Spring had come to the forest, along with the rains, and Mousekins needed to find a new, drier home for himself. Exploring all of the possibilities, he encountered a massive white rabbit, whose thumping warned him when danger was near. Eventually, fleeing before an owl, he discovered a strange garden, complete with flowers previously unknown to him, and a basket full of eggs of an unusual color. When a child appeared to claim the basket, Mousekins fled, while his white rabbit friend followed after the child and her companion...

First published in 1986, Mousekin's Easter Basket was the thirteenth title in author/illustrator Edna Miller's fifteen-volume Mouskin series, begun in 1964 with Mousekin's Golden House, and concluded in 1992 with Mousekin's Lost Woodland. I had no idea, picking this title up, that it belonged to such an extensive series, but I am glad to discover it, as I found this entry charming. The narrative is simple, and the artwork lovely. Everything has a naturalistic feeling to it - real animals, out in the real world - even the white bunny, who, with his ribbons of various colors, clearly belongs to the children seen at the end of the story. There is a gentle, innocent quality to the story here, as Mousekin remains enmeshed in his wild, murine world, but briefly encounters the human one, through his visit to the garden. As mentioned, the illustrations are just lovely. Like Carol and Donald Carrick's A Rabbit for Easter, the last "Easter" picture-book I read, this really isn't an Easter story at all, so much as one which occurs at Eastertide. I would recommend it to picture-book readers who enjoy mouse stories. For my own part, I intend to track down other titles about Mouskins. ( )

Ex libris Rebecca Schaffner ( )

Without ever making any references to Christianity, religious families will find several parallels to the Easter story in this beautiful book. ( )