I love the Shirley Hughes books for the amazing drawings depicting everyday clutter in the background of mild child-centered dramas (any Alfie book and the Nursery Collection especially). I see the parents co-existing with the wet boots, mid-play toy spread, and dishes still on the table, and I exhale. Happy Winter by Karen Gundersheim for the domestic details, just a little background mama support, and winter fun (we live in Minnesota). Henry and Mudge easy readers. Jill Barklem's Brambley Hedge stories. And as a fellow sewist, I suspect you'll appreciate My Button Box by Margarette S. Reid. Cheers and here's to our local libraries and librarians!
I have two boys, 5 and 3. Our mutual favorites are: “hot dog,” “bathe the cat,” “frog and toad,“ “mother Bruce,” “Strega Nona,” “don’t let the pigeon drive the bus.” We also have a big illustrated fairy tale book that made its way to the kitchen table for breakfast time perusal.
Thank you for the recs! We love Frog and Toad too. I had dubbed Strega Nona "too long" before, but might be perfect timing now. The pigeon! So good! And fully sold on Bathe the Cat! :)
I resonate with all of this. Picture books have surprised me in how impactful they’ve been on my sense of safety, inspiration, joy, recognition, and comfort. There’s a million amazing things about becoming a mother, and being reintroduced to picture books is definitely included in that. Thank you for this! You put words to feelings I couldn’t articulate well.
Great essay. I’ve also been loving Looking at Picture Books…appreciate both you and those guys for treating picture books as the works of art and poetry they are (or at least, can be). The thing I didn’t understand until I started reading to my baby is how much richness there can be in the interplay between the words and the pictures. “Illustrations” feels like a misnomer in some ways, sets us up to believe that their purpose is to merely illustrate what it is the words are saying but so often the words wouldn’t make any sense without the pictures, and vice versa.
(Also hear you on the heaviness of the world lately. Glad the reading time is a tiny respite 💜)
I totally agree about the interplay between the words and pictures. A good picture book truly is more like a poem, with the art included in the poetics. It's such a delicate balance, and when a book does it well it's AMAZING. Such a special thing.
i'm a new new mother (well, as of 9 months ago, wow!) and somehow stumbled upon your content a couple of months back. thank you for sharing your thoughts, your life, and the beautiful realities and challenges of loving and parenting young children. your corner of the internet has been a comforting and encouraging find and i wish you well!
I literally have been noticing exactly this (parents in picture books) lately in my picture book reading (of which I do quite a lot of as someone who works in the children’s department of a public library doing storytimes & as a mother). What you wrote really spoke to me! Thank you. Although wordless, I recommend “Moonlight” by Jan Ormerod.
I can't wait to read Moonlight! Just put on library hold. I absolutely LOVE Jan Ormerod's 101 Things to Do with Baby (can't believe I forgot to put in on the all time faves list) and never thought to look up her other books! Need to do this with all the picture book authors whose books I love.
I am a first grade teacher and mother to a toddler and so appreciated reading this! There are so many picture books that I read with my son that make me cry—I think they are really meant for me to sit with. The questioneers books have been really fun to read and encouraging to think about the magic of childhood and the important skills of creativity, and courage. Those messages feel helpful in times when the world is sinking.
I routinely cry while reading picture books too, and my son is like... "mom are you ok?" Haha. Requested some questioneers books, thanks so much for the rec!
I also read a lot of picture books and love the good ones, am so annoyed with the bad ones. Favorites: miss rumphius, Heckedy peg, Sonya’s chickens, All The World, I am a bunny and Chirri and Chirra books. I loved reading the way you relate to the books you read and I’m going to track down the one you referenced!
I just recently requested a bunch of Chirri and Chirra books after a friend recommended them, they look so lovely! Can't wait for them to come in. Requested a bunch of your other recs too. I love Sonya's Chickens -- another one that feels as much for me as it is for my kid. Phoebe Wahl's work is so excellent. Thanks so much!
I think my kids love Heckedy Peg more than I do. But even to this day when I leave my teens alone I remind them to not open the door to anyone and not to play with fire. So it's definitely part of our family language.
Auden has just moved into the next phase of chapter books and it’s been really sweet. We read him “Mrs Frisby and the rats of nihm” and he adored it. George is still very much into picture books. On their Yoto they both listen to magic treehouse.
Yes, Tommy just got the Magic Treehouse cards for christmas and he loves them! I'm excited for the chapter book stage. T *might* be close to ready, but waiting for Ben to get a little older and a little less clingy to make it more pleasant to read for longer sittings, haha.
This was beautiful! Current favorites for my two-year-old and me include “Hector Fox and the Giant Quest,” “The Ship in the Window,” and “Where the Wild Things Are.”
Evergreen by Matthew Cordell is a beloved book of my 4 year olds! Mouse’s Wood and What Color is the Wind are other dear books we love. And then, Star Child by Claire A Nivola is one of the most profound and stunning books ever written! (If you can get your hands on a copy, run!)
My son and I just started reading our first chapter book together and it has been so fun to see and feel the difference between the picture book and chapter book read aloud experience. When I am at my absolute end w/r/t parenting, I always resort to reading aloud because at least I can be sitting, lol.
So fun! I feel like we are close to that milestone. We read like half of a Magic Treehouse book recently (but he prefers them as audiobooks on the yoto now that he got the cards for christmas.) What chapter book are you reading? And totally agree, I use books as a chance to sit down and have everyone calm down for a minute too, haha.
Yes! Tommy has just recently really gotten into audiobooks on the yoto via the Magic Treehouse card collection, they're really great, read by the author. Wasn't sure if they would hold his attention but he keeps coming back to them! Excited to collect more.
Reading books with my boys (now 17 & 20) was absolutely one of my favorite things. I so resonate with what you write here. I also love our local library, which is where we regularly checked out piles upon piles of wonderful books. Some favorites: Dr. Desoto by William Steig, the Little Bear series by Elsa Holmelund Minarik, Goodnight Gorilla, Miss Rumphius, Who Wet my Pants (so so funny!), A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker (also funny - we were partial to humor), Carry Me Mama by Monica Devine and, of course, the George and Martha and Frog & Toad books.
Love your thoughts about how picture books are a mirror for the parent and how they support and nourish you. As much as I love picture books, I've never really thought about how they mirror parenting to me.
My kids are mostly out of the picture book phase. Occasionally they will pick up old favorites and my dyslexic teen boy will read a picture book instead of another assigned reading because they're easier-- and safe and familiar, which is important. But most of the picture books you mention are not ones I'm familiar with.
I love Barbara Cooney's picture books. They might have too many words for where your son is now, but they're all beautiful worlds. Her most popular are Miss Rumphius and Roxaboxen-- and I love those. But the one I return to over and over again is Island Boy.
I love Dahlia by Barbara McClintock, a story about a girl and a doll. But the twist is the girl doesn't want a doll. She's a very active girl and she doesn't see where the frills and lace of this china dll fit into her world of mud pies and cart races and climbing trees. And yet it turns out there is room for a new friend. The parents aren't very present in the story, but the great aunt who gave the doll to the protagonist is. And she turns out to be a delightfully understanding woman.
I love Owl Moon by Jane Yolen about a dad who takes his child out into the snowy night to find owls. I love the way they bond quietly over the shared experience and the acknowledgment that the only way to get to the magic is to be uncomfortably cold.
One of my favorite picture books is sadly out of print, A Snow Story by Melvin Leavitt. It's about a quiet boy who has this ritual of tromping out on the frozen lake after a snowstorm. When asked what he's doing, he always replies that he's writing poems in the snow with his boots. No one understands him. He grows to be a husband and father and then grandfather and no one ever understands his queer ways. But magic happens when the wild animals react to his secret poems after the snow has melted. They're real, but only he sees the connection. I think the book speaks more to me as a parent than it did to my kids. But I love it as one of the ways to talk about what a poem is and what it does.
I love the Shirley Hughes books for the amazing drawings depicting everyday clutter in the background of mild child-centered dramas (any Alfie book and the Nursery Collection especially). I see the parents co-existing with the wet boots, mid-play toy spread, and dishes still on the table, and I exhale. Happy Winter by Karen Gundersheim for the domestic details, just a little background mama support, and winter fun (we live in Minnesota). Henry and Mudge easy readers. Jill Barklem's Brambley Hedge stories. And as a fellow sewist, I suspect you'll appreciate My Button Box by Margarette S. Reid. Cheers and here's to our local libraries and librarians!
Thank you for these recs, I haven't come across many of these! My library holds list is now happily filled!
Oh, yes, the Shirley Hughes books are wonderful!
I love the Brambley Hedge stories. Especially the illustrations, so crammed full of delicious details.
Waiting by what's-his-face Henke, and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (obviously?) (well, and many others by him).
Gah! I miss reading to my boys (at 19 and 21, they don't want that from me anymore)! Such a precious time of mothering.
Oh, yes, I'm savoring these picture book years. They're so special! A really sweet part of parenthood that kind of snuck up on me with its goodness.
I have two boys, 5 and 3. Our mutual favorites are: “hot dog,” “bathe the cat,” “frog and toad,“ “mother Bruce,” “Strega Nona,” “don’t let the pigeon drive the bus.” We also have a big illustrated fairy tale book that made its way to the kitchen table for breakfast time perusal.
Thank you for the recs! We love Frog and Toad too. I had dubbed Strega Nona "too long" before, but might be perfect timing now. The pigeon! So good! And fully sold on Bathe the Cat! :)
The key to Strega Nona is really playing up the Italian accents
Bathe the Cat is so good and so funny. The whole family was dying of laughter as we read that one!
My favorite Strega Nona book is the Christmas one.
Frog and Toad are so so good.
I resonate with all of this. Picture books have surprised me in how impactful they’ve been on my sense of safety, inspiration, joy, recognition, and comfort. There’s a million amazing things about becoming a mother, and being reintroduced to picture books is definitely included in that. Thank you for this! You put words to feelings I couldn’t articulate well.
Great essay. I’ve also been loving Looking at Picture Books…appreciate both you and those guys for treating picture books as the works of art and poetry they are (or at least, can be). The thing I didn’t understand until I started reading to my baby is how much richness there can be in the interplay between the words and the pictures. “Illustrations” feels like a misnomer in some ways, sets us up to believe that their purpose is to merely illustrate what it is the words are saying but so often the words wouldn’t make any sense without the pictures, and vice versa.
(Also hear you on the heaviness of the world lately. Glad the reading time is a tiny respite 💜)
I totally agree about the interplay between the words and pictures. A good picture book truly is more like a poem, with the art included in the poetics. It's such a delicate balance, and when a book does it well it's AMAZING. Such a special thing.
i'm a new new mother (well, as of 9 months ago, wow!) and somehow stumbled upon your content a couple of months back. thank you for sharing your thoughts, your life, and the beautiful realities and challenges of loving and parenting young children. your corner of the internet has been a comforting and encouraging find and i wish you well!
Thank you so much, Jackie! That means so much to me. :)
I literally have been noticing exactly this (parents in picture books) lately in my picture book reading (of which I do quite a lot of as someone who works in the children’s department of a public library doing storytimes & as a mother). What you wrote really spoke to me! Thank you. Although wordless, I recommend “Moonlight” by Jan Ormerod.
I can't wait to read Moonlight! Just put on library hold. I absolutely LOVE Jan Ormerod's 101 Things to Do with Baby (can't believe I forgot to put in on the all time faves list) and never thought to look up her other books! Need to do this with all the picture book authors whose books I love.
I have that one requested from my library too ☺️.
I am a first grade teacher and mother to a toddler and so appreciated reading this! There are so many picture books that I read with my son that make me cry—I think they are really meant for me to sit with. The questioneers books have been really fun to read and encouraging to think about the magic of childhood and the important skills of creativity, and courage. Those messages feel helpful in times when the world is sinking.
I routinely cry while reading picture books too, and my son is like... "mom are you ok?" Haha. Requested some questioneers books, thanks so much for the rec!
I also read a lot of picture books and love the good ones, am so annoyed with the bad ones. Favorites: miss rumphius, Heckedy peg, Sonya’s chickens, All The World, I am a bunny and Chirri and Chirra books. I loved reading the way you relate to the books you read and I’m going to track down the one you referenced!
I just recently requested a bunch of Chirri and Chirra books after a friend recommended them, they look so lovely! Can't wait for them to come in. Requested a bunch of your other recs too. I love Sonya's Chickens -- another one that feels as much for me as it is for my kid. Phoebe Wahl's work is so excellent. Thanks so much!
Oh! Yes I am a Bunny - sweet Nicholas!!
I think my kids love Heckedy Peg more than I do. But even to this day when I leave my teens alone I remind them to not open the door to anyone and not to play with fire. So it's definitely part of our family language.
Auden has just moved into the next phase of chapter books and it’s been really sweet. We read him “Mrs Frisby and the rats of nihm” and he adored it. George is still very much into picture books. On their Yoto they both listen to magic treehouse.
Yes, Tommy just got the Magic Treehouse cards for christmas and he loves them! I'm excited for the chapter book stage. T *might* be close to ready, but waiting for Ben to get a little older and a little less clingy to make it more pleasant to read for longer sittings, haha.
This was beautiful! Current favorites for my two-year-old and me include “Hector Fox and the Giant Quest,” “The Ship in the Window,” and “Where the Wild Things Are.”
Ooh requested the first two from the library, thanks so much for the rec! This comment section is pure gold! :)
Thank you for this!
Evergreen by Matthew Cordell is a beloved book of my 4 year olds! Mouse’s Wood and What Color is the Wind are other dear books we love. And then, Star Child by Claire A Nivola is one of the most profound and stunning books ever written! (If you can get your hands on a copy, run!)
My son and I just started reading our first chapter book together and it has been so fun to see and feel the difference between the picture book and chapter book read aloud experience. When I am at my absolute end w/r/t parenting, I always resort to reading aloud because at least I can be sitting, lol.
So fun! I feel like we are close to that milestone. We read like half of a Magic Treehouse book recently (but he prefers them as audiobooks on the yoto now that he got the cards for christmas.) What chapter book are you reading? And totally agree, I use books as a chance to sit down and have everyone calm down for a minute too, haha.
We are reading The Mouse on the Motorcycle! It was a gift from a recent dinner guest!
One of my goals for this year is to help him figure out the Yoto so he can do audiobooks. I was a total audiobook junkie as a child!
Yes! Tommy has just recently really gotten into audiobooks on the yoto via the Magic Treehouse card collection, they're really great, read by the author. Wasn't sure if they would hold his attention but he keeps coming back to them! Excited to collect more.
One of our favorite first chapter books is the Our Friend Hedgehog series by Lauren Castillo. Such sweet reads and illustrations.
Reading books with my boys (now 17 & 20) was absolutely one of my favorite things. I so resonate with what you write here. I also love our local library, which is where we regularly checked out piles upon piles of wonderful books. Some favorites: Dr. Desoto by William Steig, the Little Bear series by Elsa Holmelund Minarik, Goodnight Gorilla, Miss Rumphius, Who Wet my Pants (so so funny!), A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker (also funny - we were partial to humor), Carry Me Mama by Monica Devine and, of course, the George and Martha and Frog & Toad books.
Love your thoughts about how picture books are a mirror for the parent and how they support and nourish you. As much as I love picture books, I've never really thought about how they mirror parenting to me.
My kids are mostly out of the picture book phase. Occasionally they will pick up old favorites and my dyslexic teen boy will read a picture book instead of another assigned reading because they're easier-- and safe and familiar, which is important. But most of the picture books you mention are not ones I'm familiar with.
I love Barbara Cooney's picture books. They might have too many words for where your son is now, but they're all beautiful worlds. Her most popular are Miss Rumphius and Roxaboxen-- and I love those. But the one I return to over and over again is Island Boy.
I love Dahlia by Barbara McClintock, a story about a girl and a doll. But the twist is the girl doesn't want a doll. She's a very active girl and she doesn't see where the frills and lace of this china dll fit into her world of mud pies and cart races and climbing trees. And yet it turns out there is room for a new friend. The parents aren't very present in the story, but the great aunt who gave the doll to the protagonist is. And she turns out to be a delightfully understanding woman.
I love Owl Moon by Jane Yolen about a dad who takes his child out into the snowy night to find owls. I love the way they bond quietly over the shared experience and the acknowledgment that the only way to get to the magic is to be uncomfortably cold.
One of my favorite picture books is sadly out of print, A Snow Story by Melvin Leavitt. It's about a quiet boy who has this ritual of tromping out on the frozen lake after a snowstorm. When asked what he's doing, he always replies that he's writing poems in the snow with his boots. No one understands him. He grows to be a husband and father and then grandfather and no one ever understands his queer ways. But magic happens when the wild animals react to his secret poems after the snow has melted. They're real, but only he sees the connection. I think the book speaks more to me as a parent than it did to my kids. But I love it as one of the ways to talk about what a poem is and what it does.
Oh, yes, Owl Moon - what a gorgeous book!