If you're filling a baby's first Easter basket, board books are one of the best things you can tuck in — they're lightweight, colorful, and way more useful than candy a baby can't eat yet.
With that said, not everyone celebrates Easter with a religious focus. (It can also be tricky buying religious books because you get everything from gentle "Jesus and the Easter egg" stories all the way to full resurrection themes, and how deep you want to go with that is a very personal call.)
So if you're looking for books that lean into bunnies, eggs, spring, and nature rather than scripture, this list is for you.
📌 Shopping for the whole basket? I've put together a full shoppable list of everything I'd put in a baby's first Easter basket — books, toys, and a few extras that aren't chocolate. Check it out here.
Classic Easter Picks
1. I Am a Bunny I will never shut up about this book and I'm not sorry. The illustrations are soft and painterly — genuinely beautiful, not the cutesy clip-art style you see everywhere — and it follows a bunny named Nicholas through the seasons. It's also a perfect basket size. Every baby needs a copy. Find it at Target.
2. Peter Rabbit Little Library Four tiny books — colors, numbers, animals, and opposites — in a sweet little slipcase that looks great in a basket. The watercolor illustrations are lovely and somehow these little books survive small children way better than you'd expect. Find it on Amazon.
3. Peter Rabbit Easter Fun Peter and his sisters hide eggs for their forest friends, and honestly I prefer this one to the original Peter Rabbit board book because there's just more going on — sturdy flaps, busy pages, and it moves fast enough to keep younger babies actually interested. Find it at Target.
4. Easter Bunny, Where Are You? A simple flap book where different animals are hiding behind each page. Nothing fancy, but really great for young babies who are just discovering that things exist under other things, which is genuinely thrilling at that age. Find it on Amazon
5. That's Not My Bunny… Different textures on every page, satisfying repetitive text, and a tiny mouse hiding in every spread that kids find endlessly exciting. The bunny edition is perfect for Easter without being over the top about it. Find it at Target.
6. We're Going on an Egg Hunt A lift-the-flap egg hunt with a gentle counting element woven in. It reads quickly, which you will deeply appreciate on your fourth read of the evening. Find it at Target.
7. Where's the Bunny? The illustrations in this one are bold, graphic, and really modern. The flaps are felt instead of paper so there's a nice tactile element, and there's a little mirror tucked in the back. You can also turn it into a memory game as kids get older, so it grows with them a bit. Find it at Target.
8. The Great Easter Egg Hunt Think mini Where's Waldo but make it woodland animals. Bear and friends hunt for hidden eggs through forests and along rivers and it's just really charming. Fair warning: the cover is kind of blah and does not do this book justice at all. Don't leave it on the shelf based on that. Find it on Amazon.
Spring & Nature Books
These aren't Easter books at all, but they're perfect for the season and tend to stick around longest.
9. Teeny Tiny Bunny A tiny bunny plants a garden, a storm wipes it all out, and the farm animals rally to help replant — including slugs with shovels, which made me actually laugh out loud in the bookstore aisle. Bouncy rhymes, vibrant illustrations, and just enough story to keep everyone engaged. Find it on Amazon.
10. One Hot Chick A chick needs shade, more chicks join the mission, chaos ensues. The double meaning made me smile, which matters a lot when you're going to be reading something approximately eight thousand times. Genuinely delightful. Find it on Amazon.
11. Pop-Up Peekaboo Frog Tadpole to frog, with pop-ups and flaps along the way. Not Easter at all but very spring, and perfect for any kid who already has strong feelings about bugs, mud, or pond life. Find it at Target.
12. Plant the Tiny Seed Okay this one is so clever. Kids wiggle their fingers to water the seeds, clap to make sunshine, shoo away a snail — all built into the text with no tabs or flaps needed. Pure interaction through storytelling. Kids lose their minds for it and honestly so did I. Find it at Target.
13. Under the Ground Lift flaps to see what's happening underground — ants, bunnies, pipes, fossils, lava. This one's for the kid who is decidedly not into pastel bunnies and wants something a little more interesting. Love it for that. Find it on Amazon.
14. Who Laid These Eggs? Kids lift flaps to find different nests and eggs — robins, alligators, ostriches, butterflies, and more — with a simple fact about each one. Easter-adjacent without being Easter-themed, which is a nice sweet spot. Find it on Amazon.
15. Bee: A Peek-Through Board Book Follow a bee through her day with die-cut holes to peek through as she pollinates and works with her hive. It's quiet and sweet and sneaks in real information without feeling like homework. Find it on Amazon.
16. My First 100 Animal Words Way more interesting than your average word book — each spread has 8 to 12 animals including axolotl, tardigrade, and cassowary, several of which I had to Google, no shame. Kids will get a lot of mileage out of this one as their vocabulary takes off. Find it at Target.
Interactive & Activity Books
17. Scrambled Eggs Split pages that let you mix and match egg characters into ridiculous combinations — a pirate egg doing the moonwalk, a disco egg sailing the seas. I spent an embarrassing amount of time with this one in the store. Toddlers will flip the pages themselves and think it's the funniest thing that has ever happened. Find it on Amazon.
18. Calm Bunny Step-by-step yoga poses where kids move through bunny, snake, and other animal shapes. I can totally see this becoming a wind-down ritual for kids who need to physically shake it out before bed. The bunny framing keeps it playful so it doesn't feel like you're trying to trick them into calming down. (Even though you absolutely are.) Find it on Amazon.
19. Yoga Bunny Bunny wants yoga friends but Lizard is tired, Fox is rushing, and Bird has the hiccups. Same energy as me trying to get anyone to do anything, honestly. A little more story-driven than Calm Bunny and they pair nicely together if you want both. Find it on Amazon.
20. Peek-A-Boo Haiku A guessing game where each animal is described in haiku before you lift the flap for the reveal. The illustrations are rich and detailed in a way that's genuinely unusual for board books. I found it lovely, even though I'll be honest — I cannot reliably explain what makes a haiku a haiku and I've Googled it more than once. Find it at Target.
Sweet & Emotional Reads
21. I'll Hold Your Hand A parent walks a child through every milestone — first steps, first day of school, all the big and small moments in between. This one made me teary. If you want one book that hits the parents just as hard as it delights the baby, tuck this one in the basket. Find it on Amazon.
The Bottom Line
The best Easter basket books aren't just Easter books — they're the ones that earn a permanent spot in the bedtime rotation long after the eggs are found and the chocolate is gone.
Also check out: 30+ First Easter Basket Ideas for a Baby
This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through my links I may earn a small commission. Thanks for supporting Pregnant Chicken — it keeps the lights on and the book reviews coming. Updated March 2026.
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