Reading spring board books is one way our family celebrates the season of promise and new life with our baby and toddler. And our Easter board books help us introduce our children to our family’s most important holiday of the year (I’ve included secular and religious picks). Below are some of our favorites!
Our Favorite Spring Board Books
When I think of spring, I think of flowers, baby animals, birds, bugs, and playing in the mud and rain. These board books reflect these changes in the seasons.
Hands Can
By Cheryl Willis Hudson, Photographs by John-Frances Bourke
I’m a sucker for books with real photographs, particularly at the board book stage, and this one engages my toddler with photos of children working with their hands. From planting seeds and playing in the mud to catching a ball and giving hugs, we learn that hands can do many things!
Birds
By National Geographic Kids Look and Learn
My tot loves this simple board book from Nat Geo that teaches her a little bit about birds and colors! We also have and love their Bugs book, which is perfect for springtime as well.
Planting a Rainbow
By Lois Ehlert
This book presents such a fun idea! A little kid and his or her mother work together to plant flowers of every color of the rainbow. In the springtime, they watch their rainbow grow! And all summer long they pick them. Different flowers are labeled within the illustrations so that you have some ideas for planting your own rainbow garden with your little one.
Spring
By Gerda Muller
We love all of Meuller’s books in her Seasons collection. In Spring, we enjoy looking at the gorgeous illustrations of children planting seeds, painting eggs, and watching baby animals. There are no words in this book, so it’s a wonderful chance to focus on the pictures and talk about them with your toddler.
Little Blue Truck’s Springtime
By Alice Schertle, Illustrated By Jill McElmry
May I dare say that this might be my daughter’s favorite Little Blue Truck book? Every time she sees it on the back of our other books, she points to it and wants to get it out. It’s springtime on the farm, and Little Blue says hello to all the baby animals, which we discover by lifting flaps. You can never go wrong with fun rhymes and flaps!
Spring in the Forest
By Rusty Finch
It’s always lovely to visit this beautifully-illustrated forest, pond, log cabin, and vegetable garden throughout the year (there’s a book for each season) and learn about the seasonal changes. In Spring, we follow a fawn as she notices other baby animals, robins, blooming flowers, new vegetation, and rainbows. My daughter loves the flaps, and the text always keeps her interested and engaged.
Our Easter Board Books
These Easter board books are a mix of bunny-themed and religious-themed. Hopefully you might find a one that fits your family!
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
By Beatrix Potter
Miss Potter is famous for her gorgeous paintings inspired by her also famous garden. The story of Peter Cottontail is a classic bunny story, and this abridged version is perfect for toddlers. It also reminds me of the Easter song, “Here Comes Peter Cottontail.”
The Easter Story
By Patricia A. Pingry
This Easter board book presents a gentle way to introduce little ones to…the Easter story. It includes snippets from Jesus’s life and teaching, Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, and Jesus’s arrest. It handles his death with care: “Jesus was sent to die. His disciples were very sad. But Jesus had told them that He would rise after three days.” The photo shows Jesus carrying the cross. This is followed by the Resurrection and the Great Commandment.
My First Easter
By Tomie dePaola
This book introduces your baby or young toddler to various secular Easter traditions such as coloring eggs, the Easter bunny bringing an Easter basket, seeing flowers and baby animals, and going on an egg hunt. It’s a simple and sweet introduction to the holiday with no real storyline and dePaola’s charming watercolor illustrations.
My Day With Jesus
By Alice Joyce Davidson, Illustrated by David Austen Clar
Learn the story of Palm Sunday from the donkey’s point of view. This is such a beautiful way to introduce the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. The writing is excellent and has a great rhyming pattern, and the illustrations are cute.
Do you and your family have any favorite Easter or spring board books? Share them in the comments below!
Want to see more of our favorite seasonal board books? Check out these posts:
