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Picture Books

Once upon a time.... may be the oldest trick in the writer's bag, but we still fall for it—especially if it's accompanied by pictures. There's a sense in which all picture books are fairy tales (even the ones that take place in New York City or a log cabin) simply because they're able to transport us in a way words alone can't. We become part of the story viscerally, sensing the subtleties of mood and place and texture.

Not all picture books are created equal, of course. We don't go in for VeggieTales, or Disney, or Sesame Street (etc. etc.), preferring the more classic style (like Caldecott winners) and newer ones that are more artistic (as opposed to merely visual). The only thing a second-rate illustration can do is make you mourn the preeminence of Saturday morning cartoons, whereas a good one has the capacity to take you inside.

We're not trying to be snobs about this, but if we offer our children picture books to read and look at, we want them to be of the highest quality. We want the text to be excellently written, the plot well-crafted, the illustrations rich and vibrant. There's a very real sense in which a child's imagination is formed by the things he or she sees as a small human, and if they only get to look at poor drawings there's a pretty good chance their creative powers will end up severely limited.

If you've encountered the illustrations of Trina Schart Hyman, Robert McCloskey, Maurice Sendak, or Michael Morpurgo, you'll know what we're talking about. Good picture books have a way of showing us things we've always seen or imagined a little differently, tilting the canvas of the familiar to make it seem a little less so, more wild, more mysterious, more real.

Which is precisely why they're such a great way to introduce kids to reading. They don't have to know what the words say to get the gist of the story, yet when they do begin to learn what the words say, it's easier for them to grasp the meaning since they're already familiar with the basic premise. Many kids have learned to read this way, and we suspect many more will do so in the future.

That is, if they have access to quality picture books at a young age. We like them proliferating throughout the house like small landforms, squeezing out of bookcases, turning up beneath the couch and on top of dressers. Just remember—they aren't only for children. In fact, adults often need them more, to connect with their progeny, to recapture a sense of youth, or simply to rest when words stop making sense and only pictures are able to communicate.

When we say "picture book," there are a couple of things we aren't talking about: first, illustrated fiction. A great book, primarily text with illustrations here and there, are not the same as picture books, which focus on the artwork. Second, we don't include here non-fiction. There are lots of excellent science, math, biographical, and other types of picture books—we have plenty—but they are in separate sections (see below).

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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All the Places to Love
by Patricia MacLachlan
from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street
by Dr. Seuss
from Random House
Rhyming Fantasy for 1st-4th grade
in Beginner Books (Location: EAR-BB)
And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street
by Dr. Seuss
15th printing 1967 from Vanguard Press
Rhyming Fantasy for 1st-4th grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Bedtime for Frances
by Russell Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.99
Beowulf (retold)
by Michael Morpurgo
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-8th grade
$8.99
Cat in the Hat
by Dr. Seuss
from Random House
for 1st-2nd grade
in Beginner Books (Location: EAR-BB)
$9.99 $3.50 (3 in stock)
Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
from Greenwillow Books
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Clown of God
by Tomie dePaola
from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
Clown of God
by Tomie dePaola
from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Days of the Blackbird
by Tomie dePaola
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Prescool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Friend
by Sarah Stewart
First Edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for Preschool-2nd grade (Ages 4-8)
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Giving Tree
by Shel Silverstein
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.99
Grandfather's Journey
by Allen Say
Reprint from Sandpiper Books
Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten-2nd grade
1994 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Great Gracie Chase
by Cynthia Rylant
from Blue Sky press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Horton Hears a Who!
by Dr. Seuss
from Random House
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
by Dr. Seuss
from Random House
Christmas Stories for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.99
I Have an Olive Tree
by Eve Bunting
1st edition from HarperCollins
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
by Laura Numeroff
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.99
Ish
by Peter H. Reynolds
First Edition from Candlewick Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$15.00
Little Engine That Could - Original Edition
by Watty Piper, illustrated by George & Doris Hauman
from Platt and Munk Publishers
Personification Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$10.99
Mitten
by Jan Brett
Rei/Cas from Putnam Juvenile
Animal Fantasy for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.99
My Father's Dragon
My Father's Dragon Trilogy #1
by Ruth Stiles Gannett, illustrated by Ruth Chrisman Gannett and Helena Perez Garcia
from Bushel & Peck
Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
1949 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
My Father's Dragon
My Father's Dragon Trilogy #1
by Ruth Stiles Gannett, illustrated by Ruth Chrisman Gannett
from Dover Publications
Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
1949 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
My Uncle Emily
by Jane Yolen
from Philomel Books
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Olivia
by Ian Falconer
from Atheneum
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-1st grade
2001 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
Other Side
by Jacqueline Woodson
from Putnam Juvenile
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.99
Owl Moon
by Jane Yolen; illustrated by John Schoenherr
from Philomel Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
1988 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Paper John
by David Small
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Peter and the Wolf
by Sergei Prokofiev, illustrated by Erna Voigt
from David R. Godine
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Petunia
by Roger Duvoisin
Weekly Reader Edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Poky Little Puppy
by Janette Sebring Lowrey & Gustaf Tenggren
from Golden Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Little Golden Books (Location: PIC-GOLD)
$4.99 $2.50 (1 in stock)
Polar Express
by Chris Van Allsburg
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-2nd grade
1986 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.00
Roxaboxen
by Alice McLerran
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Roxaboxen
by Alice McLerran
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Sam, Bangs & Moonshine
by Evaline Ness
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Allegorical and Moral Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1967 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Sign Painter
by Allen Say
1st edition from Houghton Mifflin
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.00
Sleeping Beauty
by K. Y. Craft
from Chronicle Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Snowflake Bentley
by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
from Houghton Mifflin
Biographies of Scientists and Inventors for 1st-3rd grade
1999 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
So Few of Me
by Peter H. Reynolds
from Candlewick Press
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$15.00
Song and Dance Man
by Karen Ackerman
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
1989 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Song of the Swallows
by Leo Politi
1st edition from J. Paul Getty Museum
for 2nd-3rd grade
1950 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.95
Spider and the Fly
by Tony DiTerlizzi; based on the story by Mary Howitt
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
2003 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
Stellaluna
by Janell Cannon
1st edition from Harcourt Children's Books
for 1st-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.99
Stranger
by Chris Van Allsburg
1st edition from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.95 $10.50 (2 in stock)
Tale of Benjamin Bunny
Book 4
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Nursery-1st grade
in Peter Rabbit & Friends (Location: FIC-PETER)
$8.99
Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck
Book 9
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Nursery-1st grade
in Peter Rabbit & Friends (Location: FIC-PETER)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Tale of Peter Rabbit
Book 1
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Peter Rabbit & Friends (Location: FIC-PETER)
$8.99
Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
Book 2
by Beatrix Potter
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Nursery-1st grade
in Peter Rabbit & Friends (Location: FIC-PETER)
$8.99
Thank You, Mr. Falker
by Patricia Polacco
from Philomel Books
Autobiographical Picture Book for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
The Wall
by Peter Sís
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 3rd-6th grade
2008 Caldecott Honor Book, 2008 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$21.99
Three Golden Keys
by Peter Sis
1 Reissue from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$24.99
Three Names
by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Alexander Pertzoff
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Three Pigs
by David Wiesner
1st edition from Clarion Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
2002 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99 $11.00 (1 in stock)
Thy Friend, Obadiah (hardcover)
by Brinton Turkle
from Beautiful Feet Books
Realistic Animal Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1970 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$14.95
Tops and Bottoms
by Janet Stevens
from Harcourt Children's Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
1996 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Ugly Duckling
by Hans Christian Andersen, Jerry Pinkney
First edition from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
2000 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.99
Waiting to Waltz
by Cynthia Rylant
from Atheneum
for 1st-7th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$19.99
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears
by Verna Aardema, Leo & Diane Dillon
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1976 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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