Favorite Picture Books
October 21st, 2009 by Leora
As a sequel to my post on Favorite Childhood Books, in this post we will have to opportunity to delve into favorite picture books. If I have some favorite quote from the book or author, I included it under the name of the book.
My Favorite Picture Books from my Childhood
Curious George, Hans Augusto Rey and Margret Rey
Babar the Elephant, Jean de Brunhoff
Little Bear, Else Holmelund Minarik
”I am making Birthday Soup. Will you stay and have some?”
Madeline, Ludwig Bemelmans
”‘Miss Clavel, get rid of it please,’
Said the president of the board of trustees.”
(from Madeline’s Rescue)
Runaway Bunny, Margaret Wise Brown
Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown
”Goodnight noises everywhere.”
The Pooh Story Book, A. A. Milne
”It’s a little Anxious to be a Very Small Animal Entirely Surrounded by Water.”
Snow, P.D. Eastman
”Do you like snow? Yes or no? Do you like it in your face?”
Favorites of Some Friends
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, Dr. Seuss
Happy Birthday to You, Dr. Seuss
”The Official Katroo Birthday Sounding-Off Place!”
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Dr. Seuss
Scrambled Eggs Super, Dr. Seuss
The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss
Hippos Go Berserk!, Sandra Boynton
Potato Pancakes All Around: A Hanukkah Tale, Marilyn Hirsh
Bembelman’s Bakery, Melinda Green
Piggie Pie, Margie Palatini
Are You My Mother, P.D. Eastman
The Little Engine That Could, Watty Piper
Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak
”his mother called him ‘WILD THING!’ and Max said ‘I’LL EAT YOU UP!’ so he was sent to bed without eating anything.”
Frog and Toad, Arnold Lobel
”When I was just a little pollywog…”
Books I enjoy reading to children
Not the Hippopotamus Sandra Boynton
”A moose and a goose together have juice”
One, Two, Three, Sandra Boynton
”Five is fine for a ride in the car, as long as the car ride isn’t too far”
Thomas the Tank Engine, Rev. W. V. Awdry
Don’t Let the Peas Touch, by Deborah Blumenthal
”THEY MIX IN YOUR STOMACH ANYWAY!”
Tikun Olam: Fixing the World, Anne Lobock Fenton
(a sad and true story about a wonderful doctor who dies)
Update with more books:
My husband’s favorites
Mr. Putter and Tabby series: See the complete list on Amazon, Cynthia Rylant
Books I Appreciate Now that I didn’t appreciate as a child
Make Way for Ducklings, Robert McCloskey
And your favorite picture books are…?
Babar the Elephant and The Pooh Story Book are the only ones I know. I like them both.
Not even Madeline?
No. I have checked but apparently Ludwig Bemelmans, the author is an American author of Belgian, Austrian and German origins.
Seems that just because it took place in Paris doesn’t mean it was translated widely into French! Yes, all the rhymes are in English…why would I even think it was originally in French? I suppose he was a European who loved Paris.
Babar and Madeline (“In an old house in Paris…”) are both excellent.
Some of my kids love the Berenstain bears books, and one of my favorites was – and is – “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day”.
And then there are the books I’ve read out loud so often that I literally know them by heart, such as: “Dr Seuss’s ABC”; “Where’s My Teddy?”; “Hop On Pop”; and “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish”.
There is a Sesame Street version of “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day” called “Grover’s Bad Awful Day” that I absolutely love. I read it to my kids before I knew it was taken from the Alexander version.
When I was a child a popular character was Martine. I don’t know if she is well-known in the US.
Found a website for her books:
http://martine.casterman.com/
But none of it looks familiar. There is also a Facebook group for Marcel Marlier’s illustrations.
What isn’t there a FB group for?
I’ll repeat my recommendation for Hippos Go Berserk! by Sandra Boynton.
For kids a little older I love the Asterix series and TinTin can be fun too.
I added that Sandra Boynton. Love her funny singsong books and the carefree illustrations, too.
Great list. Have you seen Jim Trelease’s “Read Aloud Handbook”? It’s got great lists too.
No, just found his home page:
http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/
I did a search on picture books right before I hit publish; there are so many! This post was inspired by what I consider to be classic picture books. And then a few others.
Phyllis, you might want to take a look at the Tikkun Olam book, if you can get a copy; it’s a heartrending story of a kind doctor with a big family who heals others, but then he himself dies. He has a friend Mr. Fixit who can fix everything, but not his dear friend.
I still have all the original Thomas the Tank Engine books.
My grandfather had a Dr Seuss picture book for adults called, I think, You’re Only Old Once.
My favourite picture book as a child was Nate the Great by Marjorie Sharmat. It tells the story of a pancake-loving child detective who finds a lost painting.
I read the Nate the Great series when my sons read them. Good books. They remind me a bit of The Great Brain books (by John Dennis Fitzgerald), which I liked even more.
I love all of the Little Bear series, and so do my children, or I should say they did, as children.
My daughter reads them to my granddaughter, Emily. And, apparently they have been made into a TV series.
I’m sure you’re not nearly as old as me so you’ve probably never heard of these books..my favorites were Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories. I also liked Snip, Snap, and Snur and the Dick and Jane Readers. I was always fascinated with the story of Little Black Sambo and how the Tigers turned into butter for his pancakes!
I remember reading the story of Little Black Sambo! And I had a Dick and Jane book that our school had discarded. I looked up Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories…they seem to be out-of-print, but others seem to be nostalgic about these books.
Thomas the Tank engine is very popular in my house now. My favorite was Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren and Emil from Lonneberga from the same author.
I liked Pippi Longstocking. She would probably belong on my previous list, as that is a chapter book.
My eldest used to love Thomas the Tank Engine. Now I can’t keep up with the books he reads – big, fat fantasy or sci-fi books that I’ve never heard of.
That is right – chapters, but mine was full of illustrations on every page
Dear, Leora, I wanted to ask you. My husband is making a web-site for a neighbor, but hubby never made one before with a shopping cart. The guy will be giving art classes and wants students to pay on-line. Do you know, by any chance, what is a safe direction to go with making payment options?
We just discovered The Runaway Bunny in recent years. It was on the children’s shelf in a beach house that we rented, and we promptly went out and purchased a copy for home. Very touching, and the illustrations are hilarious, imaginative, and sweet.
A favorite picture book from childhood: Gus Was A Friendly Ghost, by Jane Thayer. The house in that book is my dream house. I would move in today–ghost, mouse, nasturniums, cheese croquettes, and all. It’s just the mood of it. And I’d love the old garage with double doors, even if I had to get out and open them in snow, rain, cold, and what-not.
You are welcome at the new Winter/Christmas blog
that I just started. I’m reviewing twelve Christmas books, and some of them are children’s books.
I have always LOVED Bartholomew Cubbins!
Speaking of Grover, “The Monster At The End of This Book” is a riot.
And how is it possible that no one has yet mentioned “The Little Engine That Could”?
I added The Little Engine That Could. I remember loving the illustrations in that book, especially the candy.
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Im a different generation. There was a book we took out of the library many times. “A House for All Seasons.”
I couldn’t find that one online! Must be seriously out-of-print. Found home furnishing links instead.
Many good choices.. I loved the ‘All of a Kind Family’ books..I wonder if they are still in print.. I just checked and they are…
“Sydney Taylor’s classic children’s series, Ella finds a boyfriend and Henny disagrees with Papa over her curfew. Thus continues the tale of a Jewish family of five sisters-Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte and Gertie-living at the turn of the century in New York’s Lower East Side. Entertaining and educational, this book brings to life the joys and fears of that time and place.”