Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
Ava and her mother look forward to the one day of the week in the picture book Saturday by Oge Mora (published 2019). Every week they spend Saturday together doing fun things like visiting the library, having picnics, and getting their hair done. On one particular Saturday, everything seems to go wrong for the mother
Life in a Coral Reef by Wendy Pfeffer, illustrated by Steve Jenkins (a Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out, Stage 2, book) has colorful, textured collage illustrations that wonderfully match the child-friendly text. The text is written in present tense, which helps the reader feel present in the setting, among the tentacles of the sea anemone with the clown fish
Author-illustrator Sophie Blackall captures an imagined large farm family’s journey through the years in Farmhouse (Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2022). Her text tells about the things the family does in the house and her detailed collage illustrations go from room to room illustrating the large and loving family growing up in the house.
The uniquely illustrated picture book A Log’s Life by Wendy Pfeffer (illustrated by Robin Brickman; Simon & Schuster, 1997) shows the interconnectedness of ecosystems through the life of an oak tree. Three-dimensional collage illustrations bring the different creatures and textures to life in the illustrations. This picture book explains the cycle of decomposition with a
With a playful tone, the nonfiction picture book Plants Can’t Sit Still by Rebecca E. Hirsch (illustrated by Mia Osada; Millbrook Press, 2016) teaches readers how plants and seeds move in a variety ways, including how plants face the sunshine and spread seeds, and then the seeds sprouting into new plants. The pages have 1-3
The picture book Look by Gabi Snyder (illustrated by Samantha Cotterill; Paula Wiseman, 2024) is a work of art. Illustrated with photographs of hand-made three-dimensional collage sets, Look gives a visual exploration of patterns along with text that encourages the young reader to “look” around for details. The text and art seamlessly harmonize. A red-haired
Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers (illustrated by Shawn Harris; Chronicle Books, 2017) is a second-person picture book about the Statue of Liberty. As the title indicates, it focuses on the right foot of the statue, a foot that shows motion! As a whole, the book tells the history of the sculpture, from the idea
The Knight of Little Import by Hannah Batsel (Carolrhoda Books, September 2023) shares the story of a girl who wants to be a knight, but finds there is not much excitement in the town of Little Import. Since she cannot travel to find dragons to fight, she reads her book of monsters trying to learn
With a natural poetic rhythm, the nonfiction picture book Zap! Clap! Boom!: The Story of a Thunderstorm by Laura Purdie Salas and illustrated by Ellie MacKay (Bloomsbury, February 2023) skillfully depicts the development and impact of a thunderstorm. The text takes readers on a journey from a calm day to the formation of clouds and
The nonfiction picture book Dinosaurs from Head to Tail by Stacey Roderick and illustrated by Kwanchai Moriya (Kid Can Press, 2015) provides the young dinosaur fan with a guessing game. First, a two-page spread shows a zoomed-in view of a part of a dinosaur’s body, with a question for the reader to determine which dinosaur
Some Bugs by Andrea DiTerlizzi and illustrated by Brendan Wenzel (Beach Lane Books, 2014) is a simple rhyme for young kids about different kinds of bugs. Paired with the rhyme are collage-like illustrations created with “everything imaginable.” (See the note on the last page.) Crayon, pencils, watercolor, and collage make our backyard world in to a multi-colored
I Had a Favorite Dress by Boni Ashburn and illustrated by Julia Denos (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2011) emphasizes childhood creativity and recycling when clothes stop fitting. When the narrator’s dress stops fitting, her creative mother adapts it into a ruffly shirt. As that item of clothing becomes too worn or too small, the
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