Leprechaun vs. Easter Bunny (B&N Exclusive Edition)

by Todd Tarpley, Stephanie Laberis (Illustrator)

Overview

St. Patrick's Day and Easter go head-to-head in this hilarious holiday mash-up (with a special sparkly cover)!

It was only a matter of time. When two holidays are this close together, there are bound to be a few...disagreements. Now two sneaky rivals, Leprechaun and Easter Bunny, must battle over the perfect hill for hiding a pot of gold or an Easter egg, and no one is backing down. Whose holiday will reign supreme? Find out in this rowdy, rhyming celebration of Easter and St. Patrick’s Day!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316573856
Publisher:	Little Brown Bks Young Readers
Publication date:	01/30/2024
Edition description:	B&N Exclusive Edition
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	12,427
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Todd Tarpley is the author of numerous children's books including Three Grumpy Trucks, Ten Tiny Toes, and Beep! Beep! Go to Sleep!, an ALA Notable Book, and Naughty Ninja Takes a Bath, which spent several days as the #1 children's book on Amazon. His books have been featured in the New York Times; included on Best Books of the Year lists by Huffington Post, Chicago Public Library, and Bank Street College; and translated into Chinese, German, Italian, and Danish. Todd invites you to visit him online at toddtarpley.com.

Steph Laberis is a character designer and illustrator specializing in animation and children’s publishing. Her work is known for its sense of whimsy, humor, and expressive (usually animal!) characters. Currently a full-time character and prop designer on an animated series for Disney Jr., Steph previously designed for Disney’s Puppy Dog Pals and providedvisual development for DreamWorksTV on the Netflix animated series Rhyme Time Town and Dragons: The Nine Realms. She is also the illustrator of the Grumpy Cat Little Golden Book series and has illustrated over forty picture books. Visit her online at stephlaberis.squarespace.com.

Editorial Reviews

03/13/2023

The hilltop “where the clover is green,/ and rainbows are brighter/ than you’ve ever seen” isn’t big enough for the St. Patrick’s Day leprechaun, portrayed with light skin, and the Easter Bunny in this holiday mash-up. The two mascots quickly escalate their tussle over the turf where the leprechaun wants to bury treasure and the bunny has planted tulips. Their prank war leaves them tired and sore, but when pink-skinned Cupid arrives on the scene trying to use the hill as a staging area for next Valentine’s Day, the indignant leprechaun and bunny join forces, brought together by Cupid as common enemy. Tarpley’s rigorously rhyming text sustains high levels of animation-style one-upmanship throughout, and Laberis’s digital artwork gets all the seasonal imagery right, with eggs, baskets, gold coins, tulips, and hearts strewn across the green grass, and four-leaf clovers under a rainbow’s glow. Ages 4–8. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

* "Hilarious brinkmanship that will have audiences rolling.... This laugh-out-loud picture book should be a staple for all children’s libraries holiday sections."—School Library Journal, starred review

"Riotously funny...will have readers giggling all year long. Skilled storytellers will enjoy hamming up the action as the characters attempt to assert their dominance over their hillside home. Slapstick fun for any season."—Kirkus

"Tarpley’s rigorously rhyming text sustains high levels of animation-style one-upmanship throughout, and Laberis’s digital artwork gets all the seasonal imagery right, with eggs, baskets, gold coins, tulips, and hearts strewn across the green grass, and four-leaf clovers under a rainbow’s glow."—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

★ 03/01/2023

PreS-Gr 2—Since Easter and St. Patrick's Day are so close together, it was only time before the Easter Bunny and the Leprechaun started some beef with each other. The book opens with the leprechaun preparing for his holiday by hiding his gold when the Easter Bunny starts to scold him for digging up the tulips where he was going to hide his eggs. What follows is a hilarious brinkmanship that will have audiences rolling. But, oh no, why is Cupid here? Maybe our foes will have to team up after all. The rhyming text makes this book great for read-alouds, and each page flows nicely into the next. Lebaris's colorful and expressive illustrations make this book even funnier; the facial expressions and the high jinks that ensue are masterfully rendered. Tarpley has other funny books that are hits with child ren and this is another great one. VERDICT This laugh-out-loud picture book should be a staple for all children's libraries holiday sections.—Kristin Joy Anderson

School Library Journal

2022-11-29
Sometimes the holidays get messy.

When a light-skinned leprechaun—complete with red beard and clover-adorned hat—appears at the end of a rainbow on a hill dotted with tulips, he’s all set to bury his gold…until the Easter Bunny hops over in a huff. The leprechaun is digging up all the tulips where the bunny was planning to hide his eggs. Their argument escalates, and readers will be reminded of Looney Tunes battles between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck as each employs more and more outrageous traps and tricks to humiliate the other. The duo keep the fight up until a new visitor arrives; although St. Valentine’s Day has passed, a plump, light-skinned Cupid is ready to start planning for next year—allowing the two to join forces against a common enemy. The text is told in rhyming stanzas: “ ‘Gold!’ cried the bunny, / but when he bent over, / the leprechaun pushed him / facedown in the clover!” It’s not Shakespeare, but it moves the plot along. The digital illustrations are riotously funny, and the final image of the three spring holiday mascots scowling at one another, having reached an uneasy friendship, will have readers giggling all year long. Skilled storytellers will enjoy hamming up the action as the characters attempt to assert their dominance over their hillside home. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Slapstick fun for any season. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews