The Best Rabbit Picture Books for Easter Baskets
The Easter Bunny doesn’t get nearly the same amount of publicity that Santa gets, and that’s a tragic injustice as far as I’m concerned. I’ll readily admit that Easter doesn’t have quite the same magical feeling as Christmastime, but, as far as family traditions go, egg hunts and Easter baskets are high up there on the list - and they deserve their time in the spotlight too.
I have fond memories of waking up to Easter baskets as a kid. It’s a great concept all the way around. Who wants to open (or wrap for that matter) lots of individually-wrapped presents? Ain’t nobody got time for that. I’m looking at you Christmas. Chocolates, toys, games, books, movies - throw it all in one basket and call it good.
And, to save even more time, go ahead and skip the obligatory, bright-green, plastic spaghetti grass. Remember how some of your toys and candy would inevitably sink into the abyss of that staticky, plastic quicksand? What a waste of precious chocolate-rabbit-ears-eating time. Save yourself the headache and save the planet at the same time.
But what’s a parent to put inside of an Easter basket these days? There’s only so much space to work with, so it’s necessary to be discerning. I’ve always thought that a new book was a great choice for families. And, if you happen to agree, I’ve rounded up our family’s very favorite rabbit books to give you some good ideas.
Now, all of the picture books on this list aren’t specifically about Easter, mind you. In the spirit of giving the Easter Bunny his well-deserved due, these are simply our favorite books featuring rabbits. So technically this list could come in quite handy for more reasons than just Easter. Maybe you’re a teacher doing a unit on rabbits, or maybe your kids are simply big bunny fans. You know what they always say, there’s no wrong reason for needing a list about rabbit books.
As is the case with all of our book lists, the picture books you’ll find below are pulled from our own collection of books that we love. That way you know they aren’t just any books with rabbits in them, they’re some of our favorite picture books of all time. Have a Happy Easter, everyone! Or a happy, rabbit-themed birthday party. The possibilities are truly endless.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. Clicking on these links will lead you to view the books’ listings on websites like Amazon or IndieBound.
Little Bunny Foo Foo
Written and Illustrated by Cori Doerrfeld
My mom used to sing Little Bunny Foo Foo to me when I was growing up, so this book is a very big nostalgia trip for me. It’s an absolutely ridiculous song, featuring a mischievous rabbit that bops field mice on their heads - but the power of nostalgia is a mysterious thing, and our kids seem to love it as much as I did.
Cori Doerrfeld’s version of Little Bunny Foo Foo turns the story around - in the same vein as The True Story of the Three Little Pigs - and makes the reader empathize with Little Bunny Foo Foo a little more. The kids get a big kick out of it. But reader beware, the ending is a shocker involving a monster eating the Good Fairy - and some little ones might find that scary.
There’s also a more classic version called Little Rabbit Foo Foo with some great illustrations too. And while it’s also great, I can’t get over the fact that it’s called “Little Rabbit” instead of “Little Bunny”. That’s not how the song goes!
Max’s Chocolate Chicken
Written and Illustrated by Rosemary Wells
Speaking of nostalgia, Max’s Chocolate Chicken might be the one book on this list that brings back the most vivid Easter memories for me. There was also an animated version of this story that we watched every Easter (along with A Family Circus Easter), and that’s a tradition I like to continue with our kids.
Any Max and Ruby book is a great choice if you’re on the hunt for good rabbit books, but of course Max’s Chocolate Chicken is the right choice for Easter. The Easter Bunny leaves a chocolate chicken in a bird bath for the winner of the big Easter egg hunt - and Max is a little obsessed with it. Ruby wants him to focus on the egg hunt and save the chicken for the winner - but clearly Ruby has never met Max before.
Guess How Much I Love You
Written by Sam McBratney and Illustrated by Anita Jeram
Guess How Much I Love You was one of the first books that popped into our heads when we were compiling our favorite rabbit books. It’s certainly a classic book about love to share with the little ones, and we’ve had the board book ever since our son was born.
If you aren’t familiar, the story revolves around a rabbit and his dad - Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare - basically one-upping each other with describing how much they love each other. As far as I know, it’s the origin for the popular phrase “I love you to the moon and back” that we use with our kids. And our kids really get into the game of one-upping us with descriptions of love.
This one is also a very popular choice for baby showers and birthdays. I’m telling you folks, these rabbit books are very versatile.
Creepy Carrots
Written by Aaron Reynolds and Illustrated by Peter Brown
Certainly the creepiest rabbit picture book on our list. If your little ones enjoy spooky things, this is the Easter book for you. Jasper Rabbit eats some carrots from a field and then he can’t shake the feeling that he’s being watched and followed.
It’s a very well-written and well-illustrated book that perfectly captures that sense of paranoia like old Hitchcock movies or Twilight Zone episodes. A great amount of tension is created as Jasper Rabbit begins to think that the carrots are plotting revenge against him. Is it all in his head, or are the carrots truly after him? Our little fans of spooky things think this one is great.
The Runaway Bunny
Written by Margaret Wise Brown and Illustrated by Clement Hurd
The inimitable Margaret Wise Brown wrote The Runaway Bunny about 5 years before Goodnight Moon, and it features the same rabbit mom illustrated by Clement Hurd. In Goodnight Moon she’s a creepy, old lady whispering hush in the corner while you’re trying to sleep, but in The Runaway Bunny she’s a very loving mother trying to convince her little bunny not to run away from home.
I think the illustrations are the big highlight for me in this one. It’s endlessly enjoyable to discover how the mother and child transform on each page - and to actually find them with your kids like it’s a hidden picture game. And in the end the mother rabbit achieves her goal of convincing the little bunny to stay home. Kids tend to find her display of never-ending love very comforting and reassuring, and that’s probably why this one is such a classic.
Knuffle Bunny
Written and Illustrated by Mo Willems
Mo Willems’ combination of real-life photographs and cartoon illustrations earned him a Caldecott Honor and it was certainly much-deserved. The emotions put on display by young Trixie in this book are perfectly captured. She’s at the adorable stage of life where she has lots of thoughts and powerful feelings, but she just doesn’t have the words to communicate yet.
And when she accidentally leaves her beloved Knuffle Bunny at the laundromat, not having the words to communicate with dad turns out to be a big problem. She has no choice but to act out her feelings in the most dramatic way she can manage. The concept works great with little ones who can absolutely still relate with having trouble communicating the importance of their desires with grown-ups.
Garfield the Easter Bunny?
Written and Illustrated by Jim Davis
Garfield the Easter Bunny? is out of print now, but you can still find used copies out there pretty easily. And it’s not the first great Garfield book from my childhood that I’ve had trouble tracking down either. Garfield is clearly not getting the credit he deserves from this generation, and I won’t stand for it. Every single holiday on the calendar is a good time for Garfield.
This classic Garfield story features Garfield and Odie taking over Easter deliveries for an exhausted Easter Bunny. How hard can it be? Well, it turns out that the Easter Bunny’s job is pretty hard, and Garfield and Odie are worried that Easter is going to be ruined if they can’t pull it off.
This one is a big nostalgia trip, and it’s a must for Garfield fans. It’s your duty to teach the little ones that no holiday is complete without everybody’s favorite lazy orange cat.
Wolfie the Bunny
Written by Ame Dyckman and Illustrated by Zachariah Ohora
Wolfie the Bunny is one of those books we checked out from the library, and our kids insisted on reading it so many times that we knew we needed our own copy. Wolfie is, in fact, not a bunny. He was adopted by bunnies. Wolfie is a wolf, and, as you can imagine, that could be problematic in a family of rabbits.
Mom and Dad Bunny aren’t worried about it, but little Dot insists that Wolfie is going to eat them all up. It’s a very funny book, and a surprisingly sweet one as well. My favorite part is undoubtedly Wolfie’s pink rabbit onesie pajamas with rabbit ears on top.
The story centers around Dot’s eventual acceptance of her little brother, so it can easily be interpreted as a story about getting used to not being an only-child anymore. It’s also a sweet story of adoption and family an love - and we’re all huge fans.
It’s Not Easy Being a Bunny
Written by Marilyn Sadler and Illustrated by Roger Bolen
The tale of P. J. Funnybunny also made an appearance on our list of the best picture books that celebrate being yourself, because the plot here centers around a bunny who doesn’t want to be a bunny anymore. He’s unhappy at home with all of his brothers and sisters, so he sets off into the world to be a different animal.
It’s a very funny concept, and the execution is perfect. P. J. tries being a possum, a bear, a moose, and more - but all of them fail to make him happy for one reason or another. The illustrations of this rabbit trying and failing to be different animals are the highlight for sure.
This was one of my very favorite books as a kid, and I can still hear the cadence of the text read by my parents. It’s definitely one of the best bunny books out there - and it comes with the bonus lesson of being true to yourself and the importance of discovering where you are happy.
A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo
Written by Marlon Bundo & Jill Twiss and Illustrated by EG Keller
This picture book is just about perfect. It was published by Last Week Tonight with John Oliver to troll Vice President Mike Pence and his anti-LGBTQ views, with 100% of the proceeds going to The Trevor Project and AIDS United. It’s based on the real-life family rabbit of the Vice President, and it tells the tale of how he fell in love with another boy bunny and wanted to spend his life together with him.
It was actually released just one day before the Pence family’s version of a Marlon Bundo picture book, and, quite frankly, I’m stunned it’s not something you can be sued for. But I was very happy to hear that even Charlotte Pence publicly voiced her support for this version of Marlon Bundo’s story - since all proceeds go to charity.
The execution of this book is sublime. Not only does it do a remarkable job of poking fun at bigots, but it does so with a very well-made children’s book that can be 100% enjoyed for its own merits. The cartoon illustrations are fantastic, and the love story between the two bunnies is incredibly sweet. And, above all, the support of their friends is very heartwarming.
This book manages to be a very tasteful and tactful introduction to the concept that some stinkbugs don’t want two boys or two girls to be married to each other - and it’s such an important message it can bring a tear to my eye. Sharing this one with the kids means a lot.
Mini Rabbit is Not Lost
Written and Illustrated by John Bond
Mini Rabbit is Not Lost recently made our list of The Funniest Picture Books of 2019, and we’re still obsessed with it around here. The combination of John Bond’s art with Mini Rabbit’s repetitive dialogue (mostly speaking to himself) is laugh-out-loud funny.
Mini Rabbit is on a very over-the-top mission to find berries to make a cake, and he traverses quite a long distance on his hunt. The humor seems to stem from a kind of dry, emotionless tunnel vision on display from Mini Rabbit - coupled with his disconnected refrain to nobody in particular: “I can find berries!”. With the right voices during a read aloud, you’re sure to get a lot of smiles.
There are also remarkable details in the illustrations. The environments are really quite beautiful - and if you look close you’ll find lots of hidden berries along the way. Mini Rabbit will forever be one of our favorite rabbits.
The Rabbit Listened
Written and Illustrated by Cori Doerrfeld
The Rabbit Listened was one of our very favorite picture books of 2018, and it just so happens to be the second rabbit book from Cori Doerrfeld on this list! In it, a child named Taylor has a child-sized disaster. His blocks that he was building with come crashing down, and he is inconsolable. And all of his animal friends have their own ideas for making him feel better.
The chicken wants to talk about it, the bear wants to get angry, the elephant wants to fix it, and the snake suggests he might feel better if he knocks down someone else’s blocks. What you have here is all of the different personality types you actually encounter in the world. It’s certainly true that everyone has their own way of trying to help.
But none of the animals provide what Taylor truly needs until the rabbit comes along. In a very adorable and touching scene, the rabbit just curls up next to Taylor and sits there with him. He doesn’t say anything. He just listens as Taylor begins to talk about his feelings. It’s so sweet and so true, and a good reminder of how we can all be better rabbits in our loved-ones’ times of need.
Bunnicula
Written by James Howe and Illustrated by C. F. Payne
Okay I cheated a bit. Bunnicula is, of course, a series of chapter books. But I don’t exactly foresee the opportunity to write another article about rabbit books anytime soon, so how could I possibly leave out one of our favorite rabbits of all time. Consider this boxed set to be a bonus option for the older kids’ Easter baskets.
Bunnicula is the story of the famous vampire bunny created by James Howe. He sucks the juice out of vegetables and makes the family pets Chester and Harold quite nervous. I found almost the complete series in my collection of books from my childhood, and my son was instantly hooked. My wife ended up reading the entire series to him out loud, and afterwards he also fell in love with the Bunnicula TV show on Boomerang.
As is the case with Creepy Carrots, if your kids like spooky atmospheres like ours do, Bunnicula would make an excellent Easter gift. And if they fall in love with it you’ll have bedtime read alouds covered for quite a while.
What is your family’s favorite rabbit picture book? Are you going to slip any books into the Easter baskets this year? Let us know in the comments!
