Sunday, March 23, 2014

Check Out These Great Easter Themed Books from Random House -- Including Sticker and Activity Books That Will Make Great Basket Fillers (Reviews)

Disclosure:  I was sent a sampling of books from the publisher in order to write up an honest review.  All views shared are mine and mine alone.


Random House: Bringing You the Best in Fiction, Nonfiction, and Children's Books

Here is an assortment of great Easter themed books from Random House featuring some of your child's favorite Disney characters including Mater and Lightning McQueen from Cars, all the Disney Princesses, as well as Peter Cottontail, Pocoyo and Nick Junior's animated series, Team Umizoomi.


9780736431392


Synopsis:

"It's Easter in Radiator Springs, and Mater can't wait to see the Easter Buggy! Boys ages 3 to 7 will love this full-color Easter-themed storybook that features Mater, Lightning McQueen, and all of their friends from Disney/Pixar's Cars! It also comes with stickers and punch-out cards that are just perfect for Easter!"

My Thoughts:
Do you have a Disney Cars fan in your house?  If so, then you will want to check out this cute paperback which features everyone's favorite cars characters including Lightning McQueen and Mater.  The story itself is easy to understand, even for the youngest Cars fans in your house.  Everyone in Radiator Springs is getting ready for Easter and the Easter Buggy's arrival, especially Mater.  Mater has never seen the Easter Buggy and is determined to stay up all night just so that he can see him.  His best friend, Lightning McQueen is not sure if there is really an Easter Buggy and doesn't want to have his friend disappointed, in case the Easter Buggy doesn't show.  So, he tries to disguise himself and leave treats in Mater's Easter tire.  But, Mater can't be fooled and knew that it was Lightning McQueen in disguise.   The story continues with the two friends heading to the edge of town, as Mater said that the Easter Buggy would have to drive by them here coming and going into Radiator Springs.  Unfortunately, both Mater and Lightning McQueen fell asleep while waiting for the Easter Buggy, who did show up and leave treats for them.  As they rolled back into town, the Easter Buggy was hiding and waiting to make his getaway, so that no one would see him.  :-)

My girls are huge Cars fans, so this was an instant hit with them.  And, the cute illustrations and idea of an Easter Buggy made them smile, as we continue to read to this book over and over again.  In addition to the Easter themed story, this paperback book also includes Cars egg holders and over 50 stickers that your child can use to decorate Easter eggs this season. A real treat for Cars fans..and one my girls are eagerly waiting for. 


9780385378390

Synopsis:

"Boys and girl ages 2 to 5 will love this exciting full-color Little Golden Book retelling of the classic Here Comes Peter Cottontail movie."

My Thoughts:

It isn't Easter unless I am sharing the story of Peter Cottontail with the girls.  I grew up loving this story when my mom would read it to my brothers and I.  And, I always made a point to watch the animated movies on television when it aired right before Easter.


When I was looking through book publishers' websites and catalogs, I couldn't help but smile when I saw that Random House had this book, and a few other Peter Cottontail books available (see below for additional Peter Cottontail books available).  This a Little Golden Book is based on the classic "Peter Cottontail" movie, which I love.  I just shared the movie with the girls last year for the first time, and they were in awe of all the painted Easter eggs and the story of how Peter Cottontail came about.  So, when I showed them this book and said it was based on the movie we saw last year, the girls were excited.  I don't think they remembered the movie, but as I started to read this easy to follow along story to them, I could see it clicking with them, and Savannah was quick to finish telling her rendition of the story before I got to the end.

This book would be great to share with your child(ren) in addition to watching the classic animated movie with them, prior to Easter.  We have a tradition in our house to pull out all the Easter themed movies the week before Easter and watching them over and over again, as we anticipate the Easter Bunny's arrival and get ready for all the fun egg hunts.

9780385374422

Synopsis:

"Little boys and girls ages 3 to 7 will love to celebrate Easter with this Peter Cottontail activity book that features a sturdy plastic stencil and two pages of press-out stencils!"

My Thoughts:

This was Savannah's first experience using stencils and she loved it.  She never knew that she could draw things like tulips, bunnies and even Easter baskets, simply by using stencils.  This activity books includes both a plastic stencil as well as two pages that you can pull out that include additional stencils to use. 

Kids will have hours of fun coloring the different pages in this Easter themed coloring book, and adding fun stencil designs to the different scenes.  From adding decorations to eggs, flowers to the landscape and so much more, kids will surely get into the Easter spirit as they bring fun scenes to life with colors and stencils.

It took Savannah a week to complete all the pages in this Peter Cottontail activity book.  Even though there are no more pages to color or add stencil art to, she still loves to flip through the pages and telling her own stories based on the colored scenes. :-)

9780736430845

Synopsis:

Girls ages 3 to 7 will love discovering how Cinderella, Merida, Rapunzel, and the rest of the Disney princesses celebrate Easter. This full-color storybook comes with more than 50 stickers that can be used to decorate eggs and royal press-out egg-holders!

My Thoughts:
Just like the Cars book I shared above, this paperback book, which features some of Disney most popular princesses, including Cinderella, Rapunzel, Belle and even Merida from Brave, also contains fun egg holders and more than 50 princess stickers kids can use to decorate eggs come egg decorating time.  I tried hiding the sheets of stickers, but Savannah found them the other and kept asking for boiled eggs.  It wasn't until I finished boiling the eggs that I saw her getting the dining room table ready for egg decorating with these stickers and the egg holders.  We spent the afternoon decorating eggs and having fun.  The stickers held tight to the eggs and added a nice touch beyond the basic dye dipped eggs we are used to doing for Easter.

This book doesn't really tell a story.  Instead, each princess is featured on 2-3 pages and shows how they prepare for Easter.  From Tiana baking sweet treats to Belle planting flowers and getting water help from Mrs. Potts, Disney princess fans will enjoy flipping through the pages of this book and seeing their favorite princesses getting ready for Easter and Spring.

9780385385183

Synopsis:

"This bunny-shaped board book, featuring Richard Scarry's cutest bunnies ever, will be right at home in an Easter basket or at a springtime baby shower!"

My Thoughts:

This is Bella's favorite board book to pull from the bookcase and flip through as it is filled with all different types and colors of bunnies.  And, with the Easter Bunny coming in less than a month, this is a great book to share with little ones.  From big floppy eared bunnies, to snowshoe and angora rabbits, you and your little one will have a blast flipping through this board book and meeting all the different types of bunnies.  Come on, you can't help but smile when you see a bunny, as they are just so cute and cuddly. :-)  And, this book has its fair share of bunnies to make you and your little one smile.

9780736431293

Synopsis:

"Merida, Rapunzel, Belle, and Tiana are very egg-cited for Easter--and they want you to share in the fun! Girls ages 3 to 7 will love this full-color springtime activity book featuring the Disney princesses, tons of activities, and over 50 stickers. The perfect addition to any Easter basket!"

My Thoughts:

Here is another great Easter themed book filled with everyone's favorite Disney Princesses.  Unlike the other book I shared above, this is an activity book, which kids will have fun coloring in scenes, doing mazes, coloring by number, fill in the blanks and hide and seek games.  And, with over 50 stickers that kids can use to decorate Easter eggs with or simply fill the pages of this fun-filled activity book.  I ended up picking up another one of these activity books so that each of my girls could have one.  And, while Bella is not old enough for the puzzles, she loved seeing all her favorite Disney princesses like Rapunzel and Belle throughout the pages.

This activity book would make for a great Easter basket filler, or to surprise your child with prior to Easter.  They will have fun completing the different activities and coloring in scenes with their favorite Disney princesses.
9780385375184

Synopsis:

"Boys and girls ages 2 to 5 will love this board book, featuring sturdy, glittering pages and Nickelodeon's Team Umizoomi in an Easter adventure."

My Thoughts:

My girls loved this book, which was filled with glittery pages.  They kept taking turns passing this study board book around rubbing the glittery scenes, and counting the Easter eggs that filled the pages in this book, featuring the cast of Nick Jr. hit show, Team Umizoomi.

And, like the show, kids will have to help their Umi friends count eggs, and solve the problem in order for the Umi City Egg Hunt to happen.  The story opens with the special Rainbow Egg rolling away, and Geo, Milli and Bot jumping into action to follow the egg and bring it back safely to Umi Park.

This is a great touch and feel book for its glittery effect that will have little ones smiling as you flip the pages to show the different scenes, filled with colorful illustrations and glitter effects. My girls will be enjoying this Easter themed book for many years to come.  

9780385375115

Synopsis:

"Pocoyo is excited to celebrate Easter with his friends! This storybook based on the popular Pocoyo TV series features press-out egg holders and stickers so that boys and girls ages 3 to 7 can decorate their own Easter eggs with Pocoyo."

My Thoughts:

Fans of the animated series Pocoyo, which airs on television, will love this cute Easter themed book.  In this book, Pocoyo and his friends are excited that it is Easter day.  Pocoyo wants to color the Easter eggs by himself, even though his friends offer to help.  It is not until Pocoyo realizes that it is taking too long painting the eggs by himself, that he finally lets his friends help him out.  With their help, the eggs are all decorated and ready to be filled in the baskets that the friends make.  Pocoyo realizes that it is much more fun when you work together, as was the case when he finally let his friends help him color all the Easter eggs to fill their baskets with.

9780385376730

Synopsis:

"Classic pat the bunny characters are contenders to be Paul and Judy's new pet in this interactive lift-the-flap book. Children will love to use the picture clues and sound cues to guess the identity of each new animal!"

My Thoughts:
Here is another great lift-the-flap books that will have little ones excited to sit and listen to the story about the classic pat the bunny characters.  I had never read pat the bunny, so was in for a treat along with my girls when we sat down the first time to read this book.  

Before lifting the different flaps throughout the book, I would read the picture clues and ask the girls what they thought was hiding under the flaps.  They had a blast guessing the animals based on the description and sounds I made.  And, once they opened the flaps, I had them make the animals sounds and tell me what they saw. Not only was this book fun to read, with the many lift-the-flap pages, but the girls were able to use their problem solving skills to guess the right animal.

This book can be enjoyed year round. But, because of the cute pat the bunny on the cover, I just had to add it to my Easter gift guide.
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In addition to the above children's books, here are some other great Easter themed books worth checking out to fill your child's basket with, or sharing prior to the Easter Bunny's arrival --

978030793032397803758728089780449814420
978037586818497803758269319780375857805
978038537608297803853749729780736428576
978030709225097803758681609780375865572

Click here to order any of the above books from Random House, so that you receive in time for Easter.  Happy Reading!

Disclosure:  I was sent a sampling of books from the publisher in order to write up an honest review.  All views shared are mine and mine alone.

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