As spring approaches, Santa decides that he needs a break from his yearlong toy-making, and that he wants to see the world during this season of flowers. Deciding to take a trip incognito, he orders a brand new outfit, and flies south (on a plane). But when the children in the city he is visiting accuse him of stealing Santa's white beard, red nose and gay twinkle, and he then declares himself to be the real Santa Claus, our hero finds himself taken into custody by the police. Fortunately, Santa knows just how to convince the police captain that he is who he says he is...

Originally published in 1954, Easter Treat is a cute little Santa fantasy, one which imagines that holiday gift-giver during another season. The idea of Santa taking a holiday has been explored before, mostly notably in Raymond Briggs' Father Christmas Goes on Holiday, but author/illustrator Roger Duvoisin brings a special kind of heartwarming humor to his tale, as Santa is at first greeted with suspicion and disbelief, and then with love and warmth, loaded down with Eastertide presents, and sent back to the North Pole with the very thing he usually sets out with, on Christmas Eve. Namely: a sack full of gifts. I found this one charming, and recommend it to more advanced picture-book readers - it's quite text heavy - who enjoy unusual Santa stories. One word of caution however: although Easter provides the setting, it really isn't about that holiday at all, and although Santa is given a bunny rabbit as one of his gifts, the scene on the front cover, in which he seems to be walking the Easter Bunny, does not occur during the course of the story. ( )