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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179 Items found Print
Active Filters: 2nd grade (Ages 7-8), Library Binding
¡Viva México!
by Argentina Palacios, illustrated by Howard Berelson
from Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishing
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Adventures of Tom Thumb
by Marianna Mayer, illustrated by K. Y. Craft
First Edition from SeaStar Books
for Nursery-2nd grade
Aladdin
by Jean Lee Latham, illustrated by Pablo Ramirez
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Anatole and His Donkey
by Laurent de Brunhoff, translated from the French by Richard Howard
from Macmillan
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Animals in the Zoo
by Feodor Rojankovsky
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Apple Strudel Soldier
by Tom McGowen, illustrated by John E. Johnson
from Follett Publishing Co.
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
April Fool
by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Arabian Nights: Three Tales
by Deborah Nourse Lattimore
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
Arthur's Christmas Cookies
I Can Read! Level 2
by Lilian Hoban
from HarperCrest
for Preschool-2nd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Arthur's New Power
by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Byron Barton
1st edition from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Baboushka and the Three Kings
by Ruth Robbins, Nicolas Sidjakov (Illustrator)
from Houghton Mifflin
Word Books for Preschool-2nd grade
1961 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Baby Animals
Extraordinary Animals
by Andrew Brown
from Crabtree Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Baby Elephant's Trunk
by Sesyle Joslin, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Beauty of the Beast
by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Meilo So
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Kindergarten-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Best Friends for Frances
by Russell & Lillian Hoban
from HarperCollins
Animal Fantasy for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Big and Small, Short and Tall
by Ron Roy, illustrated by Lynne Cherry
from Clarion Books
for 2nd-4th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Big Brother
by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Mary Chalmers
from Harper & Row
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Big Red Barn
by Margaret Wise Brown, Illustrated by Felicia Bond
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Boom Town
by Sonia Levitin, illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith
from Orchard Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Brave Davy Coon
by Laurence Hyde
from Harper & Brothers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Brown Cow Farm
by Dahlov Ipcar
First Edition from Doubleday & Company
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Case of the Hungry Stranger
An I Can Read Book Level 2
by Crosby Bonsall
from Harper & Row
Children's Mystery for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Cat and the Devil
by James Joyce, illustrated by Richard Erdoes
from E.M. Hale and Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$38.00 (1 in stock)
Changes, Changes
by Pat Hutchins
from Macmillan
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Cherry Tree
by Daisaku Ikeda, illustrated by Brian Wildsmith, English version by Geraldine McCaughrean
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$19.00 (1 in stock)
Church Mouse
by Graham Oakley
from Kane Miller
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Circles, Triangle and Squares
by Tana Hoban
from Macmillan
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Circus Numbers
by Rodney Peppe
Revised from Delacorte Press
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Clocks and More Clocks
by Pat Hutchins
from Macmillan
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Colonial People: The Silversmith
by Wil Mara
from Marshall Cavendish Education
for 2nd-5th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Contest
by Nonny Hogrogian
from Greenwillow Books
Armenian Folktale for 1st-3rd grade
1977 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Crane Maiden
by Miyoko Matsutani, illustrated by Chihiro Iwasaki
from Parents Magazine Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Crictor
by Tomi Ungerer
from Harper & Brothers
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Cyrano the Crow
by Don Freeman
from Viking Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Dakota Dugout
by Ann Turner; illustrated by Ronald Himler
from Macmillan
for 2nd-4th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Days Before Now
by Margaret Wise Brown
Library Binding from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Do You Move As I Do?
by Helen Borten
from E.M. Hale and Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Dorrie and the Witchville Fair
by Patricia Coombs
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Drinking Gourd
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by F. N. Monjo
from HarperCrest
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Earning Money
Living and Working Together
by Frederic Rossomando, Florence Leventhal, Marilyn Szymaszek, illustrated by Gioia Fiammenghi
from Franklin Watts
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Eliza Pinckney
Weekly Reader Heroes of the Revolution
by Susan & John Lee
from Children's Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Emperor and the Nightingale
by Hans Christian Andersen, illustrated by Bill Sokol
from Pantheon Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
First Book of Mammals
by Margaret Williamson
from Franklin Watts
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
First Book of Sea Shells
by Betty Cavanna, Illustrated by Marguerite Scott
from Franklin Watts
for 1st-4th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
Follow the Dream
by Peter Sís
from Dragonfly Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Fourth of July Story
by Alice Dalgliesh, illustrated by Marie Nonnast
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Historical Non-fiction for 2nd-4th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
Frederick
by Leo Lionni
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Animal Fantasy for Preschool-2nd grade
1968 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
George and Martha Rise and Shine
by James Marshall
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
George Washington Carver
by Carol Greene
from Children's Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Go, Train, Go!
by Elizabeth Terrill, Rev. W. Awdry
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Beginner Books (Location: EAR-BB)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Gobble It Up!
by Jim Arnosky
from Scholastic Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Good Knight for Dragons
by Roger Bradfield
from Young Scott Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$35.00 (1 in stock)
Grouchy Uncle Otto
by Alice Bach, illustrated by Steven Kellog
from HarperCrest
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Happy Birthday Egg
by David Cornel DeJong, illustrated by Harvey Weiss
1st edition from Atlantic Monthly Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Henry and Mudge in Puddle Trouble
by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Sucie Stevenson
from Bradbury Press
Realistic Animal Stories for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Ready-to-Read (Location: EAR-R2R)
Hole, a Box and a Stick
by Gladys Yessayan Cretan, illustrated by Edward Frascino
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Hosie's Alphabet
by Hosea, Tobias and Lisa Baskin, illustrated by Leonard Baskin
from Viking Press
for Nursery-2nd grade
1973 Caldecott Honor Book
in Alphabet & Counting Books (Location: PIC-ALPH)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
How Do Airplanes Fly?
Ask Isaac Asimov
by Isaac Asimov and Elizabeth Kaplan
from Gareth Stevens Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in How Things Work (Location: SCIREF-HOW)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
How Many Donkeys?
by Regina & Haig Shekerjian, illustrated by Bob Binkley
from Scott, Foresman & Co.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
How Tevye Became a Milkman
by Gabriel Lisowski, Sholem Aleichem
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Hungry Leprechaun
by Mary Calhoun, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin
from William Morrow & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Hurry Hurry
by Edith Thacher Hurd, Illustrated by Clement Hurd
from Harper & Row
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$20.00 (2 in stock)
Illustrated Comic Alphabet
by Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon
from Henry Z. Walck, Inc.
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Alphabet & Counting Books (Location: PIC-ALPH)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
In 1492
by Jean Marzollo
from Scholastic Inc.
Picture Book Biography for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Indian Two Feet and His Horse
by Margaret Friskey
from Children's Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Johnny Crow's Garden
by L. Leslie Brooke
from Frederick Warne & Company
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Joy of the Court
by Constance Hieatt, illustrated by Pauline D. Baynes
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 2nd-6th grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Kenny's Window
by Maurice Sendak
Undated Reprint from HarperCrest
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$35.00 (1 in stock)
Kick, Pass, and Run
by Leonard Kessler
from HarperCrest
for Preschool-2nd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Kid Brother
by Jerrold Beim, illustrated by Tracy Sugarman
from Morrow Eagle
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Lady Who Saw the Good Side of Everything
by Pat Decker Tapio, illustrated by Paul Galdone
from Seabury Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Lassie and the Secret Friend
by Kennon Graham, illustrated by Bob Schaar
from Golden Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Legend of the Willow Plate
from Parents Magazine Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Liam's Watch
by Pamela Dell
from Tradition Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Life and Work of Auguste Rodin
by Richard Tames
from Heinemann Library
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Life and Work of Frederic Remington
by Ernestine Giesecke
from Heinemann Library
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Life and Work of Henry Moore
by Sean Connolly
from Heinemann Library
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Little Fish That Got Away
by Bernadine Cook, illustrated by Crockett Johnson
from Young Scott Books
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Little Indian
by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Richard Scarry
from Simon and Schuster
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Look at a Kitten
by Dare Wright
from Random House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Ma Lien and the Magic Brush
by Hisako Kimishima, illustrated by Kei Wakana, retold by Alvin Tresselt
from Parents Magazine Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Make Way for Ducklings
by Robert McCloskey
1966 printing from Viking Press
Realistic Animal Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1942 Caldecott Medal winner
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Man Named Washington
by Gertrude Norman, illustrated by James Caraway
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Man Who Walked Around the World
by Benjamin Elkin, illustrated by Katherine Evans
from Children's Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Master of all Masters
by Marcia Sewall, illustrator
from Little, Brown & Company
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Maurice Maeterlinck's Blue Bird
by Brian Wildsmith
from Franklin Watts
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Maxie
by Mildred Kantrowitz, illustrated by Emily A. McCully
from Parents Magazine Press
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Mei Li
by Thomas Handforth
Reissue from Doubleday & Company
1939 Caldecott Medal winner
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$19.00 (1 in stock)
Memory String
from Clarion Books
for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Mice at Bat
An I Can Read Book
by Kelly Oechsli
from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Molly's Pilgrim
by Barbara Cohen
from William Morrow & Company
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Clearance: Picture Books (Location: ZCLE-PIC)
Monsters of the Middle Ages
by William Wise, illustrated by Tomie de Paola
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Mother's Mother's Day
by Lorna Balian
from Abingdon Press
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Mr. Gumpy's Motor Car
by John Burningham
from HarperCollins
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.89
Mr. Sipple and the Naughty Princess
by Jan Slepian and Ann Seidler, illustrated by Richard E. Martin
from Follett
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Much Bigger Than Martin
by Steven Kellogg
from Dial Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
My Friend John
by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Ben Shecter
from Harper & Row
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Mystery Beast of Ostergeest
by Steven Kellogg
from Dial Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
New Golden Dictionary
by Bertha Morris Parker, illustrated by Aurelius Battaglia
from Golden Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
No Funny Business
by Edith Thacher Hurd, illustrated by Clement Hurd
from HarperCrest
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in I Can Read Books (Location: EAR-ICR)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
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