Degrees in Idealism

exploring how we would live if we truly believed life was meaningful

My Favorite Children’s Picture Books

03.24.2018 by Elizabeth Hanna Pham // 4 Comments

“Read to your kids,” parents are told over and over again. Choosing books in favor of T.V. or other sorts of entertainment is surely a no-brainer. But does it matter what you read to them? With all the reading campaigning that goes on, it would seem like any combination of words and pictures bound together is a golden ticket for general life success. But I’m going to say something difficult. There are bad books. There are bad children’s books.

Now, I’m not going to argue what exactly constitutes a “bad” children’s book. Beauty isn’t necessarily all in the eye of the beholder, but it’s still pretty complicated. Many of us have all sorts of emotions and nostalgia tied up in books and I’m not going to tread on that sacred ground. Instead, I’m going to give my own personal criteria for what I think makes a particularly good children’s book— one I’m willing to read over and over again for years to come, and one that I think nourishes my children in their hearts, minds, and souls.

  1. Beautiful illustrations. In general, I look for illustrations that evoke a sense of wonder or tranquility rather than a sense of busyness or hyperactivity. Basically, I look for illustrations that I would feel comfortable hanging up in our home. 
  2. Beautiful language. Some general tests for beautiful language: Do these words sound like the refrain of a cheesy pop song? If there are rhymes, do the rhymes feel forced? Would I like to listen to this on audiobook? Don’t be biased by the fact that a book got published and is popular. If it offends your sensibilities, sounds patronizing or sappy, and you feel ridiculous reading it, trust your instincts.
  3. Authenticity. Nobody enjoys preachy stories, other than the person preaching them. Every good story is laden with truth, and people will learn the lessons they need to learn from good stories in the subtle or direct way that good stories teach. If you want to teach a child the logic behind morality, read him a catechism. If you want to delight a child and cultivate his heart, read him a story.

Below are two lists of picture books: one for toddlers and one for preschoolers. But, really, if a picture book is good enough, then people of all ages can appreciate it, and I have found this is true for my family. The only age-specific issue we have run into is the toddler ripping out the pages he really likes!

Toddler (these all come in board book form)

Haiku Baby: Betsy Snyder

Baby Bear Sees Blue: Ashley Wolff

Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: Il Sung Na

Maite Roche prayer books

Gerda Muller season books

A Book of Babies: Il Sung Na

A Book of Sleep: Il Sung Na

Goodnight Moon: Margaret Wise Brown

Big Red Barn: Margaret Wise Brown

Hello Bugs: Smriti Prasadam and Emily Bolam

The Mitten: Jan Brett

The Snowy Day: Ezra Jack Keats

All Creatures Great and Small: Naoko Stoop

Good Dog, Carl: Alexandra Day

The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Eric Carle

The Little Fur Family: Margaret Wise Brown

Pumpkin Moonshine: Tasha Tudor

Preschooler (and beyond):

Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening: Robert Frost

How to Paint a Portrait of a Bird: Jacques Prevert and Mordicai Gerstein

The Complete Brambly Hedge: Jill Barklem

The Ox-Cart Man: Donald Hall and Barbara Cooney

Madeline: Ludwig Bemelmans

The Little Engine That Could: Watty Piper

Katy and the Big Snow: Virginia Lee Burton

The Friendly Beasts: Tomie de Paola

Blueberries for Sal: Robert McCloskey

The Little House: Virginia Lee Burton

The Big Snow: Berta Hader

A Child’s Calendar: John Updike

Dandelion: Don Freeman

Corduroy: Don Freeman

The Polar Express: Chris Van Allsburg (we introduce North Pole Santa as a lovely story but primarily celebrate St. Nicholas, so this is an interesting one to explain. But it’s just so beautiful!)

Where the Wild Things Are: Maurice Sendak

A Treasury of Wintertime Tales: Noel Daniel

Stone Soup: Marcia Brown

Owl Moon: Jane Yolen and John Schoenherr

Fairy Tales and Fables: Gyo Fujikawa

A Child’s Book of Poems: Gyo Fujikawa

The Little Fir Tree: Margaret Wise Brown

The Velveteen Rabbit: Margery Williams

The Scarecrow’s Dance: Jane Yolen and Bagram Ibatoulline

The Story of Christmas: Pamela Dalton

The Night Before Christmas: Charles Santore

Rain Makes Applesauce: Julian Scheer and Marvin Bileck

Brother Sun, Sister Moon: Katherine Paterson and Pamela Dalton

Fletcher and the Falling Leaves: Julia Rawlinson

Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms: Julia Rawlinson 

A Time to Keep: Tasha Tudor

The Beatrix Potter Collection: Beatrix Potter

Winnie the Pooh: A.A. Milne

The Tale of Three Trees: Angela Elwell Hunt and Tim Jonke

Ferdinand: Munro Leaf

Noah’s Ark: Linda Falken and The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Lion and the Mouse: Jerry Pinkney

The Clown of God: Tomie de Paola

Images of God: Marie-Helene Delval and Barbara Nascimbeni

Psalms for Children: Marie-Helene Delval and Arno

Make Way for Ducklings: Robert McCloskey

One Morning in Maine: Robert McCloskey

When I Was Young in the Mountains: Cynthia Rylant 

Thunder Cake: Patricia Polacco

Pascual and the Kitchen Angels: Tomie dePaola

Miss Rumphius: Barbara Cooney 

Categories // Beauty, Family Tags // #beauty, #books, #charlottemason, #children, #homeschooling, #parenting

Comments

  1. Kelly says

    03/25/2018 at 10:07 PM

    I have to add! The Story of the Blue Bonnet : Tommy DePaola!! It is an example of courage and beauty and the main character is a heroine which is good for young girls and young boys to see!!!

    Reply
    • Elizabeth Hanna Pham says

      04/10/2018 at 4:45 PM

      ooh I will have to check that out! Tomie DePaola is great

      Reply
  2. Brenda Steele says

    03/26/2018 at 10:59 AM

    Elizabeth, I must say, these lists brought back the “best” of memories having read most of these to my daughters and then my grands time and again. Just seeing many of these titles once more made me smile.

    Reply
    • Elizabeth Hanna Pham says

      04/10/2018 at 4:46 PM

      so sweet!

      Reply

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About Me

I'm Elizabeth. I'm a wife, a mother to six children, a writer, and a lover and seeker of the beautiful, the true, and the good. I am a believer in idealism-- that even amidst the chaos and the confusion, the exhaustion and the sadness of life there is always joy to be found, hope to be clung to, and a better path to be taken. I write my thoughts on this blog. Links to my fiction books are at the bottom of the page.

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