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The
Best Picture Books of 2006
By Holly E. Newton
I’ve carefully
selected my favorite 2006 picture books. There’s a nice variety
of topics, to be enjoyed by all ages. There are books to inspire,
motivate, enjoy and those that will simply make you laugh. After
last week’s annual listing of top fiction books (which was very
difficult to narrow down), I thought that this list would be easier.
But choosing this week’s list for younger kids proved to be just
as hard!
Here
Comes Darrell, by Leda Schubert, and illustrated by Mary
Azarian, is a story about selflessness. This story, based on Darrell
K. Farnham, is an inspiring story about an older gentleman who goes
out at all times of the day and night to help his neighbors dig
out from a snowstorm. If only we had more people in this world
like Darrell!
Click to Buy
 The
King’s Highway, retold and illustrated by Howard Fullmer,
is the type of story that every family should read aloud again and
again. A young shepherd hears about the King giving his kingdom
to the individual who best travels his road. The wonderful lessons
taught in this inspiring tale will surely motivate all who read
it!
Click to Buy
 The
Bake Shop Ghost, by Jacqueline K. Ogburn, is a delectable
tale about a ghost who haunts her old bakery, and the new owner.
Can this new baker discover the secret recipe to appease the lonely
ghost and finally make her leave? The ending is so fulfilling,
you’ll almost feel full!
Hold
the Flag High, by Catherine Clinton, and illustrated by
Shane W. Evans, is the true account of how the first African American
Union soldier was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He
refused to let the American flag touch the ground while in the line
of fire.
Click to Buy
 Flamingos
on the Roof, by Calef Brown, is a clever and humorous poetry
book that includes Bug Show about mosquitoes, crickets and
slugs. The catch line questions, How do slugs applaud, you ask?
Perhaps they tap their shiny tails and wag them to and fro.
I
Can Make a Difference: A Treasury to Inspire Our Children,
selected by Marian Wright Edelman, and with beautiful illustrations
by Barry Moser, is a collection of familiar stories, poems and quotes
to inspire, motivate and encourage children to become better people.
One such inspiring tip is from The Little Engine That Could.
The encouraging words from this story, writes Ms. Edelman, is I
can make a difference by persevering and not giving up.
Memories
of Survival, by Esther Nisenthal Krinitz and Bernice Steinhardt,
recounts Esther’s memories of her Jewish family’s experience living
in Poland
during the Nazi invasion. What’s truly amazing is that her own
hands stitched every picture into quilts, and the details will never
let you forget the many families who suffered and died during WWII.
Click to Buy
 Museum
Trip, by Barbara Lehman, is a clever wordless book that
takes you on a field trip through a museum. The adventure begins
when a young boy loses the rest of the group and ends up inside
one of the exhibits. A rare treat!
Click to Buy
 Look
Closer: Art Masterpieces through the Ages, by Caroline
Desnoettes, is an art adventure that will captivate even the non-artist.
The gorgeous art covers one side of the page and the opposite brings
the detail closer as you lift a flap and learn.
Click to Buy
 Follow
the Line, by Laura Ljungkvist, is very clever picture book
where the author/illustrator begins with one line that curves, circles
and loops to make different scenes as you follow it to the culminating
end!
Click to Buy
 Duck
& Goose, written and illustrated by Tad Hills, is a
story about conflict and competition, but eventually compatibility
and conformity. These two animals find what they think is an egg
— but what they discover about the egg and each other will help
teach kids how to get along.
Click to Buy
 Eats,
Shoots & Leaves: Why Commas Really Do Make a Difference!,
by Lynne Truss, and illustrated by Bonnie Timmons, will at last
teach the true meaning of why punctuation is important in our language.
The simple examples throughout will prove this to be true. Look
at that huge hot dog! Above this statement is an illustration
of a hot dog on a bun that’s larger than the children pictured.
On the opposite side reads, Look at that huge, hot dog! This
picture has a very large dog that appears to be very hot.
The
Ladder, by Danish poet Halfdan Rasmussen, translated by
Marilyn Nelson, and colorfully illustrated by Pierre Pratt, is an
unusual story about a very tall ladder with people and objects beyond
the clouds. Fold-outs, both horizontal and vertical, make this
story a creative delight!
Luck:
The Story of a Sandhill Crane, by Jean Craighead George,
and illustrated by Wendell Minor, will take you on a long trip as
these beautiful birds travel thousands of miles every Spring from
Northern Canada to Siberia in order to lay their eggs. The paintings,
along with this amazing story, are breathtaking!
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© 2007
Meridian Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
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