WJE Picture Book Picks
To add to your collection of great books for early readers, here are some capsule descriptions and comments on some texts that take up particular personal and social themes:
1. All the Colors of the Earth. Sheila Hamanaka. Morrow Junior Books. (New
York, 1994)
Describes the many literal and figurative “colors” of humanity, in text that is brief but sprinkled with vivid adjectives. Illustrations are page-filling, and focus on individual figures.
2. Brave Irene. William Steig. Farrar, Straus, Giroux (New York, 1986).
Through a howling snowstorm, little Irene hauls the ball gown her sick mother has made to The Duchess, at her palace. Irene nearly dies, but perseveres and is rewarded. The story illustrates the strength that love and will can provide.
3. Leo the Late Bloomer. Robert Kraus; illustrations by Joe Aruego. Windmill Paperbacks (New York, 1971).
Leo, a slow-to-develop lion (?), eventually lives up to his potential, and everyone’s expectations. Hope for the late-to-develop, though “blooming” is played on verbally and in illustration to the point that some kids might miss its relevant meaning.
4. Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Doreen Rappaport; illustrated by Bryan Collier. Hyperian Books for Children (New York, 2001).
Lovely, textured illustrations, and the text introduces key terms—the “big words”—such as peace, love, and freedom. The text skims Dr. King’s life, and simply records his murder.
5. Mrs. Chicken and the Hungry Crocodile. Won-Ldy Paye and Margaret H. Lippert; Illustrations by Julie Paschkis. Henry Holt and Company (New York, 2003).
A Liberian traditional tale of a trickster hen who fools a brightly patterned croc into thinking of her as a sister. Stylized and colorful illustrations and a simple style of text that just begs to be play-acted.
6. My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother. Patricia Polacco. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (New York 1994).
An interesting narrative of brotherly obnoxiousness, but also of brotherly care. The illustrations don’t prettify the characters in this reminiscence of childhood, but help to create unique and memorable characters.
7. Santa’s Kwanzaa. Garen Eileen Thomas. Illustrations by Guy Francis. Hyperion Books for children (New York 2004)
A Christmas-Kwanzaa poem that casts Santa as coming home to celebrate Kwanzaa after making his Christmas rounds. Instructive about celebrating Kwanzaa.
8. The Story of Frog Belly Rat Bone. Timothy Basil Ering. Candlewick Press (Cambridge, MA, 2003).
Turning “Cementland” into a blooming garden takes patience and car, but pays off. Bizarre, atmospheric art with a cheerfully fantastic ecological morality tale.
9. The Ugly Duckling. Hans Christian Anderson, Adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. Morrow Junior Books (New York, 1999).
A clear and straightforward re-telling, with illustrations that fill the page with wildlife.
10. Virgie Goes to School With Us Boys. Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard. Illustrations by E.B. Lewis. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (New York 2000).
Six kids from a post-Civil War freed family walk the long way to a Quaker boarding school, the youngest sister for the first time. They equate learning with freedom. Based on a true story. Vivid, realistic illustrations, lyrical vernacular text.
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