It is National Library Week, and what better time to write another roundup of our favorite children’s books?
Especially at Peeper’s age, words are not the only important factor in a great book: Illustration is at least as equally compelling. So when I head to the board books section at my local library, I flip through the pages to see if I like the visuals as much as the topic.
If I don’t like the illustrations, I put the book down and search for another.
Here, then, are a few of our most-loved, beautifully illustrated baby books (along with a few bonus stories!).
I Can Do It Myself! by Steven Krensky, illustrated by Sara Gillingham. Toddlers love the empowerment that comes from picking out their own clothes and feeding themselves, and this bright book celebrates that independence. Pop art-like illustrations (think Roy Lichtenstein) are fun, visually arresting and unlike anything else you’ll see in the children’s section. I can’t get over Gillingham’s use of contrasting patterns that are, on the one hand, potentially seizure-inducing but are whimsical and exciting on the other.
How Loud Is A Lion? illustrated and written by Clare Beaton. Readers tramp through jungle and savannah, wandering past antelopes and zorillas (what’s a zorilla? Read to find out!), and all the while a lion is hiding in the background. Beaton’s hand-stitched work is inspired by folk art, and she uses felt, ribbon, beads and vintage fabrics to create the gorgeous tableaus. Beaton has dozens of other books; we’re reading Who Are You, Baby Kangaroo? right now.
Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Marlin, illustrated by Eric Carle. I couldn’t get away with a list of gorgeously illustrated kids’ books without mentioning Carle, could I? The rich, saturated colors against a white backdrop are his signature, and I love that I can see how he assembles the figures in this book. It introduces us to a menagerie of animals, and I can’t help but sing the text. This book transports me back to sitting on the floor in kindergarten, singing along and staring raptly at the pages my teacher, Mrs. Weineger, turned.
I already wrote about When I Was Born in my other children’s books post, but I have to include it again because I. Love. The. Illustrations.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t include Peeper’s other two favorite books of the moment, even if they’re not illustrated.
Dog, by Matthew Van Fleet. Peeper has already begun to destroy it (the latest casualty: a wagging tail), but all the interaction is well worth a few rips here and there. She knows that the poodle has a fluffy coat she can touch and that the bull dog lifts its leg to pee. When she plays by herself, she lifts the pages and opens and closes the book over and over and over and over again. She could do it for an hour!
Reach, by Elizabeth Verdick and Marjorie Lisosvkis. Peeper laughs the minute I pick this one up. I know the rhymes by heart and could recite it any time, but she continues to be captivated by the babies who reach for their toes, milk, toys and daddy.
As a side note, I appreciate that baby faces books, including Reach, feature children of a wide range of races and ethnicities. Baby faces books are perhaps the only ones dedicated to diversity, when shelves are filled with white characters. (Of the 3,200 children’s books printed last year, fewer than 100 were about black main characters, according to this important op-ed challenging the whitewashed children’s book industry.)
What are your favorite books of the moment? What are your favorite illustrations?
I just love children’s books. I bought my friend’s son “Walter the Farting Dog” a few years ago for his birthday. That went over well.
Haha! My dad read Walter the Farting Dog books to my sister’s 2nd grade class whenever he visited, and the kids LOVED it.
I’m not familiar with the book, but “I can do it myself,” is definitely one of my daughter’s favorite sayings. Or more accurately, “Do it self!” Lol. Our favorite book right now is probably The Random House Book of Mother Goose.
Is she too young for those cute touch and feel books still?
According to the recommendation on the back of those books she is, but she loves them just the same! She knows just where to touch to feel a lamb’s soft wool or the bumpy ridges on a stegosaurus’s back.
I look for books that read and flow well, especially those that rhyme. My favorites are anything by Iza Trapani. Her books are typically based on nursery rhymes/songs where she essentually creates extra verses so you can sing the entire book (itsy bitsy spider, twinkle twinkle little star, etc). Most are available as board books too.
I’ll have to find the Itsy Bitsy Spider one. That song calms and distracts Peeper no matter what, but I feel like it runs a little thin once we’ve been through the same verse a million times!
I have it both in hardcover and board book versions. I’ll see if I can find my board book version if you’d like to borrow it. I have all of the verses memorized after reading it hundreds of times with Emily 🙂
That would be great—we’d love it! 🙂
Oh, I’ll have to pick these up! We just got This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen from a friend for Lincoln’s birthday and it’s our current favorite. For the story and illustrations!
Oh I love that one! It cracks me up!
It’s so comforting to sit in your rocking chair with Edie and a book on my lap. I love how it keeps me in the moment (except when I’m reminded of you sitting on my lap, book in hands) and how well Edie fits. I hope she never grows out of reading with me!
Grandma laps are perfectly shaped and sized for Peepers!
Kids book wise, D won’t even entertain some of my favorites. He does enjoy one book I used to read when babysitting decades ago. The Rainbow Goblins has beautiful illustrations that I remembered better than the slightly gruesome story.
Someday is one of my favorite kids books, but a serious downside is my inability to read it aloud without crying.
I feel you. Some of the sweetest, most beautiful books are on the no-read list because they make me cry!
My children loved/love the Brown Bear, Brown Bear type books! There were more of them than I had imagined and we read them all over….and over….and over again!
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