Description

This article is from the Children's Books FAQ, by Hilary Morrison, morrison@evol1.mbl.edu with numerous contributions by others.

Picture Books/2 years and under: A-D

#1 for the younger end of this group is books with large, clear
photographs of familiar objects and babies/toddlers doing
familiar things. Also flap books and baby board books.

Aardema, Verna:What's so funny, Ketu? (featuring our household
catchphrase "Fat, juicy people", which is a thought of a mosquito
in the book. Ketu gets a gift of understanding animals thoughts
but can't tell, and his wife thinks he's laughing at her.); Why
Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears (a Caldecott medal winner.
Mosquito sets off a chain of events which makes everyone mad at
him); Rabbit Makes a Monkey out of Lion (Rabbit outsmarts Lion);
Anansi Finds a Fool (A lazy guy wants to find a partner who will
do all the work while he reaps all the rewards, and his partner
tricks him at his own game) (African folktale picture
books...There are a few other books by this author) [Cici]

Ahlberg, Janet and Allan:The Baby's Catalogue (this was one of his
favorites before he turned 2. [Rec. unknown]); Peepo!; Peek A
Boo!; Each Peach Pear Plum (rhyme [Peggy R.])

Amery, Heather:The First Hundred Words (Also available in Spanish
and French...I would never have bought something that sounded like
a vocabulary wedding book, but this was recommended to me and it's
great. Each open double-page shows a "typical" hectic family
scene with a mother, father and three kids. In each one, the
author has paid some attention to showing the father being very
involved with the kids. So in the living room scene, for example,
mom is hanging a picture with the help of her daughter, dad is
about to give a crying baby a bottle, little boy is stacking up
some cups, dog is watching a TV commercial for dog food, cat is
about to leap on the baby, etc. It's all chaotic and fun. Other
scenes show getting dressed, eating breakfast, washing dishes,
swimming, playing in the park, etc. This book has been a favorite
of my daughter from 14 months through now (20 months) [Tina Van
R.]).

Base, Graeme:Animalia (a really beautiful and colorful alphabet
book by an Australian artist; "the best alphabet book in the
world" There's only one problem with the book - it's far too good
to give to a toddler. Contains a Waldo-esque stripe-shirted child
hiding out in the background. He's on every page - the problem is
to find him! Graeme Base invented and drew the type-face for each
page, because he couldn't find type-faces which complemented each
drawing. [Jane P.])

Baum, Susan:Gear Bear's Busy Farm; Gear Bear's Busy Town

Berenstain, Jan & Stan: The Bears' Picnic (all the picnic spots
that Papa Bear find turn hilariously bad); The Bike Lesson (Papa
Bear teaches Small Bear to ride a bike with examples of what NOT
to do); The Bears' Vacation (Papa Bear teaches Small Bear about
safety at the beach by demonstrating what NOT to do) (these books
belong to the same category as Horton - I remembered them from my
childhood [Cici])

Bess, Clayton:The Truth about the Moon (boy is fascinated with the
moon and is frustrated by the many different folk stories everyone
tells him about it [Cici])

Boynton, Sandra: various titles.

Brett, Jan (Well liked illustrator [Rec. unknown])

Briggs, Raymond:The Snowman

Brown, Margaret Wise:Big Red Barn (illustrated by Felicia Bond.
The illustrations really complement the signature style of Wise
Brown. I especially love the butterfly which appears on most (but
not all) pages--Dylan loves to point it out. [Diane L.]);
Goodnight Moon; Runaway Bunny; Little Fur Family (My daughter is
only marginally interested in the story of this book; its charm is
that is is covered in fur! It's a tiny book that she loves to
carry around. [Kathleen R.]); Wait Till the Moon is Full (One of
my favorites from my own childhood. I always loved the Garth
Williams illustrations and the haunting songs that the mother
racoon sings to her son.[Mimi W.])

Brown, Mark: Hand Rhymes

Cameron, Polly:I Can't Said the Ant (Rhymes. I found
this to be just "ok" [Bruce G.])

Carle, Eric:The Very Hungry Caterpillar; The Very Busy Spider; The
Very Quiet Cricket

Cartlidge, Michelle:Mouse in the House

Degan, Bruce:Jamberry [Peggy R.]

Dijs, Carla:Who Sees you at the (ZOO, FARM, FOREST, OCEAN) (Pop-up
Books)

Dobbs, Norah?:Everybody Eats Rice (A young girls mother sends her
out into the neighborhood to look for her little brother at dinner
time and as she stops at each neighbor's house (in a wonderful
multi-cultural neighborhood) every family is cooking an ethnic
rice dish and she is offered a taste of each one (Barbadan, Puerto
Rican, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, and Haitian) When the girl
finally arrives home she is too full to eat her mother's *risi e
bisi*--Italian rice with peas. AND at the end of the book the
recipes for all the dishes are included. [Nola Van V.])

Dodd, Lynley:Hairy Maclary series (from New Zealand. They're about
a rambunctious little shaggy dog and his adventures around the
neighborhood. Great rhyming books, and not dummied down for tots.
[Caren F.])

 

Continue to:

• Index
• next: Picture Books/2 years and under: E-R

Share and Enjoy

Tags

children, child, kid, books, poetry, reading, picture books, recommendation