Category Archives: Picture Books

The Hidden House

Posted on November 24, 2013 | Comments Off on The Hidden House

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This book tells a quiet story.  Three dolls are made by an old man and are happy for a time, but are then abandoned along with his house (implicitly upon his death) and left lonely for many years, only to be rediscovered and made happy again by a young family.  When we read it, it captures the boys’ attention completely–sometimes I think it is largely because of the beautiful,  dreamlike illustrations.  But we’ve read a number of books with wonderful illustrations that never really caught their interest (sometimes much to my surprise).  There is more here than meets the eye.

Author:  Martin Waddell
Illustrator:  Angela Barrett

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Box and Cox

Posted on November 19, 2013 | Comments Off on Box and Cox

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Box and Cox is another story with a twist–two very different men seem to lead two very different lives, but they (unknowingly) live in the same room and plan to marry the same (rather flustered) woman.  The mechanics of this story and the highly expressive pictures make us laugh every time.  (And it turns out there are lots of “sight words,” which is very helpful right now for school.)

David Small has illustrated a number of our favorites; you’ll be seeing his name here again.

Author:  Grace Chetwin
Illustrator:  David Small

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Socks for Supper

Posted on November 18, 2013 | Comments Off on Socks for Supper

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When a couple of farmers eat one turnip too many, it kicks off a truly unexpected chain of events.  Bartering, knitting, a cow, and Christmas all come together to create a wonderful surprise that the kids are happy to see unfold time and again.

Most of our Christmas books are only brought out between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.  But we all have silently agreed that this one can stay out year round.

Author:  Jack Kent
Illustrator: Jack Kent

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The Seven Silly Eaters

Posted on November 16, 2013 | Comments Off on The Seven Silly Eaters

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This book is a pure pleasure to read aloud.  The rhymes are clever and apparently effortless.  My boys laugh and laugh at the ever increasing number of children in the family (the seven silly eaters of the title) and their ridiculously specific list of food demands.  The pictures are absolutely wonderful–Marla Frazee is an amazing artist and her renditions of the goings on are priceless.  My only qualm is that the mom seems responsible for just about everything (you see the dad in the background now and then, but he is barely mentioned in the text) and she spends a decade getting more and more frazzled before she finally lets the family know that she’s “a wreck.”

Sometimes we talk about how how the rest of the family could have pitched in more and how the mom could have put her foot down (much, much) sooner.  But only sometimes.  Most of the time we too busy giggling at the pictures and chanting along with the lines.

Author:  Mary Ann Hoberman
Illustrator:  Marla Frazee

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First Discovery Books series

Posted on November 15, 2013 | Comments Off on First Discovery Books series

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I began hunting down these books well before the boys were born.  I stumbled on one (Fruit?  Colors?  I really don’t remember) and completely fell for their simple yet brilliant design–regular page, transparent page, regular page.  For example, in The Rain Forest when you first open the book you see only lush, green plants.  Turn the transparent page and suddenly the animals and birds that have been hiding behind the plants burst into view.

The boys really enjoy non-fiction books and I gravitate to fiction, so these have been a great way to balance the scales a bit.  They are great for nap time and for paging through alone because their spiral bindings and very strong pages mean they are about as durable as board books.  Plus, their constant surprises help non-readers fully engage in what is going on.  We currently have (gulp) at least 35 books in the series  (I can’t be certain I found all of them for the photo shoot) yet I still pick up more whenever I can.  Many of the books in the series are out of print in English, but they are fairly easy to find online.  Both my boys consistently prefer the Airplanes and Flying Machines  and Castles books above all the others, although Boats has been a recent favorite. 

Author: varies
Illustrator:  varies

 

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Panda Cake

Posted on November 14, 2013 | Comments Off on Panda Cake

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A panda cake, a panda cake,
Mama is making a panda cake.

Panda Cake is, as far as I can tell, is Rosalie Seidler’s only book.  (I hope I’m wrong and will discover another one someday.)  It is quietly lovely, gently humorous, and makes me wish that I could somehow bake “that wonderful cake/That only a panda knows how to make” with my boys.  Some combination of the lilting cadence, soft black-and-white pictures (perfect for pandas!), and gentle message always draws us  in.  Great for before bed, or any time at all.

Author:  Rosalie Seidler
Illustrator:  Rosalie Seidler

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The Maggie B.

Posted on November 12, 2013 | Comments Off on The Maggie B.

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An easy way for me to get a “yay” from the boys is to pick out The Maggie B. as their bedtime story.  A little girl begins the book by wishing on a star:

North Star, star of the sea,
I wish for a ship
Named after me,
To sail for a day
Alone and free,
With someone nice
For company.

When she wakes up, she finds that she is “in the cabin of her own ship” and spends the day joyfully taking care of the ship and her “dear baby” brother (the nice company).  This book is always a favorite.  Both the words and the pictures are scrumptious and story is a perfect mix of the fantastic and the matter-of-fact.  (My youngest also enjoys the counting rhyme that ends with a nibbled little finger.)  I was lucky to find this book through raves on other sites (one look at the pictures and I was hooked) where the word that came up over and over to describe it was “cozy.”  I completely agree; we love ending the night snuggled up with The Maggie B.

Author:  Irene Haas
Illustrator:  Irene Haas

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The Elephant’s Airplane and Other Machines

Posted on November 10, 2013 | Comments Off on The Elephant’s Airplane and Other Machines

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For years I’ve heard about the beloved Need a House?  Call Ms. Mouse! but I’ve never been able to find a copy that wasn’t selling for hundreds of dollars.  (I’m still looking, if anyone has a hot lead!)  But I’m very grateful to Ms. Mouse; she led me to my oldest son’s very favorite book:  The Elephant’s Airplane and Other Machines.  Doris Susan Smith illustrated both books and her work is amazingly intricate and creative.  The story (translated from the original French) is really mostly an excuse for the illustrations; animals come from far and wide to Raccoon, Maker of Fine Machines, to order the custom-built machines of their dreams.  My son’s favorites include an underwater speed boat for The Deep Diving Platypus and a traveling home for Rabbit the Explorer.  Personally, I’m particularly fond of the heated snowmobile for A Most Unusual Lizard.  Though it is out of print, this book is easy to find and is absolutely worth the effort.

Author:  Anne-Marie Dalmais
Illustrator:  Doris Susan Smith

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The Train they Call the City of New Orleans

Posted on November 10, 2013 | Comments Off on The Train they Call the City of New Orleans

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Singing, good morning America, how are you?
Saying, don’t you know me, I’m your native son?
I’m the train they call “The City of New Orleans.”
I’ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.

My boys are fascinated by trains, dragons, knights, planes, and astronauts. Anything that involves one or more of these subjects is likely to be a hit, so I have been keeping an eye out for The Train they Call the City of New Orleans ever since I saw a blog post showing its beautiful artwork. The only problem was that this book is out of print and was in the three-figure price range, but the ways of Amazon are mysterious and I recently snagged a copy for its original price. It is just as beautiful as it appeared and my boys are really enjoying it (especially when I read the words instead of singing them, alas!). If you’re interested in the song that inspired the book, I particularly like John Denver’s version (it comes from his CD on trains–which is really a good one).

Author: Steve Goodman
Illustrator: Michael McCurdy

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