It sometimes seems to me that children are rushing past these wonderful picture books in their haste to read more "grown up" books. This is something that we need to fight against so that children are enveloped in the wonderful world of picture books.
As author Jane Yolen notes in her Picture Book Month essay:
"I have always believed that literature begins in the cradle -- the poems we say to the babies, the stories we tell them -- prepare them to become part of the great human storytelling community. We humans arethe only creatures in the known universe who make and remake our world with story."
-Jane Yolen
-Jane Yolen
To help celebrate I will be blogging this month about some of my favorite picture books and picture book authors and/or illustrators. Today, I'll begin with some classics.
Many parents are familiar with my first author Margaret Wise Brown. It is a testiment to her art that her books are still popular almost 60 years after her death. In her short life of 42 years she wrote over 100 books and stories and many are still in print today. She was one of the writers of the "new" school who felt that children wanted to read stories about their own lives instead of just folk and fairytales. You can learn more about this prolific and wonderful author on the website: http://www.margaretwisebrown.com/index.html.
Goodnight Moon
What can be more soothing to a child than to bid a sleepy goodnight to all the objects in their room? The gentle rhythm and rhyme of this classic perfectly captures the scene of a nighttime ritual. There is a reason that this book has become a classic bedtime story. Somehow I don't believe the new parody entitled "Goodnight Ipad" will stand the test of time for over 50 years.
"Goodnight room
Goodnight mooon
Goodnight cow jumping over the moon..."
The Runaway Bunny
This classic story of a little bunny who threatens to runaway from his mom only to realize that she will follow him wherever he goes is another comforting story that features the same characters from Goodnight Moon. This was a favorite of one of my nieces to such an extent that my brother and sister-in-law tried to hide it so she'd choose another story to read - it didn't work. All children need to know that parents will be there and love them no matter what. At the end of the story the little bunny says:
"Shucks," said the bunny, "I might as well stay where I am and be your little bunny."
And so he did. "
Have a carrot," said the mother bunny.
Stay tuned for more picture book favorites - I'm going to try to make a new post daily, but time will tell!
Margaret Wise Brown is one of the best! My girls love two of her other stories -- Little Fur Family and Big Red Barn -- both of which are as poetic and magical as the rest of her books.
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