Our favorite picture books

I'm always on the lookout for good stories to the read to the kids, so I thought I'd share some of our favorites:

• "Miss Rumphius," by Barbara Cooney
• "A House is a House for Me," by Mary Ann Hoberman
• "Stellaluna," by Janell Cannon
• "Make Way for Ducklings," by Robert McCloskey
• "Blueberries for Sal," by Robert McCloskey
• "Flotsam," by David Wiesner
• "Whistle for Willie," by Ezra Jack Keats
• "The Story of Ferdinand," by Munro Leaf
• "The Little Engine that Could," by Watty Piper
• "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," by Eric Carle
• "Time for Bed," by Mem Fox and Jane Dyer
• "The Adventures of Peter Rabbit," by Beatrix Potter
• "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel," by Virginia Lee Burton
• "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom," by Bill Martin, Jr., and John Archambault
• "Stone Soup," by Marcia Brown
• "Bread and Jam for Frances," by Russell Hoban
• "You are Special," by Max Lucado
• "Where the Wild Things Are," by Maurice Sendak
• "Frog and Toad Are Friends," by Arnold Lobel
• "Winnie-the-Pooh," by A.A. Milne (the original, not the Disney version) Although I wouldn't classify this a picture book, it's a great introduction to chapter books and my 3-year-old listens well to these stories.

Of course, these are the highlights. I only listed our absolute favorites by one author (with the exception of McCloskey--I couldn't decide which of those two were our favorites). Once you find an author you like, look for other books by them to find other potential jewels.

A few years ago when I felt that I had exhausted all the pictures books we had or that I remembered as treasures from my childhood, I asked our local librarian for a book listing great books to read to my kids. She gave me a blank look and said to just look at all the books in the children's section. Hmmmm, not what I expected to hear.

Since then, I've found what I was asking for. They are:

• "Honey for a Child's Heart," by Gladys Hunt
• "Books Children Love," by Elizabeth Wilson
• "The Read Aloud Handbook," by Jim Trelease

I Love You the Purplest

Thanks to an anonymous reader who commented on my Baby Fears post, I got a tip on a great book, I Love You the Purplest. The timing couldn’t have been better for reading this to my boys.

It’s a story of two boys who take a twilight fishing trip with their wise mother. The brothers are quite the opposites yet share a competitive gene. Sounds like my boys. Sounds like most boys. Throughout the evening the brothers compete on who dug up the most worms, who is the best rower and who caught the most fish. Their mother, thanks to the thoughtful author, Barbara M. Joosse, answers them more wisely than I can summon on the fly. For the worm answer she says that one boy's worms are the liveliest and the other's worms are the juiciest. One rower took the deepest strokes while the other's strokes were the fastest. So on she goes to addess each brother's questions reassuring them of how much she values each one.

When it comes time for bed, the boys ask the ultimate question, “Mama, who do you love best?” Mama thinks for a moment then tell them that she loves one the bluest and one the reddest with poetic, beautiful descriptions for each. You must read it to see what I mean.

Accompanied with lovely watercolor illustrations, this is a wonderful book to show your children that you love them equally yet individually for who each is. It's time for me to stop renewing this book at the library and go buy my own copy.

Bob into reading

The timing couldn't have been better. I write about Owen beginning to read a few words, then I get this opportunity to review the Bob Books by Bobbie Lee Maslen and John R. Maslen. Perfect!

Our set arrived on our doorstep, which is always an adventure. It's like Christmas for the boys when packages arrive at the house. Who cares that we get deliveries much more frequently than only the chaotic month of December because I'm in love with free shipping on Amazon, it's still exciting. So, I definately had Owen's attention when I opened the big brown box to find our little blue box inside.

"Is it for me?" Owen yelled while practically jumping as high as me.

"Yes, these are books just for you. Books that you can read yourself."

"I don't know how to read, Mommy"

"You're learning. You can read cat and hat. I think you can learn to read these too."

So we cuddled up on the couch and opened the first of 12 miniature paperbacks. Together we sounded out the words through the simple eight-page booklet. As soon as we were done, he wanted to read it again. And again.

That night when Daddy came home, Owen met him at the door proudly exclaiming, "Daddy, I read a book today." Of course, Daddy was full of praise and couldn't wait to hear it. We shared a parental look of pride over the top of our firstborn's curly head.

These beginning readers with their simple stories, cute line drawings, and gradual advancement of new words, are the perfect first books. They give the child confidence to progress to the next book, and the next book and the next.

There are five sets in all, each providing a progressive level of difficulty. I'm already anticipating getting set two on my doorstep.

Raves for Miss Rumphius

I just discovered this charming book that has been around since the mid-80s, a bit past my picture book days. I've seen it listed on several book lists and picked it up at the vendor fair for the California Homeschool Network conference I attended this weekend. (More about that later.) I pulled it out of the plastic bag that was falling apart from the weight of my newfound treasures and read it to Jonas before his nap today. We were curled up on his bed with his head on my shoulder. I'm not sure when his baby browns finally closed because I was so caught up in this sweet story that I didn't stop or peek at him until I closed the book.

If you haven't come across this book yet, now's the time. Even if you don't have children, pick up this little gem. It's an enthralling yet simple tale with a message the whole world needs. I won't spoil it and say anymore. Just get ye to the library.

Falling for Flotsam

Based on the recommendation of a couple of friends, I bought the latest Caldecott winner, Flotsam, and I'm glad I did. It is a charming picture book using incredible artwork to tell the story with no words whatsoever. Children have the marvelous and often rare opportunity to use their imaginations to narrate the tale.

The American Library Association has this to say:

Flotsam is a cinematic unfolding of discovery. A vintage camera washed up on the beach provides a young boy with a surprising view of fantastical images from the bottom of the sea. From fish-eye to lens-eye, readers see a frame-by-frame narrative of lush marinescapes ebbing and flowing from the real to the surreal.

“Telling tales through imagery is what storytellers have done through the ages. Wiesner’s wordless tale resonates with visual images that tell his story with clever wit and lively humor,” said Caldecott Medal Committee Chair Janice Del Negro.

The boys have been mesmorized by it. And so have I.