Our top five tempting easter treats - 5 books that might just be better than chocolate!

Wow! I can't believe it's Easter already. So what are you to do if you really don't fancy tucking into a stack of creme eggs, or if you're a bit 'meh' about Hot Cross Buns?

Well you can turn to books - so let's take a look at some glorious easter books from the archives (because, oddly, we really don't get sent that many Easter books any more!)

"The Easter Chick" by Geraldine Eischner with fab illustrations from Alexandra Junge is just the sort of book we make a bee-line for when it comes to looking for something decidedly different to go along with Easter time.

It's the hilarious story of a hen whose egg is a little bit 'different' - What's actually inside the shell?

And why won't it behave itself!

You'll have to hunt down a copy of this one to find out more, suffice to say that it's one of the funniest Easter books we've ever read.

"The Easter Chick" by Geraldine Eischner and Alexandra Junge is out now, published by North-South Books. 


Next, something that arrived on our doorstep earlier this year when we were just getting over Christmas - but is well worth a second look now Easter's finally here.

 Elys Dolan's fantastic "Mr Bunny's Chocolate Factory" features a rather pompous and slave-driving boss in the shape of Mr Bunny.

His loyal hen workers do their very best to lay as many eggs as possible, before painting them in a glorious assortment of colours.

Mr Bunny is very demanding though, and as he starts to increase production, banning time off and causing his poor chicken workforce to go on strike, it's soon clear that there's a better way to make a budding business.

Will Mr Bunny realise what a rotter he's been? It's a brilliant mix of Chicken Run and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, served up with Elys' perfectly paced storytelling and fabulous illustrations.

"Mr Bunny's Chocolate Factory" is out now, published by Oxford Children's Books / OUP. 

We do love attractive board books and this next one is a corker!

"My Little World - Egg" from Little Tiger Kid is a beautiful little board book with a multi-layered surprise on every page.

Tactile and fun, board books are a fabulous way to get your little ones into reading and having fun with books at an early age.

Little Tiger's fantastic range is full of brilliant titles like "Egg". It's truly an eggs-citing eggs-scapade indeed.

"My Little World - Egg" is out now, published by Little Tiger Kids.





More egg-shaped fun, and more bunnies too!

"Rabbits Don't Lay Eggs" by Paula Metcalf and Cally Johnson-Isaacs is another brilliant little book for tinies who are just beginning to get into slightly longer stories with tons of fabulous illustrations.

Rupert the Rabbit is a little bit fed up with life in the burrow. He's a bit lonely and when he sees lots of animals having fun on a nearby farm, Rupert wants to join in himself.

A rather stern duck points out to Rupert that everyone on the farm has a role to play, and Rupert must find his own special skills in order to fit in - after all, a farm is no place for slackers!

Rupert comes up with a plan. Rabbits are experts at misappropriating the farmer's juicy vegetables, so Rupert soon wins the other animals over with his lapine thievery!

But the question all young children will want to answer is why rabbits don't lay eggs! We'll let you discover what happens in this tale when Rupert tries...!
"Rabbits Don't Lay Eggs" by Paula Metcalf and Cally Johnson Isaacs is out now, published by Macmillan Children's Books. 

The late great Eric Hill's "Spot" works are just so fantastic that we couldn't possibly miss them out of our roundup.

"Spot's First Easter" is a book Charlotte loved to bits when she was smaller, and it's still as great as ever.

Spot the puppy is very excited about this mysterious new thing called Easter, particularly the thought of giving and receiving fabulous eggs with all his friends.

The edition has lots of lift the flap surprises so kids can go on their very own egg hunt without leaving their favourite comfy armchair.

"Spot's First Easter" by Eric Hill is out now, published by Picture Puffin. 

Whatever you end up doing, have a fantastic easter and we'll catch up with you again next week!