J.K.Rowling, Books and Easter

Every time I read a Harry Potter book I felt as if I was on vacation--transported and taken to a wonderful place.  It was a holiday each time I read the book.  I cannot bring myself to read the last book in the series because to me, this way, it is not over, and I am still somewhere in the story.  Just like Christmas vacation or spring break--i will be very sad when it is all over.

With Easter upon us I cannot help but think how special the holidays become again when we have children.  Something magical happens, and we become the fairies and elves we so fondly remember reading about as children, and create, even for a short time, a happy, wondrous and magical place for them.

During Easter we decorate and hunt for eggs, get together with family for meals, and wait anxiously for our baskets.  This special time we spend with our kids is forever etched into their minds, and the tales of Peter Cotton Tail and the Easter bunny enchant them and fill them with excitement.

Although not Easter books, the tales of Beatrix Potter are a childhood favorite.

http://www.amazon.com/Beatrix-Potter-The-Complete-Tales/dp/072325804X/ref=cm_lmf_tit_1

Easter books can be found with Disney characters, Spongebob, The Bernstein Bears or even Thomas the Tank Engine.

http://www.amazon.com/Easter-Engines-Thomas-Friends-Reading/dp/0307929965/ref=sr_1_33?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333653244&sr=1-33

So find an Easter book and take your kids on a journey down the bunny trail--happy holidays :)

Excerpt from FRANCINE AND THE SUPER PET SPY BUNNY:

 CANDY WISHES

            Francine was lying in bed before school and she began to wonder what the Easter bunny would bring her this year.

She waited all year for Easter, the lovely holiday at the beginning of spring that was filled with jelly beans, chocolate and egg hunts. She was having a daydream that she would find all the eggs in the hunt, and inside the eggs would be more candy than she could ever eat in her life.She was looking up at the ceiling, lost in candy-filled Easter thoughts hoping for five packs of colorful marshmallow Cheeps, a solid chocolate Easter bunny that was two feet tall, and a Chicky-Poop toy that laid jelly bean Easter eggs when you pressed on its back. (Pic of candy dreams please)

She got out of bed and looked at herself in the mirror.

“I am doing fine in school, I volunteered to clean up Clark Park TWICE this year, and I baby sat my brother on the night everyone else went to see the new vampire movie, Dawn.  I am SURE I am going to get great things from the Easter bunny this year!” she said as she crossed her fingers.

Easter was Francine’s favorite holiday.  She liked it more than Halloween.  She even liked it more than Christmas.  Because Francine liked candy more than anything in the world.

She liked Fizzy Bits, the candy that felt like carbonated soda in your mouth.  She loved Chocolate Dogs because they tasted delicious and the wrapper barked when opened.  Her very favorite candy was Super-Sweetie Firecrackers.  This candy came in five flavors and when you bit into the crunchy, sugary outside, a tiny cloud of sweet and sour candy dust exploded inside your mouth.  Francine loved the exciting adventure of each new mystery flavor, but she did NOT like it when she got the mango flavor. Francine sometimes wished she could have all the candy in the world. She also wished she would never get the bad flavors. She did not understand why candy makers ever used pineapple, mango, coconut, or pear flavors in candy.  Yuck.

“Those flavors,” said Francine, ‘are NOT candy-worthy.

She tapped her chin as she thoughtfully stared out the window and proclaimed: “I wish there were candy rules….”

She took a deep breath and said loudly:

“Rule one.  ONLY the best flavors should be used in every bag or box of candy.

And rule two should be that every kid should be able to eat all the candy they want at Easter—and all their Easter wishes should come true.”