72. The Little Engine's Easter Egg Hunt

Board book: The Little Engine's Easter Egg Hunt. Lana Edelman. Illustrated by Jannie Ho. 2023. [January] 26 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: The Little Engine chugs along happily. Spring is here, and today is Easter! "Happy Easter," toots the Little Engine. "What a great day it is," says the toy clown. "Are you ready to have some fun?" The toy clown has a surprise for his friends. "It is time for an Easter egg hunt!" He says. Everyone cheers.

Premise/plot: The Little Engine (that could) and friends (many friends) are following clues and answering riddles on their hunt for (chocolate) Easter eggs.

My thoughts: This one appears to have first been published in 2020. It is not available in board book form. Holiday board books (and picture books) are in a class of their own, in my opinion. I try to understand why they exist, why they get published (to make money for the publishers, to be bought as gifts). Usually the gimmick is to connect character(s) from an established series (or brand) with a holiday (Easter, Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, etc.). 

I have absolutely nothing against The Little Engine That Could. I don't. It's a delightful enough story. One that I could even read aloud again-again to a train-loving toddler. I think if you have a train-loving toddler then this one would be fine for the Easter basket. But there are better train stories....and better Easter stories. This one is just fine.

© 2023 Becky Laney of Young Readers