many picture books carry meaning and thought provoking stories. the lessons learned through picture books often run deeper than the lessons learned through the "popular" "easy to read" chapter books that abound.
now i'm not here to debate i'm here to encourage the love of picture books. don't ever stop adding them to your children's library....even when chapter books are introduced.
if you have the option...buy them in hardcover
add them to birthday and christmas lists! make sure to write a sentiment in the front cover including the date :)
my 9 1/2 year old daughter is as captivated by the stories in picture books as her 5 year old brother. (i am too as i read them aloud!) :) :)
without further ado, i am going to showcase several of the picture books in our personal home library.
there are sooo many more than this. please share your favorites in the comments!!
help me be good series - by: joy berry
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bright future books - by: gary and jan bowerwhen i first read 'the person i marry' i cried. the story is beautiful...and the pictures by jan are breathtaking.
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more books from the bowers. beautiful beautiful!
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these are a couple of favorite board books that the little ones really like. 
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big thoughts for little thinkers series - by: joey allenthese books are offered through Answers In Genesis. go peruse the site....they have a LOT of wonderful resources!
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more beautiful books offered through usborne.
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this is just fun!
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this is a beautiful story!
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one morning in maine - by: robert mccloskey
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little pea - by: amy krouse rosenthal cute :)
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God's wisdom for little girls - by elizabeth georgeGod's wisdom for little boys - by jim & elizabeth george
these are favorites! beautiful pictures, important lessons.
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doughnut day - by ruth ann rudolph
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a home for virginia - by: patricia st. john
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we also like his collections from 'where the sidewalk ends'
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p is for putt - by: brad herzog
these books are fun to collect. other titles include: 'T is for touchdown', 'H is for homerun' and 'K is for kick'.
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the giving tree - by: shell silverstein
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this is nice because it is a story about the JOY of snowy days!
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first hundred words - by heather amery
this is our second book...the first one became soooo worn. pointing out these pictures and saying them is a favorite with little ones!
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c is for caboose - by: chronicle books
fun for the train fanatics!
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tinka - by: rainy dohaneythe kids love this tale of little tinka...they made me include a picture. :)
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the poetry for young people series makes a wonderful collection. walt whitman, emily dickinson etc.
wow. i could go on and on.....please add your favorite picture book titles to the comments.
let's bring them back! i for one am so tired of seeing the chapter book section full of dark, vampirish, spell binding titles!
refresh the soul.....and get reading a good picture book! :)
You are so right. I adore picture books, and miss them very much as my children are getting older. I used to love to take them to the library and pick out all of the lovely illustrated books, such amazing talent. Great post. Take Care, Carrie
ReplyDeleteagree with you....
ReplyDeletewe love picture books.....
love your choices! we have almost all of them!
I have to agree. Adore picture books, too. I love your suggestions! I haven't heard of many of these. My 3 year old son LOVES to read. My friend came in town and laughed because we read a WHOLE BASKET of books to him before bed every night. It's norm for us! Sometimes we read that basket of books 3 times a day! There are 5 different spots in his room alone that have books to sit and read. He loves it! Going to put some of these on his Christmas list. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI started following your blog last week and I am wondering how to get it in my reader? if anyone knows e mail me please.
ReplyDeleteatonewithhim@gmail
I love, LOVE children's picture books. I love your choices. Richard Scary books are some of my favorites...and the Max Lucado ones are so sweet, too.
ReplyDeleteI must warn you . . . when you teach your kids to love books (like you are and we did), they just might move into an third floor apartment (with no elevator) and you have to carry all those boxes and boxes of books up all those stairs . . . :)Our daughters did this twice.
ReplyDeleteFondly,
Glenda
I love picture books so much. My favourite is The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey. I used to read it to my brother when he was little. I can't wait to read it to my son when he is old enough :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this post! My 20 month old daughter would rather look at books than anything else. You should see my amazon wish list for her!
ReplyDeleteIt's so good to get recommendations from other mothers, thank you for sharing yours!
Thank you so much for posting all of these! My son is ten months and I LOVE BUYING him picture books!
ReplyDeleteI just bought him the ox cart man for autumn! And I bought him "on the night you were born" for his first birthday! ITs a beautiful book and I cried reading it the first time!
Thanks again for sharing
Love,
Lyss
I'm so excited that you did this post! I will definitely start hunting down all these titles, even if just from the library. (Money is tight!) They look wonderful!
ReplyDeleteWe go to the library at least once a week and check out tons of books. The little ones LOVE picking out picture books, BUT I'm often wishing that the stories we read had more substance. That's why I'm giddy over this list you posted.
Two of my favorite books for kids:
1)The Princess and the Kiss by Jennie Bishop (a wonderful purity story that I always cry my way through)
2)The Squire and the Scroll by Jennie Bishop and Preston McDaniels
We also have a word book like yours and ours too is very worn. We've been using it for 10 years. =)
Love this post! We're going to have to look into a few of these - love that you have one of Joey Allen's books on here. They're a lovely (talented) family with beautiful children serving the Lord overseas. Thanks for the great ideas!
ReplyDeleteMore titles for you: The Seven Silly Eaters (gorgeous and fun to read!), A Visitor for Bear, and Meanwhile Back at the Ranch. My 11 month old's favorite book is P.D. Eastman's Are You My Mother? (everyone thinks it was written by Dr Seuss). In fact, she loves it so much, we're planning an "Are You My Mother?" birthday party for her.
ReplyDeleteMy four year old daughter each hold a picture book at night before bed and take turns "reading" a page one at a time. I LOVE hearing her see the pictures and "read" the story. It is just precious. Great post!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite books to read to my third graders is called ISH, by Peter Reynolds. It's about a boy who doesn't think he can draw pictures "real" enough, and so he throws all his pictures away. Then, he discovers his younger sister has been collecting his throw away drawings. He can't imagine why she would like them since he still thinks they're not good enough, but she says they are "ish" - for example, he draws a fish that he doesn't think looks like a fish, so she says it's fish-ish! It's a great story about still trying to do something even if you think you're not the best at it. Give it a read; I'm sure you'll love it! :D
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness what a great list, while I have many of those there were some we do not. I am adding them to my purchase list.
ReplyDeleteWe love The Princess and The Kiss and other books by Jennie Bishop as well.
THANK YOU for this great list!! I will definitely be adding a lot of these to my 2 young boys Christmas gift list!!
ReplyDeleteAllison
Luckily it is become known that the NYT article is biased. They took quotes out of context to "scare" us into believing that a mother forbids her kids to read picture books and she is up in arms over it. Lesson learned, watch who you let interview you! As I am a children's librarian, I have too many favorites to list. Please do visit your local library and become friends with the librarian. They will have plenty of suggestions for you and are always happy to take suggestions FROM you as well on books to buy for the library. We don't do this in a vacuum, we want to buy what our communities want to read. As for a couple of new favorites (because I just can't resist) look at Anna Dewdney's Llama Llama books, Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, and Jerry Pinkney's gorgeous new wordless version of The Lion and the Mouse. Have fun reading!
ReplyDeleteBooks are the best gift you can give and I love your selections. Thanks for sharing idea's for new selections for us too! I have a three year old who loves books and I'm so proud that he does already because I know we gave him a great start with this love. One of my favorite teachers in school always said "a book can take you a million places and back without ever leaving home" I absolutely agree! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLlama Llama Red Pajama by anna dewdney. WONDERFUL!
ReplyDeleteSome of my kid's favorites:
ReplyDeleteRoxaboxen by Alice McLerran
Miss Bridie Chose a Shovel by Leslie Connor
Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
Ox Cart Man by Donald Hall ill. by Barbara Cooney
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
Anything by Robert McCloskey
Anything by Jennie Bishop
I can't wait to check out some of your "new to me" list! Thanks so much we love picture books! Picture books make the perfect gift! They are enjoyed year round by my kids!
~ Ali
We also love picture books. Thanks for the recommendatons. I'm always looking for quality books to add to our family library.
ReplyDeleteCarrie
I teach 5th grade and still read picture books to them because they teach such great lessons! Anything by Patricia Polacco is a favorite of mine. I also like Saturday and Teacakes, The Birthday Tree, Way Up and Over Everything. I could go on and on. My two young ones really like the Russel the Sheep books and all of the Eric Carle books.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. It was nice to see some classic favorites, mixed in with some recent purchases, plus some new ones I will have to collect soon.
ReplyDeleteLoved your selection. When we moved and had to sell most everything, our girls could pick the keeper books. So many beautiful ones. When I home schooled them I used Five in a Row. It is a good program and the bonus for this book lover was to buy all those lovely books that were timeless in art and words...quality! thanks for the listing. I am passing it on to my daughter for her daughter.
ReplyDeleteWow, I found you over an hour ago and can't get enough! Although I adore your home and style, it's your book n toy links I've bookmarked ~ THANKS! We have several of those books but are always eager for more great recommendations. (That harp sounds perfect for my daughter!) I see many similar items/materials in my home, but it's a small, cramped, (newly renovated) 200 yo working farmhouse and never looks nearly as photogenic as yours. I don't know how you do it with that big beautiful family to teach n care for too! Oh well, guess I'll keep coming back to learn more. Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeletehugs,
Leslie
We, too, have many of the same books in our personal library. And Im totally with you on all the vampire junk thats becoming a movement.Its terrible and such young kids are being exposed to it!
ReplyDelete