7 Enchanting Picture Books to Share with Someone Small this Season…
And One to Keep for Yourself!
For the Beginners
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Frost, Jeffers – This may be your child’s first introduction to America’s beloved Pulitzer poet. Frost’s gentle rhymes soothe little ears while Susan Jeffers’ exquisite, softly drawn illustrations of snowy countryside and silent wood brim with hidden surprises. A wonderful bedtime read or gift for a favorite teacher. And just who is this traveler in the red plaid?…
Walter Wick’s The Night Before Christmas: Picture Puzzles to Search and … and I Spy Christmas: A Book of Picture Riddles by Jean Marzollo … are a grand feast for the eyes! You’ll find each colorful two-page spread to be a mesmerizing rabbit hole your children will want to fall through again and again! Candy, stockings, cookies, toys – all the things we fancied as children and which our children continue to associate with the Christmas holiday combine here in detailed, up close photography, inviting the reader to linger and explore each magical scene. Sure to be a hit with pre-readers and grandparents, these books and the playful rhymes within, provide hours of quiet hunting and finding fun! (Side note: I am forever in Walter Wick’s debt, as I used all of his I Spy books as a potty training tool with my son…)
For the precocious, “too cool for school” readers
These readers will identify with New York City girls, Olivia, Olivia Helps with Christmas by Ian Falcone, and Kay Thompson’s Eloise, Eloise at Christmastime: Book & CD by Kay Thompson. These books show us the hustle, bustle, and glamour of a Christmas spent in the Big Apple.
Though Olivia’s family has chosen to holiday at their country home, or in Gstaad perhaps? — her New York style shines through as she presents her parents with the gift of a self-important self-portrait. Be sure to watch closely as Olivia and her little brother build a snowman! Falconer’s whimsical charcoal illustrations are unlike anything found in other books, allowing the characters to emote clearly and efficiently moving the story along with few words and much humor.
“And Santa chuckled and said ‘Dash on to the Plaza my lovely boys/We’ll have Christmas punch with Nanny and give Eloise her toys.”
Well, wouldn’t we all love to visit Eloise and her devoted, much put upon Nanny at the Plaza hotel? My 12 year old daughter, who received her first Eloise book at the age of 6, and I, simply adore, adore, adore Eloise! We love the way she talks, talks, talks and skibbles and scoots around that venerable establishment as though she owns the joint. Hilary Knight’s pen and ink drawings fully convey the frenetic pace at which our timeless heroine hustles through the hotel delivering gifts of Guinness and ordering up a room-service feast of raisin milk and cinnamon trees. In short, a “rawther” fanciful, ever so loverly book.
A Classic
1985 Caldecott Medal winner Polar Express 30th anniversary edition by Chris Van Allsburg returns this year with a special edition featuring an audio CD of Liam Neeson (yes, “I will find you and I will kill you” Liam Neeson!) lending his particular set of narrating skills to this perennial classic. A treat for small ears (or Mom’s ears) on the long car ride to Grandmother’s house, Van Allsburg does it all here, showing us why he continues to be “The Man” when it comes to creating books which thoroughly enchant our children with fantastical plot lines while squeezing our grown up hearts with melancholy prose and moody, atmospheric images. The Polar Express is a classic without which, no list of picture books, Christmas or otherwise, would be complete.
Pop Up Book
My son has received a pop up book by master of the paper arts, Robert Sabuda nearly every Christmas of his young life. In my opinion, The Christmas Alphabet, the one that started it all, is still the best. Each page-within-a-page is more delightful than the next. From Angel to Zzzz, Christmas Alphabet: 20th Anniversary by Sabuda … is poised to continue captivating generations of readers with its so simple, yet so amazing paper sculptures. Little hands will love to open and shut, open and shut each pop-up. A wonderful gift for anyone lucky enough to be loved by a book nerd.
And One to Keep for Yourself…
Shhh….you need to sneak off to the bookstore alone and treat yourself to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: The Illustrated Edition! At 256 glossy pages, 100 breathtaking illustrations and a price tag of $24.99, this first edition is a bargain and treasure which you should buy and then squirrel away for your grandchildren. I say this because my mother assures me that I won’t lose my shit with my grandchildren the way I would with my own children should they damage this book. I prefer to do 99.999% of my holiday shopping online because: the people. But for this, I changed out of my yoga pants, drove to the local B&N, and braved the people in order to check it out. Full Disclosure: I used to work at said B&N and the GM there is not my favorite person, but nevertheless, I trucked myself in there to “ooh” and “ahh” over this beautiful, amazeballs volume. You should too. It’s worth the effort.
I have enjoyed sharing my nerdly love of the Picture Book with That’s Normal’s followers. Perhaps you found some of your own favorites on this list, or maybe you are firing up your Amazon Prime account right this minute in order to check out something new. Regardless, my nerdlets and I wish you a MerryChristmakwanzakah and many happy hours of shared reading. Peace.
Win Picture Books!
Written by Stacey
Stacey Shannon is a full-time mom, part-time writer, and Khaleesi of the PTO at her childrens’ school. She is a functioning technology illiterate and is frequently covered in cat hair. You may know her from: that time in the 90’s when she used to sing covers of Paula Abdul songs in the Poconos, and her star turn as title character, “Snowflake” during her third grade year at SCES. Her body does be bangin’.
