I’m not really a big fan of giving chocolate to people for Easter, I much prefer a good book.  Featured in this post are the lovely goodies some of my family members are going to be receiving this year.

The Odd Egg by Emily Gravett (Two Hoots Books)

My 1-year-old nephew can look forward to getting his teeth into this board book edition of The Odd Egg by the award-winning author and illustrator, Emily Gravett.

Poor Duck is feeling a bit left out because all the other birds have laid an egg except for him. But then he finds the most beautiful egg in the world.

As all the other birds’ eggs hatch, they all wait in eager anticipation of what will appear from out of Duck’s slightly odd egg. They’re in for a big surprise!

Appropriately, this book is full of sturdy flaps for little hands to flip. Just mind your fingers when you get to the end!

The Sheep Who Hatched an Egg by Gemma Merino (Macmillan)

This one’s for my little niece. Who can resist fluffy sheep and newly-hatched chicks?

Lola the sheep takes great pride in her wonderfully smooth, silly wool. All the other sheep would admire her as she walked by.

However, one hot day, all the sheep are sent for a haircut. Lola feels ridiculous without her wonderful wool and slopes off to hide in the hills until it grows back. She’s in for a shock when it does – it’s all knotty and tangled. It’s no good at all – unless it just happens to be used by a fallen egg as a snug little nest. Lola soon learns there’s more to like than having perfect hair. A lesson I learnt a long time ago!

A brilliant story about learning that looks don’t matter with illustrations full of humorous details like sheep passing the time in a queue playing on their mobiles or the sheep dog enjoying what appears to be a beer, at the end of a long day.

Mr Bunny’s Chocolate Factory by Elys Dolan (Oxford University Press)

We are huge fans of Dolan’s witty books in our household, so I had to buy this for my youngest son when I saw it! I wasn’t disappointed; it was as full of clever jokes and visual gags as all her other books.

As you open its pages, you step into a tour of Mr Bunny’s chocolate factory where chickens live on a diet of chocolate and lay beautiful chocolate eggs. All is going swimmingly until bad Mr Bunny starts to get greedy. He demands more eggs, more goodies – his plucky workforce simply can’t keep up!

The hens picket Mr Bunny for better working conditions, reasonable working hours and the odd aerobics class. However Mr Bunny is determined to keep prices down and production rates up so he decides to take control of things himself.

Unfortunately, Mr Bunny soon learns that greed doesn’t pay as he gets his chocolaty comeuppance. But will the hens forgive and forget? And will they ever find Debbie?!

The Great Chocoplot by Chris Callaghan (Chicken House)

This one’s for my eldest son who loves chocolate almost as much as  me.

It’s the end of chocolate as we know it – or so says the television! The ancient Chocolati tribe prophesied that, in the future, there would be a cataclysmic cacao catastrophe.  A chocopocslypse, if you will!

Jelly and her chocolate-living family are aghast. No more Blocka Chockas?! Then, a trail of clues leads them back to a fancy chocolate shop own by the suspicious Garibaldi Chocolati.  Can they solve the Great Chocoplot or is it really the end of chocolate forever?!

The Royal Rabbits of London by Santa Montefiore and Simon Sebag  Montefiore, illustrated by Kate Hindley (Simon and Schuster)

Another one for my eldest (and me!)  I chose this one because it’s packed full of adventure – I’m sure I’ve heard whispers about a possibly screenplay.

This story follows the runt of his litter, Shylo as he struggles to prove himself against his bigger, faster and stronger rabbit siblings who spend all their time making fun of him.

One day, as Shylo heads off to visit his war veteran friend Horatio (who’s feared by the other rabbits), he gets chased into a tight corner by his older brother, Maximilian.  It’s there, beneath the stump of a fallen oak, that Shylo overhears three greasy ratzis discussing a plot to break into Buckingham Palace and humiliate the Queen.

Rembering tales of The Royal Rabbits of London, who had long ago sworn an oath the protect the royal family, Shylo sets off to London to prove that the smallest of rabbits can be the bravest of heroes.

I loved this one – full of words of wisdom, humour and peril. I was rooting for Shylo right from the outset.

Well, I hope I’ve given some of you the inspiration to think outside the (Easter egg) box this Easter and buy a gift that will far beyond the end of April and won’t melt if you leave it in the sun!

Library Girl.