Children's Picture Books

I spent a delightful afternoon yesterday picking pictures books for my young nieces' Christmas gifts. I thought I'd share some of the fun books I had a hard time deciding between.

Miss Spider's Tea Party
by David Kirk

This book has both a great story about not judging people based on their appearance and beautiful illustrations. It also is a counting book.

I bought the board book with the abbreviated story (Miss Spider's Tea Party: The Counting Book) since my 2 year old niece likes to rip pages. The shorter story in the board book is better for really young (0-3) children's attention span, but I'd recommend the longer rhyming story in the picture book for the 4-7 age range.

Good Night Gorilla
by Peggy Rathmann

This cute picture book has the zookeeper saying goodnight to the animals in the zoo (which teaches children animal names). It also is a funny book, because the gorilla steals the zookeeper's keys and proceeds to let all the animals out of the cages. The animals follow the zookeeper home, and his wife has to take them back to their cages when she finds them in her bedroom.

The Pigeon Wants a Puppy !
by Mo Willems

This is a new book that I fell in love with. The pigeon begs, cajoles, and demands that he get a puppy. He really wants one. Towards the end of the book, a life size puppy shows up and his size scares the pigeon. The pigeon realizes he doesn't really want a puppy - he wants a walrus. :-)

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type
by Doreen Cronin, Illustrated by Betsy Lewin

This hilarious children's book tells the story of cows who use a typewriter to ask the farmer for electric blankets (the barn is cold at night). When the farmer says no, they go on strike. Then the chickens join the cows on strike, and the farmer no longer receives any milk and eggs. Eventually the farmer negotiates a deal with them using the ducks as mediators. The repetetive click, clack, moo of the typewriter keeps children engaged in the story line, and the illustrations are fabulous. Unfortunately, the board book isn't available until March 2009.

This Little Piggy: A Hand-Puppet Board Book
by Scholastic, Illustrated by Michelle Berg

This cute little board book is implanted in the palm of the glove whose fingers are piggy puppets. I couldn't resist getting this for my youngest niece (who is still a baby). The finger puppets are fantastic, and the illustrations are nice. They changed the rhyme so that instead of roast beef the third piggy had cookies, and the fourth piggy had fun instead of none. Otherwise, this is truly a cute baby book.