is that they didn’t seem to mind too much, but then again, they didn’t ask for it to be read all that often…
I’m not usually one for books that tie in to movies or are some sort of brand. I can’t remember where we got this one, maybe it was a book sale at the kids school? I can’t remember. However this is a cute book with a Chicken Little hand puppet on the front.
This is a board book that makes a bit more sense if you’ve seen the movie. The story is about Chicken Little swinging his baseball bat and hitting a home run to win a baseball game. As the stories go on, there are plenty of opportunities for the kids to imitate the action in the story with the hand puppet, such as hiding his eyes and swinging his arms as if they are hitting the bat.
It’s not the most brilliant picture book, however the puppet adds a bit of fun to it. If you can see in the picture, the puppet is quite squashed, showing that it’s been sitting in the bookshelf getting squashed for a long time.
Lift-and-Learn New Testament Stories
Every Christmas, my parents give the kids a “God book”, and I think Lift-and-Learn New Testament Stories may have been one of them, or it was a gift for one of their dedications, I can’t remember.
As a board book, this is a wonderful book to introduce kids to Bible stories. Each double page has a basic telling of a Bible story along with with Bible reference if you want to look up the reference. On each page there are items to find under the flaps, and each flap has a different theme. For example, one page is opposites and another page is counting. This combines teaching basic skills with learning Bible stories.
This is a well worn book that my kids loved. They would even fight over who would lift the flaps – so it also taught them about taking turns!
Today’s book is one that was given to my kids when they were small. I can’t remember whether it was a gift for a special occasion or just one that was passed on… either way, this is a cute, board book.
Donkey to the Rescue by Tim Dowley is based on the Good Samaritan parable in the Bible and is told from the point of view of a grumpy donkey. He goes on a long journey with his master on his back and is made to stop reluctantly for an injured man.
This book has been enjoyed by my kids for many years, and it was my nephews who pulled it out of the book case to read. As it is a board book, it’s a good book to share with smaller children.
Buy the book:
Amazon.com – Donkey to the Rescue: The Good Samaritan’s Donkey (Bible Animal Board Books)
Hold on Tight, Stripy Horse by Jim Helmore and Karen Wall was one I picked up from the library. I loved the cute horse on the cover with its flamingo umbrella. I had no idea what to expect in the story.
This is a lovely story about a storm in a bric-a-brac shop and how the animals look after each other. They also work together to stop the storm and get everything back to normal.
I don’t want to give too much away of this delightful story. I enjoyed how the animals all worked together to solve the problem. It gave a great message to kids. There were also a lot of fun things in the illustrations to enhance the story, such as the painting of the tropical paradise.
This was a fun story that kids and parents will enjoy.
Buy the book:
Amazon.com – Hold on Tight Stripy Horse
We have quite a few board books that are Bible stories aimed at preschoolers. Today’s book, Little Sheep Gets Lost by Tim Dowley is a board book that is a retelling of the lost sheep parable.
The words in this story are simple and the illustrations are delightful. We enjoyed counting the sheep with the shepherd, even though the text only counts the last three. We also cheered when he found the sheep.
This is a fun book for kids and parents and a wonderful way to introduce children to the parable of the lost sheep. At the end, it gives the Bible reference so you can look it up for older kids.
Buy the book:
Amazon.com – Little Sheep Gets Lost: The Story of the Lost Sheep (Bible Animal Board Books)
365 Picture Books 