This is the story of how the Easter basket came to be. 

Of course everybody knows about the Easter bunny, with all his chocolate candy, jelly beans, and those colored eggs, but have you ever wondered how all that came about?

Well let me tell you the story.

It all started a long ago, in a great big garden patch out in the country . Now there was this whole family of bunny rabbits, living inside a hollow tree, where no one could find them, right in the middle of that garden patch. There was Papa Cottontail, Mama Cottontail, and little baby, Peter Cottontail….all squeezed in together nice and comfy
.
   
 

Now they weren't the only ones in the garden patch, though. Nooo. There were some chickens, some pigs, a couple of ducks, and even a grumpy old rooster, but everyone of them loved Peter Cottontail. Everyday you could see him hippety hopping, hippety hopping, all around the garden . He liked to play tricks on everybody, too, especially that grumpy old rooster.

Now, the garden belonged to Farmer Johnson and his family. There was Mrs. Johnson, Grandma Johnson, two daughters, and one little boy named Tommy, living there in the big white farmhouse.

Now Farmer Johnson didn't mind them all living there in the patch, as long as long as they didn't eat up his garden. He always set out a little extra vegetables, just for them, and in return they kept the crows away, and anybody else trying to sneak in.

Everybody got along fine, that is, until the day that everything went wrong.

Peter knew better than to leave the safety of the garden patch, but he had been eyeing some delicious looking red apples on a tree just inside the big woods. Now he wasn't allowed in those woods, but the temptation was just too much. Peter hopped over to the tree, and just on the other side of that tree was a very hungry fox, looking for his dinner. Just as Peter picked up a big ole red, ripe apple, that fox leaped out from behind the tree, and grabbed him by his ears. Peter cried out, but there was no way he could get loose. That fox was holding him too tight.

Suddenly, he heard Tommy, the farmer's son, yelling and running over there with a big stick in is hands. Let me tell you, that old fox let go of Peter and ran for his life, as far into the woods as he could go. He never came back, either.

Peter was so grateful that Tommy had saved his life that he wanted to do something special for him.

Now, it turns out, that the very next day was Easter. So Peter Cottontail took a basket, and he went through the garden patch, collecting eggs from the chickens, jelly beans from the pigs. Why, even the old rooster gave him some of his fancy, soft straw for the basket.

Mama Rabbit said, " You know, Peter, maybe you should dye those eggs to make them look pretty. They're kind of white and plain looking. And throw in a few chocolates, too, just something for a little sweet treat."

Well, on Easter morning, Peter Cottontail quietly slipped up on farmer Johnson's porch, and left that basket of goodies.

I don't have to tell you how happy those children were to get that Easter basket. The word spread, and soon Peter started going to all the children's houses, every Easter.

And he still does, right to this very day.

Sneaking into houses, hiding colored eggs and leaving baskets of goodies, the Easter Bunny is also a favorite part of this holiday. But let's not forget that Easter is also the time that we celebrate one of the most holy days in the calendar of the Christian church, because Christ rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion.