Our library stocks a lot of new books and displays them temptingly along the top shelf in the children's section. In the years between our youngest moving on from picture books to this newest one, some very lovely picture books have been published. Also some very dull and ugly books have been put in print - I really can't stand to read Dora books, and Pinkalicious books are almost as trying. I was jubilant when an errant Pinkalicious easy reader was rediscovered behind the dresser. I did not want to have to pay for a replacement copy at the library. Why do I check these out? It is kind of a give and take agreement. I have the same terms with my teenagers: you can read this stupid YA fairy tale knockoff romance if you read a book of my choice every 2 or 3 books. I will read Pinkalicious if we can also look at my picture book pics.
Fortunately, we have discovered several that we both love.
The Carl the Dog series by Alexandra Day was not new to me, but there are some additional books in the series that I had never seen before. I really liked Carl's Sleepy Afternoon and Carl's Snowy Afternoon. In both books, the expressions on the children and Carl are what draw me in. LCJ really pored over Good Dog Carl and the Baby Elephant, the newest book, which wasn't my favorite since it had more text and a less believable story line, although the adventures of a baby and a Rottweiler about town on their own requires quite a bit of suspension of disbelief.
Carl's negligent baby sitter
Why doesn't Madeleine's mom catch on?
Similarly enchanting because of the facial expressions are the Flora books by Molly Idle. I don't like to keep these in the house too long because they are pop-up books and thus easily damaged, but they are beautiful in their simplicity:
Here is Flora and the Flamingo from Amazon.com:
Flora and the Penguin from the author's delightful blog
:
And Flora and the Peacocks:
Flora is graceful and expressive in her toddler body. And right now my toddler is entranced by dance and music and colors, so she enjoys these books immensely. I wish I were organized enough to come up with a soundtrack to go with them - maybe something along the lines of the international dances from the Nutcracker would fit the mood?
Another find that brings great amusement to the toddler are the Where's Walrus books by Stephen Savage. These books, too, could have a fun musical accompaniment, something along the lines of a Keystone Kops caper song. Here's a fun video promo:
Here's an image from Where's Walrus? Where's Penguin?
I love to discover the toddler sitting on the couch studying a book. The other image that brings me joy is seeing the 10 and 12 year olds equally enthralled by these picture books. A good story well illustrated appeals to all ages.
Closing with a haiku by Basho - wish I could remember where I came across it, but i - that seems to express something of the homesickness for the idea of home, or nostalgia for an age that never really existed. In many ways wordless picture books are very akin to haiku.
Even in Kyoto -
Hearing the cuckoo's cry -
I long for Kyoto.
I checked the punctuation here.
2 comments:
I also get very discouraged by the collection of newer picture books. I often read about one online and check it out from the library (I've learned not to buy them right away no matter how appealing they look) only to find that the illustrations are ugly, or the story is something that would be unappealing to children I know.
So - I am thrilled to have a first-hand report from someone I am likely to agree with. I hope to visit the toddler grandchildren soon and I will try to borrow a few books from the library to take with me, I hope some of these. Thanks!!
Enjoy your visit, GretchenJoanna! We have definitely waded through some clunkers from the library, and there are some books that I love that LCJ doesn't want anything to do with, but I think she will grow into (like some of the fairy tales illustrated by Paul Zelinksy, but they are a bit wordy right now, and I love Marla Frazee's illustrations but not all the books that she illustrated have as good of stories - Seven Silly Eaters is a favorite, though.) and there are some books that she loves, like mass produced show tie-ins or this silly Princess Pig and the Pea book, that I tend to return really quickly after we check them out. She gets the pleasure of bringing them home; and I get the pleasure of seeing that the older kids realize a difference between good books and bad ones.
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