P (Part 2): (In Process)

Pomerantz

Prosek

Polacco

Priceman

*This school year I'm going on a Big (Picture) Book Tour. It's not a book tour to show off a book I've written. It's a trip through the children's section of our library. Here's how it works:

• Each week I give myself about ten minutes at the library to choose over a dozen books from one alphabetic section of the children's picture books, usually several of the same author. 
• This is not a comprehensive review of each artist. I limit myself to what is in the library that day.
• The objective is to share these with my kids and then I'll briefly review the authors here. 
• I don't give equal attention to the artists because the books aren't categorized that way, but I'll try to do that, too. 
• I'll highlight my favorites in case you're looking for recommendations.

P Titles: (In Process)

Partridge

Pittman

Paul

Perlman

Penn

Peet

Palatini

*This school year I'm going on a Big (Picture) Book Tour. It's not a book tour to show off a book I've written. It's a trip through the children's section of our library. Here's how it works:

• Each week I give myself about ten minutes at the library to choose over a dozen books from one alphabetic section of the children's picture books, usually several of the same author. 
• This is not a comprehensive review of each artist. I limit myself to what is in the library that day.
• The objective is to share these with my kids and then I'll briefly review the authors here. 
• I don't give equal attention to the artists because the books aren't categorized that way, but I'll try to do that, too. 
• I'll highlight my favorites in case you're looking for recommendations.

N Titles: (In Process)

Newberry

Ness

Napoli

Nathan

Nolen

Neubecker

Noble

Novak

Noyes

Numeroff

*This school year I'm going on a Big (Picture) Book Tour. It's not a book tour to show off a book I've written. It's a trip through the children's section of our library. Here's how it works:

• Each week I give myself about ten minutes at the library to choose over a dozen books from one alphabetic section of the children's picture books, usually several of the same author. 
• This is not a comprehensive review of each artist. I limit myself to what is in the library that day.
• The objective is to share these with my kids and then I'll briefly review the authors here. 
• I don't give equal attention to the artists because the books aren't categorized that way, but I'll try to do that, too. 
• I'll highlight my favorites in case you're looking for recommendations.

R Titles: (In Process)

Raschka

Rand

Ray

Rice

Rohmann

Rosen

Robertson

Ryan

Rylant

*This school year I'm going on a Big (Picture) Book Tour. It's not a book tour to show off a book I've written. It's a trip through the children's section of our library. Here's how it works:

• Each week I give myself about ten minutes at the library to choose over a dozen books from one alphabetic section of the children's picture books, usually several of the same author. 
• This is not a comprehensive review of each artist. I limit myself to what is in the library that day.
• The objective is to share these with my kids and then I'll briefly review the authors here. 
• I don't give equal attention to the artists because the books aren't categorized that way, but I'll try to do that, too. 
• I'll highlight my favorites in case you're looking for recommendations.

S Title: (In Process)

Say

Schachner

Schaefer

Scheer

Schoenherr

Scheffler

Schotter

*This school year I'm going on a Big (Picture) Book Tour. It's not a book tour to show off a book I've written. It's a trip through the children's section of our library. Here's how it works:

• Each week I give myself about ten minutes at the library to choose over a dozen books from one alphabetic section of the children's picture books, usually several of the same author. 
• This is not a comprehensive review of each artist. I limit myself to what is in the library that day.
• The objective is to share these with my kids and then I'll briefly review the authors here. 
• I don't give equal attention to the artists because the books aren't categorized that way, but I'll try to do that, too. 
• I'll highlight my favorites in case you're looking for recommendations.

M Titles (Part 2): A Sandy Island and A Very Special Birth Story

Maestro

Mahy

Martin

Morris

Morissey

Mull

Muller

Munsch

Murphy

If you haven't read Maestro/Maestro nonfiction books, check them out. They are a husband/wife author illustrator team that have written dozens of nonfiction books and some fictional ones, too. This month we read Taxi and Delivery Van which are great vocabulary building-books for young readers.

Margaret Mahy's books are all so very funny, but we like A Busy Day for a Great Grandmother.

Bill Martin's wester/cowboy books are for any boy who dreams of cowboys, Indians, and bull riders. The kids were surprised by Knots on a Counting Rope--it is the story of a blind boy whose grandfather tells him the special family story of the day he was born. I was so touched by it myself, and it reminded me again to tell my children the stories of their highly anticipated arrivals.

Jacqueline Briggs Martin's book Sand Island has such stunning illustrations, about the true story of the boat-building boy is just as amazing. Find that one at your library.

Dean Morrissey's books are fantastically imaginative dealing with a flying dream-delivering ship and a trap to catch a monster.

Also to locate at your library: Pingo by Brandon Mull about a boy and his imaginary friend. The ending made us smile and my kids asked for an immediate repeat reading.

Robert Munsch is a prolific producer of children's stories, so we read no fewer than ten of his stories this week. His stories cover just about every situation children experience.

Jill Murphy's two Five Minutes Peace and A Quiet Night In are great family books that involve cute children and tired parents. I'm pretty sure that description matches most families.

*This school year I'm going on a Big (Picture) Book Tour. It's not a book tour to show off a book I've written. It's a trip through the children's section of our library. Here's how it works:

• Each week I give myself about ten minutes at the library to choose over a dozen books from one alphabetic section of the children's picture books, usually several of the same author. 
• This is not a comprehensive review of each artist. I limit myself to what is in the library that day.
• The objective is to share these with my kids and then I'll briefly review the authors here. 
• I don't give equal attention to the artists because the books aren't categorized that way, but I'll try to do that, too. 
• I'll highlight my favorites in case you're looking for recommendations.

"L" Authors That Can Do No Wrong: Lyon, Lithgow, and Lasky

Katherine Lasky

Barbara Lehman

Helen Lester

John Lithgow

Susan Lowell

George Ella Lyon

First of all, this week I read two great books about brave children. Marven of the Great North Woods (by Lasky) is about a ten year old boy sent to a lumber camp to avoid the Spanish Flu of 1917. Cecil's Story (by Lyon) is about a boy who learns to run the farm when his father goes to war.

Barbara Lehman's wordless books are great conversation starters, perfect to "read" with all ages of readers. They contain a subtle visual puzzle of sorts. The Red Book won the Caldecott, I believe.

Katherine Lasky's stories She's Wearing a Dead Bird on Her Head is a great piece of historical fiction telling the story of the origin of the Audobon Society. Her book about a girl named Sofie and her hand-me-down doll named Rose is a keeper, too. 

Helen Lester's book Hooway for Wodney Wat, about a lovable rat with a speech impediment, still has my kids giggling. I can quote lines from it and they bust up into laughter. It took two times for them to understand the story, but then it became hilarious.

John Lithgow's books about a artsy squirrel, a kangaroo with an identity crisis, and a multi-musically talented boy all came with a CD of the story, with Lithgow telling the stories himself. These are three stories for any family's libraries--they have wonderful illustrations and good messages. I think we loved Marsupial Sue just a little more than the others, but not by much.

Susan Lowell's two books The Three Javelinas (a clever southwestern retelling of the three little pigs) and The Elephant Quilt (about a girl going west on the Santa Fe trail to California) are so valuable in learning about regional history. Pictures books about the westward migration are emerging as a new favorite genre.

Finally, George Ella Lyon is undoubtedly a new favorite author because her stories encourage family love, relationships, and a more agrarian lifestyle. When I think of Come A Tide I will always think about Appalachia and wise fore bearers and close-knit communities--it's about a rainy period that leads to flooding and a calm grandma who invites everyone into her house. The other three books are for older readers--they deal with sentimental themes.

*This school year I'm going on a Big (Picture) Book Tour. It's not a book tour to show off a book I've written. It's a trip through the children's section of our library. Here's how it works:

• Each week I give myself about ten minutes at the library to choose over a dozen books from one alphabetic section of the children's picture books, usually several of the same author. 
• This is not a comprehensive review of each artist. I limit myself to what is in the library that day.
• The objective is to share these with my kids and then I'll briefly review the authors here. 
• I don't give equal attention to the artists because the books aren't categorized that way, but I'll try to do that, too. 
• I'll highlight my favorites in case you're looking for recommendations.