Bestseller
The Easter Egg
By Jan Brett
Illustrated by Jan Brett
Hardcover
$19.99
Jan Brett’s lovable bunny hero, Hoppi, and the surprising outcome of his quest to impress the Easter Rabbit with the best Easter egg of all will enchant readers.
If Hoppi can make the best Easter egg, he will get to help the Easter Rabbit with his deliveries on Easter morning. But it is not so easy. Discouraged, he goes for a walk in the woods and sees a blue robin egg tumble out of its nest.
Hoppi keeps it safe and warm until the baby bird hatches. And when the Easter Rabbit arrives, he has a very special way to reward Hoppi for his kindness.
Spring is everywhere in gorgeous illustrations framed with pussy willows, flowering vines and flowers. Side borders feature busy rabbits making their unusual eggs and, in a border above, the robin’s family drama unfolds.
A gatefold surprise reveals the Easter Rabbit in dramatic fashion.
As a child, Jan Brett decided to be an illustrator and spent many hours reading and drawing. She says, "I remember the special quiet of rainy days when I felt that I could enter the pages of my beautiful picture books. Now I try to recreate that feeling of believing that the imaginary place I'm drawing really exists. The detail in my work helps to convince me, and I hope others as well, that such places might be real."
As a student at the Boston Museum School, she spent hours in the Museum of Fine Arts. "It was overwhelming to see the room-size landscapes and towering stone sculptures, and then moments later to refocus on delicately embroidered kimonos and ancient porcelain," she says. "I'm delighted and surprised when fragments of these beautiful images come back to me in my painting."
Travel is also a constant inspiration. Together with her husband, Joe Hearne, who is a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jan visits many different countries where she researches the architecture and costumes that appear in her work. "From cave paintings to Norwegian sleighs, to Japanese gardens, I study the traditions of the many countries I visit and use them as a starting point for my children's books."