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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128 Items found Print
Active Filters: 2nd grade (Ages 7-8), Library Binding, Used Books & Materials
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)
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)
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)
Attack and Defense
by Robert Coupe
from Mason Crest Publishers
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Baby Animals
Extraordinary Animals
by Andrew Brown
from Crabtree Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)
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. 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)
No Roses for Harry!
by Gene Zion
from Harper & Row
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Noel for Jeanne-Marie
by Francoise
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Nothing to Wear But Clothes
by Frank Jupo
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Nubber Bear
by William Lipkind, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$28.00 (1 in stock)
Ogre and His Bride
by Nami Kishi, retold by Alvin Tresselt, illustrated by Shosuke Fukuda
from Parents Magazine Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
One Silver Second
by Daphne Doward Hogstrom, illustrated by Gordon Laite
Stated First Printing from Rand McNally
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$50.00 (1 in stock)
Orcas Around Me
by Debra Page, illustrated by Leslie W. Bowman
from Albert Whitman & Company
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Outside my Window
from HarperCrest
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Over, Under & Through
by Tana Hoban
from Macmillan
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Pegasus
by Marianna Mayer & K. Y. Craft
1st ed from Morrow Eagle
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Pet Dragon
by Christoph Niemann
First Edition first Printing from Greenwillow Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Peter Churchmouse
by Margot Austin
1958 Printing from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Peter's Three Friends
by Winifred Bromhall
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of Dwight David Eisenhower
by David A. Adler
1st edition from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of John Hancock
by David A. Adler, Michael S. Adler
from Holiday House
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Pilgrims' Party
A Really Truly Story
by Sadybeth & Anson Lowitz
from Lerner Publishing Group
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$15.00 (2 in stock)
Ponce de Leon
by Trish Kline
from Rourke Publishing
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Proverbial Mouse
by Moira Miller
First Edition from Dial Books for Young Readers
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Quick as a Wink
by Dorothy Aldis, illustrated by Peggy Westphal
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Quilt, The
by Ann Jonas
from Greenwillow Books
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Riddles Around the World
from E.M. Hale and Company
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Rockets to the Moon
by Erik Bergaust
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Rooster Brother
by Nonny Hogrogian
from Macmillan
for 1st-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Rosie's Walk
by Pat Hutchins
from Macmillan
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Runaway Elephant
by Ellen Tarry
from E.M. Hale and Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Sea Serpents Around Us
by Lois and Louis Darling
Stated First Edition from Little, Brown & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$86.00 (1 in stock)
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