Easter Morning, Easter Sun

Written by Rosanna Battigelli

Illustrated by Tara Anderson

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-177-9

24 pp.

Ages 3-6

March 2021 

For those who celebrate Easter, Rosanna Battigelli and Tara Anderson will give life to your celebrations of hot cross buns, Easter egg hunts and family feasts. For those who don't, Easter Morning, Easter Sun shares springtime festivities that herald a new season of colours, freshness and connection of family and friends. So, we're all invited to enjoy Easter Morning, Easter Sun.

From Easter Morning, Easter Sun by Rosanna Battigelli, illus. by Tara Anderson

This Easter begins, as it does for many, with an Easter breakfast and hot cross buns which the mother cat has just pulled out of the oven. Then the family heads outside with their baskets, as do other families, for an egg hunt and to enjoy the spring: apple blossoms, a robin singing at its nest, a white duck and her ducklings on the water, and daffodils and grape hyacinths colouring the grass.

From Easter Morning, Easter Sun by Rosanna Battigelli, illus. by Tara Anderson

In rhyming verse, Rosanna Battigelli lets us join the diverse family of cats–mom is a white cat, dad is a jauntily-bereted cat of black, while little ones are grey, grey-striped, orange-tabby, and brown tabby–as they listen and watch and enjoy.

Easter springtime,

Easter buzz,

Easter chirping,

Easter fuzz.

They tumble and play, alongside a family of charming mice, until, to the evident delight of all, their guest, a dapperly-dressed rabbit with half-moon pince nez eyeglasses, joins them until it's time for goodbyes.

Easter sunset,

Easter light,

Easter bedtime,

Easter night.

From Easter Morning, Easter Sun by Rosanna Battigelli, illus. by Tara Anderson

Rosanna Battigelli delighted us with her debut picture book Pumpkin Orange, Pumpkin Round (2019), which was also illustrated by Tara Anderson, giving us a holiday-themed rhyme perfect for young children. They'll appreciate the rhythmic verse and repetitive nature of the text, sure to know the words after just a few readings. It's simple in its vocabulary but meaningful and comprehensive in its story. This is all the more so due to Tara Anderson's artwork created with oil-based coloured pencils and mineral spirits. There's a texture to her illustrations, from her medium to her technique, that emulates the grain of a blanket or the grass, the water or the cats' fur. What's more, her cats never fail to bring joy and smiles from their expressions and antics, and now we have mice from Tara Anderson that do likewise.

It doesn't matter if you celebrate Easter or not because Easter Morning, Easter Sun will take you into one cat family's festivities to partake in their traditions–you can even decorate your own eggs with the recipe provided–and rhyme along as they enjoy their day.

From Easter Morning, Easter Sun by Rosanna Battigelli, illus. by Tara Anderson