Here are a few that have touched my pericardium and made me laugh, cry, or think when I finished reading them. These are, in my opinion, must reads for every Mom, Dad, BFF, Pops, Auntie, teacher who is looking for a great story time at the carpet, or any person just needing a kind reminder of the simple joys of sitting with a book and "looking at the pictures." Here are a few of my favorites.
Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak: Ask yourself, why does this book still thrive and excite 50 years after it was published? Our answers will all probably be very different, but my opinion is that we might want to be King for a little while, but at the end of the day it sure is good to know that Momma made dinner and it is waiting for us "still...hot" back at the crib. Max is a wild boy to be sure, but he learns that if he stares a beast in the eye without blinking once that his bravery may earn him a minion or two. Smart kiddo, and way to reel in the servants and all, but still this King knows he needs his Mother! This book makes me think of the days of being wild, and young, and somewhat free and knowing that home was the place where my wildness could just rest for a spell before I threw my shoes back off and went outside to live feral. Comforting, right?
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen: This book is the one to sit down with on the first really cold day of the year (Floridians, you will only have the one day). You know it. The one where you make tea from the kettle not the microwave, light the "first fire", and wear warm socks all day. The first "Winter Snuggle Day". This book is really written like a poem, and the figurative language used in it is none other than masterful. Reading it aloud makes the whole world quieter, and the sound of owl's wings can be heard with every breath. The little girl out on her first owl moon with her grandfather is so full of longing and the reader waits just as she does to hear the first "Whooo Whooo" of the Great Horned Owl. That little girl is really in all of us who have ever waited for and wanted something then received it unexpectedly. That child is fa-rezzing but the cold doesn't matter to her and she makes her own heat and almost smiles in the end. That almost smile is my very favorite part.
Edwina, The Dinosaur That Didn't Know She Was Extinct by Mo Willems: I love Mo Willems. I love everything he has ever written, but I chose this one because in this book a Tyrannosaurs Rex who does not know she is extinct, goes around town with her purse in hand helping old ladies cross the street, and makes chocolate chip cookies for everyone! As a reader, I am entranced! Of course a dinosaur is baking chocolate chip cookies, but then we meet Reginald Vonhoobiedoobie, and he does not believe she can be here doing all these wonderful things because she is extinct for crying out loud. This book deftly touches on how our perceptions of the way that we think things should be get in the way of us just accepting things for the way they are and how that can really stop us from being happy about it. Edwina, despite being targeted mercilessly by this boy the whole book, is kind to him anyway and in the end he doesn't care she is extinct. She has listened to him, and he loves her for it. Mo Willems is only second to the Good Doctor in my opinion and I have taught from his books since the first Pigeon wanted...something and Piggie and Elephant became BFF. If you cannot stand one more Dr. Seuss book, pick up one of his. They are the bee's knees.
No, David! by David Shannon: There are days when I want to be young again, don't you? Well, not if you are David. That poor boy, I know wherever he is, has been in trouble all day with his Mother for EVERYTHING. I am a parent, and there are some days when I feel like "No" is all that I say. The first time I read this book I cried the ugly cry on the very last page. After a whole day of unintentionally breaking every valuable thing in the house just because he was imagining himself as a professional baseball player or swaggering pirate, his Mother pulled him close and said, "Yes, David. I love you". If those words do not stop you in your tracks and make you think of every stupid thing you have ever done but your Momma forgave you for because she loves you, you may need to check for your soul, because...heartbreak! That day was a day where an intentional decision was made by me to temper what I say to my children with my love for them even if I am about to blow the proverbial gasket. I've read many a "parenting book" and not come away with that strong a realization.
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein: This book is so inspired and wonderful that I won't even be able to write about it without tears. From the illustrations with M.E. and T. carved into the trunk of this tree who loves a boy, to the pictures of her being brought to nothing but a tall stump, every part of this book...matters. The boy is really a metaphor for us all. We grow up and away. We want money. We want a house. We want to marry a hot guy, wait...just me? Well, then somehow we circle back around at the end of our lives to just needing a place to rest and someone who is willing, even after all we have done to them, to be that rest. I have read this book to every class I have ever taught on the first and last day of school and asked them, "Do you want to be the boy or the tree?" I ask myself it, too. All the time. The boy and his selfishness sticks with me. We are all the boy inherently, but should work to be more like the tree in the book. The world would be changed if people were trees, people! Can we really give of ourselves, selflessly to those we love and not expect anything in return but the other person's happiness? That is hard, and it is real. There are people who are gone from this world that I really wish I could have spoken to or just smiled at, and they can be listed on one hand. Shel Silverstein would be one of them.
A picture book might seem like child's play to some people. But to those people I would only say, what is wrong with that? Playtime is fun. Play teaches us things. Play makes us happy.
What picture books have stuck with you and made a deep, lasting impression? I would love for you to tell me about them! Happy reading, and "goodnight moon."
What picture books have stuck with you and made a deep, lasting impression? I would love for you to tell me about them! Happy reading, and "goodnight moon."
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