Every Christmas (birthdays, too) Scott gives each child one special picture book. Yes, our older girls are well past picture-book age by now—except that you’re never past picture-book age, not really. I’m certainly not. And this is a treasured family tradition; it’s always great fun to see what gems he comes up with.
His picks for Christmas, 2008:
Rilla: an oldie but one of the best. Caps for Sale
by Esphyr Slobodkina. Our dog-eared paperback copy was recently destroyed in that little bit of flooding we had on my birthday. Scott replaced it with a hardcover, because Rilla is ripe for that time-honored, giggle-inducing refrain of “You monkeys you, you give me back my caps!”
Wonderboy: a Boynton book called Fifteen Animals!
(Most of which are named Bob.) A perfect choice for our little guy, who loves rhythm, repitition, and all things Boynton.
Beanie: Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale
by the fabulous Mo Willems. This would have been a fine choice for any of our brood, but Scott singled it out for our belly-laughing Bean, and belly-laugh she did. We all loved the Caldicott honor-winning combination of black-and-white photo backgrounds and whimsical Willems art, and poor little Trixie’s desperate attempts to communicate the disappearance of her beloved bunny to her father are utterly priceless. A slam-dunk, daddy dear.
Rose: A Visitor for Bear
by Bonny Becker, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton. This was one of the Cybils nominees, and when I read the library copy, I knew it was a keeper. Sweet, funny story about a rather curmudgeonly bear who, despite his best efforts, finds himself playing host to a persistent and amiable mouse. I showed it to Scott, who instantly pegged it as a perfect Rose book. Endearing art, charming story.
Jane: Diary of a Fly
by Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss. Various children have been given its companion books, Diary of a Worm and Diary of a Spider, in years past. I believe Scott said he chose this one for Jane because of the line about the young fly being relieved to discover that he’s not the only kid at school who likes regurgitated food. (Cue satisfying shriek from thirteen-year-old.)
Of course our Christmas book bounty didn’t end with the Daddy-books, but the rest of the treasures must wait for another post.
(A note about the links here: I stopped including Amazon links in my posts a long while back, for various angsty reasons of my own. However, a recent Kidlitosphere discussion alerted me to the copyright question involved with using book cover images from Amazon and not linking to that site, so in this post I have returned to my old practice of including the Amazon link. Since I have an affiliate account, any purchases made from a clickthrough here will earn me a small referral fee. Wanted to be very up-front with that info! In years past, such referrals helped pay for the maintenance of this site. For that, I thank you!)
nina says:
I’m going to share this with my dh. I know he would love doing this as well. Thanks for sharing.
On the other note, Let’s be frank, you are a much loved and trusted reader of good books. I personally don’t think you should worry about using Amazon or the issue of the referral fee. I can’t imagine you would write about a book that you weren’t absolutely certain had merit and worth.
BTW, sometimes you can find very good book images on paperbackswap without the “See inside” logo on top as found on Amazon.
On December 29, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Penny in VT says:
I love picture books too – when one of my girls recently asked if she could take them with her when she moved I was aghast! “Of course not honey, they’re for the grandchildren…”
On December 29, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Faith says:
We got A Visitor for Bear from Santa this year. It is charming!
I knew a family whose mother would give her adult children classic children’s and picture books each Christmas. They loved it!
On December 29, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Margaret in Minnesota says:
Cate gasped when she saw this list and said, “Oh! Knuffle Bunny!”
Daddy P. has given your little Bonny Glenners some of favorites, that’s for sure.
On December 29, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Meredith says:
These are some of our favorites, especially Caps…great finds to the daddio!
On December 29, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Joann says:
Lissa, Fifteen Animals is available as a song on CD. Along with a slew of other hysterically funny silly songs and a songbook called Philadelphia Chickens.
I looked all over for the links to Amazon when I was ordering so you would get the referral credits and thought to email and then forgot. I thought that perhaps you were no longer participating in that program.
Boynton also has another songbook called Blue Moo.
On December 30, 2008 at 4:24 am
Beth says:
Oh, yes, ‘Philadelphia Chickens’ is a must-have.
I love it when you share posts like this: they are such a sweet glimpse into your family life
On December 30, 2008 at 9:55 am
Book Chook says:
Hi Melissa, I’m just visiting from the kidlitosphere and wanted to thank you for sharing these great-sounding picture books. They are now all on my ever-increasing to-read list!
On December 30, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Penny in VT says:
By the way, if you can’t manage to give birth on the 8th for Elvis, Ethel Merman’s was the 16th… just sayin’… LOL
On December 31, 2008 at 5:49 am