Our Top Favourite Children’s Picture Books 20/40

My husband and I checked in to the all white, grand meets quaint, bed & breakfast. We thought we’d be going out on the town for dressed up dinners and warm evening walks while on our anniversary adventure. Instead, the Lord gave us exactly what we needed on our four day getaway.

Little did we know, the small port town was as sleepy as could be, the week before Canada Day. There were only a handful of restaurants, one cafe and a couple of stores open. And for us, we felt no such FOMO to go out. We had no exhausting plans and weren’t missing anything. God knew we needed rest. We slept in, we read, we connected and talked, and we even did some writing projects together.

What came as a surprise and what felt like a wink, was coming across one of the tourist stores. Previously a grocery store, there were goodies stocked in every two-story high, nook and cranny. But it was when we walked in the entrance, that we saw stacks and stacks of some of the best children’s picture books. We’d think, nice book section, turn a corner, and a new section of books would appear! I was a kid in a candy shop… or bookstore. We had visited the store every day we were there, and eventually met the owners, Stan, and his wife, Kathy. A children’s book coneseur, Stan gave us a crash course on the best selling children’s books and illustrations, we shared each other’s book projects, and he gave me a blanket with a jackalope on it. It was such a delight to connect with Stan and we hope to visit again soon, with published projects in hand.

In this instalment of our own favourite children’s books of this summer, I’ve added three books to the end that were not library books but picked up at Village Green.

If you’re ever in, or passing by Westport, Ontario, visit Village Green Originals on Church Street! You’ll definitely find some treasures, and a book or two!

Too Much Stuff!

Emily Gravett

11/40

This book makes it to top 5. In a different way of storytelling, this captures a similar lesson to The Hare Who Heard. It’s got really great rhymes, dynamic illustrations and words, and also gives kids and adults a laugh. It follows two magpie parents. If you know, magpies, like other corvid birds, they tend to be little collectors. And these guys just can’t get over the need to fill their nest with stuff before their chicks hatch. I certainly remembered the nesting and the obtaining of ALL the baby things I thought I’d need! And this book exaggerates it to a hilarious degree.

But looking around, they worried their nest Needed more stuff, to make it the best.

Little Good Wolf

Janet Stevens & Susan Stevens Crummel

12/40

A clever, suspenseful and heartwarming story that follows a good little wolf, who just doesn’t fit in with his big, bad family. His parents decide to ship him off to ‘Bad School’, where all the storytime villains, like the wicked stepmother, teach classes on being bad. The little good wolf doesn’t learn from them but ends up helping them do good things. He’s kicked out of school and goes missing. When his bad wolf parents find him lost in the woods, they have a change of heart, and moral. Note, this book could be scary for some. Aside from the dead house plants and crows galore, there is a lot of villain imagery like trolls and giants.

“… He takes baths. He plays with piggies. He cleans his room. He brushes his teeth. He even reads bedtime stories by himself!”

Cars! Cars! Cars!

Kiki Weart

13/40

This was a pretty cool find! It was one of those, search the library website for “cars” to see what’s available, kind of moments. We just HAD to find a new car book, and this one definitely provided. Each detailed car illustration also has a label with phonetic spelling included. The storyline takes you on an imaginative journey as Rosario dreams of what she could be and the cars she could drive when she grows up. (We’re currently having trouble putting this one through the Returns slot.)

All my toys are cars. I only draw cars. I know everything there is to know about cars. I can’t wait until I can drive a car.

The Invitation

Stacey May Fowler/Marie Lafrance

14/40

The dedication at the end of this book reads, “To all fellow sufferers of pervasive anxiety, may you find—or become—your own Fawn”. My little guy tends to worry a lot about what might happen in this scenario or that. This book follows Fern who always worries about the unknown. She almost misses a fun party at the museum because of that fear. Her friend the Fawn calmly comes up with solutions to all of Fern’s what-ifs along the way. This was a great book to teach Arlo about moving through those what-ifs with logical solutions that sometimes now teaches me.

The more Fern worried, the longer she waited to open the envelope, and the longer she waited to open the envelope, the more she worried.

My Father’s House

Kathi Appelt/Raul Colon

15/40

A nice little rhyming book about thanking God for all the different ecosystems that exist on Earth. Whether that is the mansion of marshes for bullfrogs and muskrats, or the tundra of Northern Lights for arctic foxes to play. It’s a short little poem to read before bed, that can be read as a prayer of gratitude for all of His diverse creation that we get to witness and live in.

Oh my Father, thank you, For all your many mansions…

Bigger Than a Bumblebee

Joseph Kuefler

16/40

Another Joseph Kuefler favourite, and also another story that displays all the diversity of God’s creation. The ways in which we are bigger than a timid turtle, but also smaller than icebergs or ocean tides. It speaks to our significance as well as our finiteness. It ends with comparing a parent’s love to being something big and something small. This new imagery warmed my heart, to think about a love so big and important, yet small and intimate.

Most of all, my darling, love is me and you. Our love is small, but it is big, too.

Come Over to My House

Dr. Seuss / Kathie Katy

17/40

How could we not include the many rhymes of Dr. Suess? Although I could have suggested Oh, The Places You’ll Go, or The Lorax, I went with this book given as a gift and suggested from a friend of a friend. My old days of interior design got to me, as each page celebrates the unique and very different architecture from around the world. It also celebrates the diversity of the character, and hospitality of different cultures. A great way to study an around the world unit, by being welcomed into each and every home and hearth.

Every house in the world has a ceiling and floor. But the ones you’ll like best have a wide-open door.

Poem-Mobiles: Crazy Car Poems

J. Patrick Lewis & Douglas Florian / Jeremy Holmes

18/40

Yes, more cars. But, this one includes the silliest, most imaginative cars, like a bathtub car, bookmobile and grass taxi. Along with unique, otherworldly graphics, each spread, much like Dogs Love to Ride, is a new poem about a car. Whether haiku or limerick, you can flip to any page, or pick just a couple, for a quick bedtime read. It‘s also a silly way to introduce poetry and rhyming!

Make no mistake: there is no brake— You slow down with your legs. Or else you’ll crash, most likely smash, And sit in scrambled eggs.

A Gift for Mama

Linda Ravin Lodding / Alison Jay

19/40

This was such a cute little story, especially because I replaced the character with Arlo‘s name and happened to read it before my birthday. It follows a boy who is in search of the most perfect birthday gift for his mom, but ends up trading one gift for another, and another out of his kindness to help others. Although he’s left with nothing in the end, he’s given the perfect gift to give, just in time. Probably one of my favourite illustrators, she uses a unique process of fast drying oil paint with a crackle varnish that adds to the tone of a story set in old Vienna.

What can I buy? wondered Oskar. He had only a single coin.

The Crown on Your Head

Nancy Tillman

20/40

Another Nancy Tillman! Mainly because she’s great, and mainly because Stan was a fan and had a whole section dedicated to Nancy Tillman books at the Village Green. This is a new Nancy favourite as it describes the idea of every child’s beautiful crown on their head. What I love about this imagery is that it speaks to our royalty as heirs as children of God. That each child is unique, important, and has a light to be shared, and never hidden.

That’s why every night, when I put you to bed, I’m careful to kiss the crown on your head.

Stay tuned, more good reads to come!