Easter Parade

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-On a windy spring day, a father rabbit escorts his daughter, wearing her new hand-decorated bonnet, to the animals' "Easter Parade." All of the woodland folks in their hats are parading along "Fifth Avenue" in front of elegant tree-trunk stores, such as "Tiffury & Co." and "Bird Orf Goodman." Each creature that the father and daughter encounter adds something to her bonnet (flowers, a pinwheel, a feather), until the wind snatches it from her head and her dad has to chase it. With delightful whimsicality, the appealing and colorful illustrations tell this story to the words of the classic song. Words and music are appended. The book adds to a rather sparse selection of simple secular books on Easter for the very young, and would be a good addition to a spring storytime.Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LACopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
PreS-Gr. 1. The popular song, written more than 60 years ago, gets new life for a new audience in this sprightly book featuring a bunny dad and his daughter. The text is the words of the song. The artwork, which brings to mind such adjectives as cute and adorable, begins as Father Rabbit escorts his young daughter, in her big, flowery bonnet, out to the avenue, where all the animals are dressed in their finest. McCue tries to inject some action into the rather sedate "story" by showing the girl's hat blowing off and her father dashing down the street to catch it. A photographer takes their picture, and they wind up in the "rotogravure," a moment that is neatly inserted in its proper place in the lyrics. The song, words and music, is appended. This is not an essential purchase, but the stuffed animal-like characters are instantly appealing, and children will have fun singing the familiar refrain. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


ALA Booklist
"Sprightly…appealing."


Book Description

Oh, I could write a sonnet
About your Easter bonnet,
And of the girl I'm taking to
The Easter Parade

celebrated composer Irving Berlin wrote "Easter Parade" over sixty years ago. Now his timeless song comes to life in this delightfully sunny picture book.

Lisa McCue's warm, friendly art tells the simple story of a father and daughter bunny who set off for the Easter parade. Once on the avenue, they join throngs of other animals in a magical New York setting filled to the brim with flowers, balloons, and, of course, Easter bonnets!

ANNOTATION

In an illustrated version of the song, a little bunny and her father enjoy the Easter parade.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Oh, I could write a sonnet
About your Easter bonnet,
And of the girl I'm taking to
The Easter Parade

Celebrated composer Irving Berlin wrote "Easter Parade" over sixty years ago. Now his timeless song comes to life in this delightfully sunny picture book.

Lisa McCue's warm, friendly art tells the simple story of a father and daughter bunny who set off for the Easter parade. Once on the avenue, they join throngs of other animals in a magical New York setting filled to the brim with flowers, balloons, and, of course, Easter bonnets!

This book is the perfect way for the youngest readers to celebrate a beloved spring holiday. The music and lyrics to the original song are also included as a special bonus.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Bunnies and baskets and... a frog? Oh my! A pair of Easter offerings puts a twist on tradition. A father sings the praises of his daughter and her bonnet ("Oh, I could write a sonnet/ About your Easter bonnet") as they prepare to promenade in Irving Berlin's classic Easter Parade, recast as a picture book illustrated by Lisa McCue. Complete lyrics and piano score with guitar chords close the cheerful volume.

Children's Literature

Written in 1933, Irving Berlin's Easter Parade has a lilting melody and clever, if somewhat dated, lyrics. Indeed, one of the best rhymes (you're and photogravure) is incomprehensible to young readers of today without an explanation. So, probably, is the very idea of an Easter parade and Easter bonnets. Although the publisher suggests this book for all ages, the sweetly cheerful colors and festively dressed, furry animals parading on its pages suggest otherwise. In their thirties-style outfits, a bunny father and his daughter take the holiday stroll up a woodsy Fifth Avenue accompanied by Berlin's lyrics. They are greeted by various creatures (bears, squirrels, turtles, ducks, frogs), and snapped by a raccoon photographer, until a stiff breeze sweeps the bunny daughter's elaborate chapeau up the Avenue. To the cheers of onlookers, Daddy captures the bonnet, with its bows, flowers, eggs, and even a toy duck intact. The youngest browsers will enjoy seeing a bear in a beehive hat, a frog as ice cream seller, and a small mouse with his sailor suit and lollipop. End papers depict a Fifth Avenue with tree-trunk buildings and such punny signs as Tiffury & Co, Rockefuzzy Center, and Bird Orf Goodman (more meaningful to adults than to children unless they happen to live in New York). Music and some lyrics are included, so with help, kids can sing along. Grownups nostalgic for the song, however, might prefer seeking out the more stylish interpretation by Judy Garland and Fred Astaire in the MGM film of 1948. 2003 (orig. 1933), HarperCollins, Talcroft 0060291257

School Library Journal