Classic Picture Books

The Very Hungry Caterpillar: This

book is about a caterpillar with a very
huge appetite. He eventually makes a
cocoon, and soon turns into a beautiful
butterfly. This a great book to introduce
the cycle of life through a caterpillars
perspective. My favorite thing about this
book is Eric Carles style and the colors
he uses. It is so distinct and it is one of
the many reasons most of his books are
successful. Another distinct factor of this picture book is the different size of
flaps to reveal what foods the caterpillar has eaten, and the holes in the food
and leaf to show it has taken a bite. The pictures of this book correlate with
the text and definitely enhances the story. The images of the food is also a
great way to engage the children by having them name all of them on their
own.

Carle, E. (1987). The very hungry caterpillar. New York: Scholastic.

The Cat in the Hat: This great read aloud is full of illustrations
and rhymes. A main aspect of this book is the way the
illustrations are set up. The pictures are more like murals
across the page and it is able to show the setting and
movement within the story. The illustrations dont overwhelm
the story at all, in fact, the pictures help tell the story through
facial expressions and motion. This story also has various
characters to make up distinct voices for and it will have the
children interested. I also like how there is a lot of words like
plop! and bump! to keep the story exciting. In my opinion, I
think the ending is what would make the students most
involved. It ends with a question from the siblings on what you would say to
your mother if you were in their position. This would be a great way to get
the children talking about the events that happened within the book.

Seuss,. (1957). The Cat in the Hat. New York: Random House Children's Books.

Where the Wild Things Are: This picture book is a

great way to promote imagination for children. The
illustrations and text helps children visualize the world
the author created. Without the images, it would be very
hard to imagine how the Wild Things looked or where
they lived. So this book relies heavily on the illustrations.
The colors picked for this book match perfectly and helps
feel the mood and tone of the story. This is also another
good book to have a great reading voice for to engage
the children.
Sendak, M., & Sendak, M. (1963). Where the wild things are. New York: Harper & Row.

How Much is a Million?: This book is about a

mathematical magician who guides the reader to visualize
how really big million, billion, and trillion are. This book
uses situations like if you counted one to one million, it
would take about 23 days. This book is a great way for
children to get visual representations on how huge the
number one million, one billion, and one trillion is. All of
this done is through the use of illustrations. For example,
if a billion kids made a human tower, they would reach the
moon. The illustrations help the children visualize that
statement by having a picture. In the back of the book,
there are a couple pages on how and where the author
retrieved the information. This shows the children the
information in the book is accurate through the use of
math and valid information. I enjoy how this book goes over an abstract idea,
and makes it a little more concrete for the readers through illustrations.

Schwartz, D. M., & Kellogg, S. (1985). How much is a million? New York: Lothrop, Lee &
Shepard Books.

Realistic Fiction Picture Books

Fancy Nancy: This book is about a fabulous little girl that is full
of sparkle. This is probably one of my favorite picture books..
The pictures are so precise and distinctive that even posters in
the background are visible, the names of some of the books on
the book shelf can be read, and every person has a different
facial expression. When Nancy trips, one could vividly see Nancy
getting tangled with the ribbon from her ballet shoes. Another
thing I like about this book is that it introduces some creative
words for the children to know: fuchsia, plume, stupendous,
accessories and much more. This is a great way to build childrens
vocabulary and get them thinking.
O'Connor, J., & Preiss-Glasser, R. (2006). Fancy Nancy. New York: HarperCollins.

Kindergarten Diary: This journal style picture book, is about Anna

starting kindergarten and doesnt want to go at all. The diary
is all about how Anna meets new friends, does new things,
and learns new lessons. She soon starts to love
Kindergarten. The style of this book Is so unique because it
gives a great perspective of the main character and it is an
opportunity for the students to relate to it. The illustrations
are a wonderful add-on to the story because it will
definitely have the children intrigued. For example, on one
day, Anna and her friends pretended the monkey bars
were a space ship and they had to hold on for dear life. The
illustrations help the readers visualize that scenario.
Portis, A. (2010). Kindergarten diary. New York: Harper.

We Belong Together: A Book About Adoption and

Families: This wonderful picture book captures what it
means for a family to belong together. The
illustrator/author did a great job with the use of colors
and the way he decided to illustrate the pictures. I
believe he picked bright colors to portray a kid-friendly
mood. This also can be seen with the child-like drawings
as the illustrations. I also like how the skin colors of the
people are different like green, purple, and orange. It
shows that everyone is different and they belong to a
family. There is an author note in the beginning where
he explains that every family is unique, so it is completely fine to change the
pronouns if it fits with the readers family. I feel like that gives more
emphasize to the authors message: all what truly matters is love within a
family.
Parr, T. (2007). We belong together: A book about adoption and families. New York: Little,
Brown and Co.

David Goes to School: This book with a very few words

has a lot of going on. In my opinion, I think the
author/illustrator did a fine job with using the illustrations to
help add on to the text. Rather than one page of text and
illustration, he takes up two pages. This widespread effect
helps children to visualize and observe easier because they
are able to notice facial expressions, colors, and the setting.
I also like how David Shannon uses children handwriting
and lined paper for the text; it really gives off an authentic
feel. Shannon also did a good job with the use of colors. For
example, most of text used is black ink, but when the
teacher was at her highest point of frustration, the text was
red. This can show the readers the anger through the use of
a color. I also think this is an easy read along for younger
children since it uses few words.
Shannon, D. (1999). David goes to school. New York: Blue Sky Press.

Reflection
The reading and discussion in class this week has really helped me
analyze these picture books. The information I learned from the textbook
gave me new ways to evaluate a text. Things to analyze could be: an artists

personal style, type of language used, format. After todays class, I started
noticing how shapes, lines, and colors are a major play in how pictures
portray on what is going in the story. Usually, when one object is huge
compared to a smaller object, the larger object seems more intimidating. The
use of dark and omniscient colors, can portray a mysterious/evil feeling. All
of these elements work together to create a picture book for children and
adults to love.