LABEL 2-24-2 reg // runs full // label, no rule

Cut back on the Easter candy this year, and give your child a picture book or two instead. Books cost more than candy, it's true. But books -- and the memories shared by parents and children reading together -- also last a lot longer.
To get you started, here are some great new picture books featuring bunnies, lambs and other creatures of the season:
-- Sammy and his stuffed rabbit Tom are inseparable and go everywhere together. Although Tom Rabbit is a toy, it's almost as if he can talk and think. That's how Sammy feels, anyway.
But one day, Sammy wanders off to play with some others, leaving Tom Rabbit perched on a fence. Hours pass, and Tom grows ever more lonely and scared, wondering if Sammy has abandoned him. It's not until Sammy is ready for bedtime that he realizes that Tom is missing, and he runs out to claim him.
In "Tom Rabbit" (Candlewick Press, $15.99), acclaimed British author Martin Waddell takes children's fear of abandonment and creates a story that both recognizes the fear and tries hard to allay it. Waddell says the story is a personal one, noting that "something very like Tom Rabbit's adventure happened to me when I was a very small child waiting for my mother."
Waddell has a genius for tapping into the world of children without ever sentimentalizing it. His well-written text is clear-eyed yet comforting, and the fact that Tom Rabbit can think and talk seems perfectly natural.
Barbara Firth's pastel-hued pencil and watercolor illustrations capture the sweetness of Waddell's tale without adding any sappiness. Firth does a particularly fine job at making Tom Rabbit look just life-like enough. (Ages 3-6).
Bunnies are off on a different planet -- literally -- in Christine Loomis' whimsical new book "Astro Bunnies" (Putnam, $15.99).
Featuring eye-catching, fanciful illustrations by artist Ora Eitan, "Astro Bunnies" details the busy space voyage of some curious bunnies. Using a rhyming text, Loomis begins by telling readers that "Astro bunnies/See a star/Think they'd like to/Go that far."
The book takes off from that simple beginning, as Loomis launches the adventurous bunnies into the star-studded blackness of space. They gather moon dust, measure comets and even visit the Milky Way before heading back home.
Loomis' fantasy story is fast-paced and fun, a good match for Eitan's vivid gouache and computer-generated illustrations. (Ages 3-6).
Author/artist Kim Lewis draws great inspiration from her life on an English sheep farm. Many of her previous books, such as "First Snow" or "Floss," are set there, and spotlight some aspect of farm life.
In her newest book, "Little Baa" (Candlewick Press, $15.99), Lewis once again tells a tale about a farm creature. Here, the star is a lamb called "Little Baa," who strays too far from his mother and gets lost. With a little help from Floss, the farm dog, the mother and child eventually are reunited.
Although Lewis' story couldn't be simpler, she invests it with lots of emotion. Lewis understands that her story will resonate with preschoolers, who are busy exploring the world. Like Little Baa, they are testing their boundaries, and sometimes that can be scary.
Lewis' text is complemented by her gorgeously-rendered colored pencil illustrations, filled with soft grass, bright skies and beautifully-drawn sheep. (Ages 3-6).
A little robin is in no hurry to leave the nest. His brother and sister have already learned to fly, but this little robin is content to stay in the cozy nest with his mother and father. Someday, however, he knows he will have to try flying, and he's more than a bit worried about that.
In "Robin's Home" (FSG, $16), author Jeannine Atkins tells an entertaining tale about a robin who believes there's just no place like home -- until he learns to fly. Atkins weaves information about robins and their nests into her story, and concludes the book with an author's note with even more information for curious readers.
Candace Whitman's illustrations are bright with the colors of springtime. Created with torn paper watercolor collage, Whitman's illustrations detail both the coziness of the little robin's nest and his exhilaration at learning to fly. (Ages 3-6).
Master children's book author/artist Eric Carle proves he can make a story out of anything in "Little Cloud" (Puffin, $5.99).
In this beautifully-illustrated story, Carle playfully shows a day in the life of a cloud who revels in changing his shape. One moment, Little Cloud is a sheep, the next moment he's an airplane. As the book ends, Little Cloud has joined forces with the other clouds to produce a refreshing spring rain.
Young readers will love Carle's book, in which he takes the time to see the world just as they do. "Little Cloud" is a delightfully meandering and imaginative look at a natural phenomenon that too few adults ever notice. (Ages 2-7).
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com. E-mail kmacpherson(at)nationalpress.com.)