Category: PB

picture books

cover of When a Dragon Moves In
Posted in PB, Read-aloud, So Many Good Books

When a Dragon Moves In

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Perfect Picture Book Friday

When a Dragon Moves In (Flashlight Press, 2011) by Jodi Moore and illustrated by Howard McWilliam is fun book about imagination.

“If you build a perfect sandcastle, a dragon will move in.” And it will be great–a built in marshmallow toaster, a raft, and a an assist with kite flying. But there are rules on the beach, so you have to hide his smoke and erase his footprints from the sand. Then he eats all of the peanut butter sandwiches, blows bubbles in your drink, and nibbles all the brownies. Which you are blamed for. Plus he kicks sand on your sister. So, you have to tell him to leave. Until…

Read about the author here and see her books here where you’ll see there’s a sequel called When a Dragon Moves In Again.

Check out the illustrator’s many children’s picture books, children’s novels, and magazine illustrations here. You can read his bio here. He also wrote and illustrated Just SNOW Already! (Flashlight Press, 2023).

cover of God Made You Too
Posted in Nonfiction, PB, Read-aloud, So Many Good Books

God Made You Too

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Perfect Picture Book Friday

God Made You Too (WorthyKids, 2022) by Chelsea Tornetto and illustrated by Kimberley Barnes is perfect for sharing God’s nature with little ones.

God made the universe, hung stars, and spins the planets around. He formed the depths of space and YOU. He created oceans, mountains, creatures, the seasons, and billions of people, and YOU too.

Heartwarming text written in subtle rhyme and adorable illustrations make this a great read aloud book. It answers why He made you.

The author is a former classroom teacher. Check out Chelsea’s books here.

The illustrator likes bright and shiny as you can see in her illustrations on her website. Read about Kimberley here and see some of her books here.

cover of This Old Madrone Tree
Posted in Nonfiction, PB, So Many Good Books

This Old Madrone Tree

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Perfect Picture Book Friday

This Old Madrone Tree (Web of Life Children’s Books, 2023) by Barbara Herkert and illustrated by Marlo Garnsworthy is such a lovely nature book about a specific tree’s annual life cycle. (I can’t believe I forgot to recommend it last fall!)

In the Pacific Northwest, madrone (sometimes called madrona) trees grow near the coast. This book tells the story of one such tree and the creatures who visit throughout the year. We visit all four seasons starting with summer and ending with spring.

The text is lyrical and the illustrations beautifully compliment it. My favorite part of the text is “In winter, the wind whips and snarls. Waves raise their frothy heads. Rain slashes sideways. Thunder roars, and lightning cackles.” Can’t you just see and hear it? I have a really hard time picking a favorite spread as the illustrations are so lovely. But the forest scene when the bark curls reminds me of family vacations on the northern California coast when I was young.

The author has a madrone tree where she lives that inspired this story, her fifth published book. Read more about Barb here and check out her other books here.

The illustrator loves nature so was a perfect choice. Read about Marlo here and see samples of her illustrations here. Check out some lovely spreads of this book on the publisher’s site.

FYI: This is my 100th picture book recommendation on this site! Woo hoo!

cover of Because
Posted in PB, So Many Good Books

Because

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Perfect Picture Book Friday

Because (Hyperion Books for Children, 2019) by Mo Willems and illustrated by Amber Ren is a fun cause and effect picture book on the power of music. It’s deceptively simple.

“Because a man named Ludwig wrote beautiful music–” the story begins. Then goes to Franz, to an orchestra and those who studied hard to play, ending up with a little girl who listened (because her uncle had a cold and she got his ticket), who was changed and changed others.

One aspect I like is that luck was involved in the girl’s success. It also includes people we might think of as mundane as they are “only” preparing the music hall.

Mo is a bestselling author, illustrator, animator, and playwright famous for Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus among others. Read about him here and check out his other books here.

This book was Amber’s debut. Read about her here and see some of her illustrations here. She already has five other books out and has illustrated some book covers as well. (Click on the Book link on her website to see individual titles.)

Here’s a video on the making of Because.

cover of I Wish You More
Posted in PB, So Many Good Books

I Wish You More

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Perfect Picture Book Friday

I Wish You More (Chronicle Books , 2015) by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld is such a sweet book with deceptively simple text and lovely illustrations. It’s a great gift book. The pages make me smile.

Each spread shares what “I wish you more” of. So many good lines. One of my favorites is: “I wish you more we than me.” My favorite illustration is on “I wish you more treasures than pockets.”

Amy is a prolific author. A bonus on Amy’s website is that you get to choose the ambiance and see what the umbrella does. Very fun. I had to play with them all. Click on the links on the right for her children’s books, bio, etc.

Tom is an author/illustrator. Read about him here and see all his books here. Below is the story behind the story.

The Story of I Wish You More, as told by Tom Lichtenheld