Who Hid the Easter Eggs? by Pirkko Vainio Ages 3-7 32 pages NorthSouth January 2011 Hardcover     A visually outstanding picture book, Who Hid the Easter Eggs? combines animal fantasy with traditional reality to create a beautiful spring story celebrating both the holiday and the awakening of nature in a new season. The book tells a simple tale of a cute little squirrel observing a grandmother as she hides Easter eggs in her yard for the grandchildren. Along comes a jackdaw, desiring his own nest full of eggs. He steals the eggs for himself, leaving the children with nothing to find. The squirrel convinces the bird to return the eggs, and together they re- hide the eggs and help the children find them. Solving the bird’s problem, the squirrel introduces him to a female jackdaw; eventually they have a nest full of eggs themselves. A straightforward story, Who Hid the Easter Eggs? lends itself to retelling and making predictions based on prior knowledge. The beautiful watercolors - greens, blues, and yellows - combined with cute, realistically drawn animals lift this book to the top of new Easter selections. Children will immediately make connections to their own experiences finding Easter eggs. The story of the animals may inspire them in their own writing, wondering how animals observe people.     web reviews   Kristine Wildner/2011 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)