Easter is the highest liturgical event in the religious calendar of the Catholic Church. While Easter is primarily a religious event, many other secular activities bring joy to people on this happy day. There are family gatherings and dinners, children wondering if the Easter Bunny left any eggs and the hunt in the backyard for Easter Eggs. Priscilla Adams has written a delightful story about a terrible mistake the Easter Bunny made one Easter Morning. The name of this charming story is The Easter Bunny That Overslept.
The Easter Bunny cozily lay sleeping in his warm rabbit burrow. The rain fell and fell, and he kept turning over thinking he would get up at any moment and deliver Easter Eggs. But the sun never cracked through the dark clouds, and the bunny missed Easter altogether. Children throughout the area awoke to the disappointment of not having any eggs in their baskets. So they made the best of it and ate the candy they found on Easter morning. Finally, the Easter Bunny woke up. He quickly realized that he was a month late on delivering his Easter Eggs. He rapidly jumped up and took all the eggs to the nearby houses. The children burst out laughing at his attempt to deliver Easter Eggs on Mother’s Day. After going to several more houses and being ridiculed, the Easter Bunny dejectedly returned to his rabbit burrow. Exhausted and not knowing what to do, he fell asleep.
Waking up over a month later, the rabbit developed a plan. Maybe people would accept the Easter Eggs if they were painted different colors for another holiday. Since the Fourth of July was so near, he decided to paint them red, white and blue. He would give everyone patriotic eggs, and they would cheer this gift when they saw the fireworks. As the parade began marching through the center of town, he joined the joyful occasion. Proudly, the Easter Bunny displayed his red, white and blue Fourth of July Eggs. The officer in charge of the parade stopped the celebration. He demanded that the rabbit explain these colored eggs. When the Easter Bunny replied that he had created Fourth of July eggs, the officer jeered at him and told the Bunny to step aside. Fourth of July Eggs simply didn’t exist. For the second time the Easter Bunny dejectedly returned to his burrow. What was he going to do with all of his eggs? A new plan began to form in his mind. Maybe a different holiday was needed? This was going to take some thought.
What holiday did the Easter Bunny choose? What famous holiday character helped the Easter Bunny with his duties? Did you ever accidentally oversleep and create a misunderstanding? Who helped you out? Did you take any precautions to make sure it didn’t happen again? What does the Easter Bunny finally do? To find out, go to the library and checkout The Easter Bunny That Overslept by Priscilla Friedrich.
Adrienne Adams was a famous children’s artist in the 1950’s and latter decades. She has drawn endearing pictures portraying the problems faced by the Easter Bunny. This is a whimsical book that will be enjoyed by young children as they see the Easter Bunny trying to solve his egg problems. They should find the conclusion very satisfying. I hope you get a chance to read this delightful title with your younger family members. It is a pleasant story. Enjoy!
