Chocolate Childrens Books for Easter

Children love Easter, they love chocolate and they love stories, and I've unearthed some chocolate treats that won't damage their teeth! Lucky children will receive lots of chocolate Easter eggs, so why not give them a book about chocolate as their Easter gift instead?

They'll enjoy the story for longer than a chocolate egg and the best tales will give them a lifetime of memories.

There are just so many to choose from, but this is my pick of the best. I've made an attempt to divide them into age groups, but of course these must just be used as rough indications. The last group is reserved for fact rather than fiction.

I love to give books to children, but finding the really good ones isn't all that easy. My son is 13 now and I started reading bath books to him when he was about 6 months old and I read to him almost every night until he hit the terrible teens. Now he is a little lazy in his reading habits, (that's teenage boys for you), so I have to try even harder to engage him, so any suggestions welcome! Please do leave your reading hits for me in the comments box below.

Update: Son now 14 and is reading again - ploughing his way through the whole Harry Potter series - not sure whether in English or French.

Here are a few of my other book selections:

Classic Childrens Books Make Best Gifts for Kids

Best Scary Stories for Kids at Halloween

Best Christmas Books for Kids

Of course the tiny tot's have lots of choc books to choose from. Small Knight and George the Dragon (Ronda Armitage) are going to rescue the world's biggest chocolate cake. Will the robber-brigands give up the cake? The Greedy Goose (Julia Donaldson)will help to teach your little darlings nice table manners and Curious George (H A Rey) has a tour around a chocolate factory.

The Chocolate Island (Karen Dolby) is great for children just about to read for themselves and includes a puzzle on every double page. Lilly's Chocolate Heart by Kevin Henks is suitable for over 3's. Lilly has one chocolate heart left and she wants to find the perfect hiding place for it. She finally decides to put the candy in her mouth: "Perfect."

Max's Chocolate Chicken (Rosemary Wells) Easter egg hunts are just so much a part of Easter! Here Max, the toddler rabbit engages in a battle of wits against his older sister Ruby. Now it's time for the siblings' Easter egg hunt!

Thomas the Tank Engine was a top favourite with me and my son for many years and this lovely chocolatey story where Percy has an accident at the chocolate factory is a must for Easter.

Benny's Chocolate Bunny by Janee Trasler is an hilarious twist on a favorite Easter confection!

The Chocolate Cat by Sue Stainton, is a beautifully illustrated book in which a grumpy chocolate maker and a lazy cat are transformed when magical chocolate mice appear in the shop.

The Chocolate Cat Caper (JoAnna Carl) One of a series of chocolate mystery stories. In this book high-profile defense lawyer dies after eating a cat-shaped chocolate laced with cyanide.

The Boxcar Children help Mr Browne find out who's sabotaging his ice-cream business.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Roald Dahl)is a great cautionary tale agains greed and features the creepy Mr Wonka, factory owner.

The Chocolate Cipher (Caroline Juskus) A visit to the Coco Nuts Chocolate Factory depends on cracking Cleopatra's code!

This book is Not Good for You (Pseudonymous Bosch) The youngest members of the top-secret Terces Society have a mission - track down a cursed tuning fork that can recreate any flavour the user has ever tasted.

The Chocolate War (Robert Cormier) exposes corruption at Trinity School when new kid Jerry Ranault refuses to take part in the great chocolate sale, and Mates, Dates and Chocolate Cheats (Cathy Hopkins) bravely tackles the subject of eating disorders.

Totally Triffic Chocolate (Alan MacDonald, illustrated by Clive Goddard) Ever wanted to know who banned chocolate and started a war. Do murders like chocolate? And can chocolate really be good for the teeth?

The Great Chocolate Pyramid (John and Shari Rudy) (is a chocolate cookbook to get the kids hard at work in the kitchen (oh bliss!)

Beans to Chocolate (Welcome Books: (How Things are made) (Inez Snyder) Explains how chocolate is made: Does chocolate really come from beans?

Can M&M's (Barbara Barbieri McGrath) and Hershey (Jerry Pallotta)really help to teach maths? Get a kid to divide up a chocolate cake very precisely - you cut I choose - must be the most hopeful method!

.... or has it just made your tummy rumble? I hope you've enjoyed this small selection box from the great pool of chocolate books available for kids. I certainly feel inspired and can't wait to try a few out on my teenage son.

Happy reading and Happy Easter!

More Easter and chocolate treats from Les Trois Chenes:

How to organise an Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Egg Hunts - The Vital Clues for an Easter Game

Limoges Porcelain Decorative Eggs for Easter

Best Chocolate Cake Recipe Ever for a Wickedly Moist French Dessert

Rat Novelty Birthday Cake

York, City of Chocolate - the Story of Cravens, Rowntrees and Terrys in the Chocolate Industry UK