Easter Eggs In Books!

Happy Easter everyone! I’m sure by now you’ve eaten quite a few eggs (although I’m sure you could always manage just one more!) and are feeling quite full. Most people are posting instagram photos of their eggs however I thought I’d go for something a little different – Easter Eggs in books!

If you didn’t know this isn’t going to be a list of chocolate eggs featuring in books, instead an Easter egg is a message in a book/film that hints to something else e.g. a future event, an author, a character etc. They add a little bit of extra fun to a book if you know what to look out for. So instead of having to run around looking for Easter eggs outside you can just stay in your home and go through these books instead!

1. Harry Potter and The Order Of the Phoenix

Apparently at the bottom of page 125 Mr Weasley dials a phone outside the Ministry of Magic – the quote is:

“No, no, I’m sure it’s fine,” said Mr. Weasley, holding the receiver above his head and peering at the dial. “let’s see…six…” he dialed the number, “two…four…and another four…and another two…”

The number dialled is 62442 now remember back in the day of non-smart phones?  Well if you type 62442 you get….MAGIC! Although officially you need to press 4 a few more times but that wouldn’t be as catchy!

Also apparently back in the day when the book originally came out you could go on the website and dial the number on the phone on the website to get a special surprise however unfortunately that is no longer available.

2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I promise this whole list will not just be Harry Potter! In this book apparently J.K. Rowling received a letter from a young girl who was suffering from a terminal illness asking about the fate of the characters as it become obvious that she was not going to see for herself as the book was still months away from publication. Unfortunately the young girl – Natalie – passed away before she found out however Rowling still decided to honour her memory by naming a character after her in the book. Therefore on page 180 we read about Natalie at the Sorting Ceremony – she gets sorted into Gryffindor, a fitting house for such a brave young girl. You can read more about this here.

 

3. A Series of Unfortunate Events

 

This book surrounds unlucky events, what is more unlucky than the number 13? Therefore throughout the book there are many references to the number. 13 chapters, 13 books, 13 letters in Lemony Snicket, 13 letters in Daniel Handler. Although some may have just been coincidental e.g. Daniel Handler some are definitely unlucky!

Same series, different Easter Egg I promise! This one is about Mr Poe. Remember the banker who “looks after” the children and takes them to their closest relatives. Well he has two children, one called Albert and the other called Edgar. Obviously we have all heard of Edgar Allan Poe – the famous poet, this is probably a reference to him however what about Albert? Well Albert is Edgar’s brother.

Speaking of names (I’ll include this one here as it is pretty similar) in the 8th book when Klaus and Sunny are looking at the list of names to find Violet’s room they are all anagrams. Monty Kensicle = Lemony Snicket. Laura V. Bleedoite = Violet Baudelaire. Ned H. Rirger = Red Herring. How cool are these?! I could spend all day figuring these out!

But wait there’s more! At the end of every book in the series there is a picture, if you look closely there are hints as to what will happen in the next book! I’d have completely missed this if if hadn’t been pointed out to me!

At the end of The Bad Beginning there is a picture of a snake – a reference to the next book – The Reptile Room?

4. It (Stephen King)

This book is apparently packed full of references to all his previous books! It takes a die hard fan to find them all however here are a few to get you started: Dick Holloran (from The Shining) has a role in a flashback. “It” appears as a leprous beggar missing most of his nose (Thinner). The car from Christine pops up and the driver says “See anything green?”. Definitely something to think about when you read the book in the upcoming months ahead of the film. Can you spot them all?

 

 

 

5. Misery (Stephen King)

Sticking with Stephen King books in Misery Annie mentions a man burning in an old hotel called the Overlook – this is the main setting for The Shining.

Apparently there are many references to King’s other works throughout all of his books, you just have to know what you’re looking for. The Shawshank prison is the name of the prison is many of his other works. Can you spot them all? I don’t think I’ve read enough of his books to be able to catch them!

 

 

 

6. Harry Potter (yet again)

We had a nice break from Harry Potter however I felt like this one had to be included! The snitch in the final book has “I open at the close” written on it, although it is important to the story it could be hinting at something else. The first Harry Potter book was published in 1998 however the story takes place years earlier with the final battle of Hogwarts taking place in 1998 – therefore the story opens at the close of the story (if that makes sense).

7. Alice Through the Looking Glass

I’m not sure if many people know this however the character of Alice is based on an actual girl. Her name was Alice Liddell and apparently her and Lewis Carroll were close (although he was a grown man and she was a young girl so the friendship/relationship was frowned upon). During this book – the second book following Alice in Wonderland – there is an acrostic poem, it spells out the name “Alice Pleasance Liddell”. Isn’t that clever! Acrostic poems were never my area but I think they are so cool!

 

 

8. Landline (Rainbow Rowell)

If you were paying attention closely to this book you will notice that towards the end of this book when Georgie is getting a ride to Neal’s parents house she notices two people (Cath and Levi – Fangirl) and she notices the girl wearing an engagement ring! Awww!

I think it’s really cute when authors reference their other characters, it is nice to see that they have a life after the story ends.

 

9. Clover Moon (Jacqueline Wilson)

Did anyone else notice the character Hetty in this book? She speaks about the orphanage she grew up in, about her brother and the difficulties he’s facing. We get a description of Hetty, that and how she talks about her life is a reference to Hetty Feather – a character in one of Jacqueline Wilson’s other novels (the novel being Hetty Feather of course!). I’m not sure if this counts as an actual Easter Egg or not as it is pretty obvious however I clearly spotted this one so I’m including it!

 

 

So there are 9 books/series that contain Easter Eggs! Did you see any of these? Are there any I missed? Do you like when authors add Easter eggs or do you think they’re a waste of time? Leave a comment and let me know!