Easter Bunny The First

Rabbits don't lay eggs. So why is a Bunny delivering colorful eggs to children at Easter? Author Audrey Penn spoke with Father Winter and Mother Nature and learned the secret to this question. The secret is revealed in Easter Bunny The First.

Children in a nearby village waited eagerly for the first day of Spring. When that day arrived, they raced to the forest to witness the first signs of the new season. They searched for colorful tree buds, new green shoots, and branches of the bright yellow forsythia, but found none. For Father Winter had covered the forest in a fresh, new blanket of glistening white snow. Day after day, the children returned and searched for the first signs of Spring. And day after day, they returned home disappointed. One day, they stopped coming at all.

The birds and animals were also disappointed. They did not understand why the children stopped returning to the forest.

"Perhaps they don't know Spring has arrived," explained Mother Nature.

"Then we must bring Spring to the children," tweeted the bluebird.

The forest animals constructed a special nest. When it was complete, every bird in the forest placed one of her colorful eggs, plus a tuft of grass, inside.

Mother Nature asked, "Who will carry the nest to the children?"

The birds had to sit on their other eggs. The bear was hungry after hibernating and had to eat. The fox said villagers were afraid he'd eat their chickens. The raccoon had a baby kit. And the skunk thought it best to keep his stink in the forest. The turtle volunteered, but Mother Nature worried he might not get there until fall. Finally, Mrs. Rabbit volunteered her oldest bunny.

Read where a colorful bird's egg and a pair of snowy footprints takes you.