My Garden / Kevin Henkes

Kevin Henkes is quickly taking a place in my heart already inhabited by Rosemary Wells as a consummate practitioner of children’s book illustration. 

My Garden is a child’s interpretation of an ideal garden.  Mother’s garden with her lettuces is all very nice, but if the little girl in this picture book had a garden it would bloom forever, flowers would change colors telepathically, rabbits would be of the chocolate variety, and if you planted seashells and jellybeans they would grow into fruit-bearing plants. 

There’s more, but you’ll have to check out the book to experience it.  The oversized illustrations are beautifully colored in Easter-egg hues and the text will inspire many flights of fancy in your young gardener.  Green thumb or no, My Garden is a pure delight.

Heat Wave / Eileen Spinelli; illustrated by Betsy Lewin

“Sun sizzled.  Hair frizzled.”  Lumberville is experiencing a heat wave, and this in the days before air conditioning, when people really felt it.  The good citizens of Lumberville come up with creative ways to beat the heat—napping with cold teabags on the eyelids, cleaning the house in a bathing suit, lying on the cool linoleum listening to the radio...  With its whimsical illustrations in hot colors virtually exuding heat from the pages, you will feel the temperature rise in this nostalgic ode to summer heat waves.

Archie and the Pirates / Marc Rosenthal

Archie is a shipwrecked monkey who might remind you a little of Curious George, except he is independent and beholden to no one in a big yellow hat.  When Archie finds himself on a desert island, he uses his resources and makes quite a nice little refuge for himself. When pirates drop anchor and begin to cause trouble, Archie and his new-found friends devise a clever plan for driving them away.  This is a new book that kids will love—it has all the right ingredients—a desert island, a resourceful inventor, pirates, and great illustrations—what’s not to like?

Man On the Moon (a day in the life of Bob) / Simon Bartram

In the era of space tourism, Bob is the man on the moon—his job is to shuttle into space every day and make sure that the tourists are taken care of and the moon is kept tidy (because quite often astronauts drop candy wrappers and cans).  Oh, and Bob patiently repeats to the tourists there is no such thing as aliens, or is there?  Children will have fun pinpointing the little green people in nearly every illustration in a sort of Where’s Waldo game. This is a boldly illustrated picture book where objects seems almost to fly off the page. 

Baby Brains: The Smartest Baby in the Whole World / Simon James

Baby Brains is the smartest baby in the whole world and that’s just what his parents wanted.  On his first day home from the hospital he’s found reading the paper, by afternoon he’s fixing the family car, the second day of his life he asks to go to school, and by week two he’s a practicing doctor at the local hospital.  When Baby Brains is recruited to go on a space mission, he and his parents jump at the chance, but alone on a space walk he finally realizes he maybe has rushed his babyhood just a tad and shrieks for his Mommy.  Children will laugh at this humorous tale, and maybe parents will take a lesson from it, too!  Sequels include Baby Brains Superstar, and Baby Brains and RoboMom.

The Littlest Leaguer / Syd Hoff

Harold is short, which makes him the littlest leaguer in the Little League.  Not that height really has anything to do with baseball, but he just can’t get a break on the team and seems to spend an inordinate amount of time on the bench.  Finally Harold gets his long-awaited chance to prove himself when one of the team bullies, Big Leon, twists his ankle and Harold goes to bat in his place.  Three balls and two strikes later Harold powers the ball over the fence, proving that the Littlest Leaguer can also have the biggest finish. 

Batter Up Wombat / Helen Lester; illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

From the author/illustrator team of Tacky the Penguin comes this delightful offbeat baseball tale called Batter Up Wombat.  The first line of the book is “The Champs weren’t”.  So the Champs-who-aren’t are delighted when a large wombat comes to join the team.  Except being from Australia, he’s more familiar with rugby and has to have the intricacies of baseball explained to him.  Mixed-up pictures of bats, pitchers, masks, and fowls invade his mind, and he really doesn’t get the concept of “stealing” and “running home”.  When a twister threatens the teams and the fans, the wombat does what wombats do best, he digs a tunnel that saves them all from certain danger.  In the end, it’s team spirit that counts.

A Seed is Sleepy / Dianna Hutts Aston; illustrated by Sylvia Long

Everything your young one needs to know about seeds and seedlings is contained in this gorgeous (can I say sumptuous?) picture book written by Dianna Hutts Aston.  But make no mistake, it’s Sylvia Long’s illustrations that make A Seed is Sleepy a book to remember and cherish.  Redwood needles come alive in at least a half dozen hues of green, milk weed and dandelion fluff are delicately rendered with spiderweb precision, and leaves and seeds even have blemishes, which make them look nearly photo-perfect.  To think that this has all been done with a brush is astounding.  The book is packed full of interesting facts as well, but more than anything it’s a symphony for the eyes. 

See also, the author-illustrator’s work An Egg is Quiet.

Have You Seen My Duckling? / Nancy Tafuri

This Caldecott honor book from 1985 is a delight to share with kids.  There are few words, but the fun lies in finding the adventuresome duckling who leaves the flock, but is never far from them.  The wonderful illustrations turn the book into a sort of “Where’s Waldo?” activity.  You can turn it into a counting game as well, making sure that all the ducklings are present and accounted for after you turn each page.

Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer / Carol Brendler; illustrated by Ard Hoyt

Winnie Finn is a worm enthusiast as kids her age frequently are.  She thinks her worms are definitely prize-winners, but when others discourage her from the prospect of earning a ribbon at the county fair, she cooks up a scheme that will guarantee her a prize. But it doesn’t have to do with her worms directly. Read the book and find out how Winnie saves the day with her worms.  The watercolor and ink illustrations are wonderful.  Directions for starting your own worm farm can be found at the end of the book.

Planting a Rainbow,
Growing Vegetable Soup / Lois Ehlert
  

These two books by Lois Ehlert make great companion volumes-- one on flowers, the other on vegetables.  They make wonderful readalouds for a celebration of spring, or introducing your little one to “how do plants grow?” or “where do carrots come from?” 

Or, if you want to share your passion for gardening with small children, these books, with their bright preschool-ish cutouts, will accomplish that nicely.  The simple story and illustrations are accurately labeled, making the books both a pleasure to read, browse, and learn from!  Read these books and then plant a packet of seeds!

When Dinosaurs Came with Everything / Elise Broach; illustrated by David Small

A little boy has to run errands with his mother and to him (and many like him) there is nothing more boring in the world.  Then things take an interesting turn when they see a sign in the donut store that says “Buy a dozen get a dinosaur.”  "It must be a toy," his mother says.  But noooo, it’s a triceratops!  The triceratops lumbers after them like an obedient dog as they walk down the street.  Visits to the doctor and the barber bring similar surprises, and by the end of the day Mom tries to make lemonade out of dino-lemons.  This humorous story will appeal to dinosaur-lovers, but its humor and whimsical illustrations will make it appealing to a wider audience.

The Giant Jelly Bean Jar / Marcie Aboff; illustrated by Paige Billin-Frye

Ben loves jelly beans and he loves riddles.  Jo-Jo’s Jelly Bean Shop has a weekly contest where you can win a jar of jelly beans if you answer a riddle correctly.  Perfect for Ben, except that he’s so shy that he finds it hard to shout out the right answer, and someone else always ends up getting the prize.  The one-year anniversary of the shop means an extra special grand prize, and it has Ben’s name on it if he can just get the answer out!