Artistic Books for Kids

My friend Laura has a son a little younger than Hank and a gift for choosing children’s books with sweet messages and lovely illustrations. So with this new baby in the mix, I asked for her list of books for our home library. Every one I’ve bought has been amazing, so I asked her to share her list with you here. Thanks, Laura!

I’ve been meaning to put this list together for way too long. Here is the abridged version. I left out the more obvious choices – like Richard Scarry, Dr. Seuss, and all the mythology/fairy tale books. Those are all necessary and lovely, but those just show up.

I think I have a kid’s book addiction, I love them so much.

Must
Pemba Sherpa by Olga Cossi, Gary Bernard
Shadow by Suzy Lee
Who Will Comfort Toffle?: A Tale of Moomin Valley by Tove Jansson
In the Night Kitchen (Caldecott Collection) by Maurice Sendak
Flotsam (Caldecott Medal Book) by David Wiesner
The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Dubose Heyward
In the Town All Year ‘Round by Rotraut Susanne Berner
A Giraffe and a Half by Shel Silverstein
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

Littles
Little Pea, Little Hoot, Little Oink by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
My Friends by Taro Gomi
Gossie by Olivier Dunrea
Alphablock by Christopher Franceschelli
Hippopposites by Janik Coat
Wave by Suzy Lee
Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees

Toddler
Adèle & Simon by Barbara McClintock
A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na (Author)
Otis by Loren Long (Author, Illustrator)
You Are Stardust by Elin Kelsey (Author), Soyeon Kim (Illustrator)
A Balloon for Blunderbuss by Alistair Reid (Author), Bob Gill (Illustrator)
The Girl Who Loved the Wind by Jane Yolen (Author), Ed Young (Illustrator)
The Water Dragon: A Chinese Legend – English and Chinese bilingual text by Li Jian
Animus by Seonna Hong and Shenne Hahn
Around the World with Mouk by Marc Boutavant
Ballad by Blexbolex
Mr. Wuffles! by David Wiesner
Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett
I Know a Lot of Things by Ann Rand (Author), Paul Rand (Author, Illustrator)
House Held Up by Trees by Ted Kooser (Author), Jon Klassen (Illustrator)
The Funny Little Woman by Arlene Mosel (Author), Blair Lent (Author)
The Poems and Drawings of Shel Silverstein Box Set
The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

Bigs
The Red Balloon by Albert Lamorisse
The Matchbox Diary by Paul Fleischman (Author), Bagram Ibatoulline (Illustrator)
Drawing from the City by Teju Behan
Ramayana: Divine Loophole by Sanjay Patel
A Street Through Time by Anne Millard and Steve Noon
Chi’s Sweet Home (11 Book Series) by Konami Kanata

Thanks again, Laura!