Chester's Colorful Easter Eggs

With Easter fast approaching, I want to recommend this adorable picture book written and illustrated by Theresa Smythe. Chester's Colorful Easter Eggs, is a delightful book that reinforces counting and color recognition skills while we watch Chester happily decorating and hiding rainbow colored eggs for his friends.

I asked Theresa how her book came into being and she explained that it was originally a sequel to her popular Christmas book, Snowbear's Christmas Countdown. The idea was born from her childhood and how elaborate her family's egg decorating was-- an article 
in a McCalls or Women's day magazine with Alice in Wonderland themed eggs still stands out in her mind.

When she initially developed her dummy book,  Snowbear starred in the show but it just wasn't feeling right for her. Next, she approached it with a quirky artistic pig named Maurice living in New York City. Although he was well received by Theresa's editors, Chester the rabbit, ultimately stole the show.  "Now it's hard to believe it started out with a bear, went to a pig and ended up a bunny. Because the bunny fits -- just like that!!! Everything is a stepping stone to get you from a to z ; nothing is wasted."

(I agree, nothing is wasted. I have my fingers crossed that Maurice will have a book of his own one day.)







I'm captivated by Theresa's richly textured cut paper style that feels as if the pieces can be pulled right off the page. Here is a fun example
of her process, click to enlarge...

Chester's Colorful Easter Eggs is a sweet treat to add to a little one's Easter basket. As well as a fun read aloud, this treasure will keep kids engaged visually as well as motivating a rainbow filled egg coloring activity!

Happy Easter!