Lili Marlene's List of Delightful Children's Picture Books

Lili Marlene's list of delightful children's picture books to share with someone little and lovely (or to enjoy on your own)

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat and Other Nonsense Poems by Edward Lear, selected and illustrated by Michael Hague, North South Books, 1995.
The poems are classics and the illustrations are fascinating, beautiful and often grotesque. You might not find it shelved at your local public library in the same section as the picture books for young children. It might instead sit on the junior poetry shelves. Apparently modern notions of age-appropriateness are depriving toddlers and pre-schoolers from being exposed to the rather ornate language of Edward Lear. I love the way that the complex and silly illustrations so appropriately fit the style of language in the poems.

Haunted House by Jan Pienkowski, assistant illustrator Jane Walmsley, paper engineer Tor Lokvig, William Heinemann, 1979.
An all-time classic pop-up book by my favourite picture book illustrator. Be warned - you can frighten little ones with this book. One of the pop-ups still makes a sawing noise when you open the page all these years later. Wonderful!

The Meg and Mog books by Jan Pienkowski
I love the colours, the way the colours vibrate off each other, and the unforgettable black-outline drawings.

A Sausage Went For a Walk by Ellisha Majid and Peter Kendall, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1991.
A Western Australian classic which will make your thoughts turn toward breakfast foods, regardless of the time of day. Now available in the board book format. Referred to as "The shoshage book" by little ones.

Owl Babies written by Martin Waddell and illustrated by Patrick Benson, Walker Books, 1992.
I don't think you would need to have synaesthesia to be able to hear the silence and feel the stillness in these evocative illustrations of nocturnal life. A heart-warming abut mercifully brief book to read to little ones last thing at night. Should only be read aloud in a gentle, quiet voice.

The glorious mother goose selected by Cooper Edens with illustrations by the best artists from the past. Atheneum (Macmillan), 1988.
A feast for the eyes. The illustrations (in colour and black and white) are mostly from the late 1800s and the early 1900s. All of the essential nursery rhymes are here. Be warned - there is a picture of (the always grotesque) Humpty Dumpty in this book that can fill a young child's heart with dread. You may need to skip a page.

The land of nursery rhyme by Alice Daglish and Ernest Rhys with illustrations by Charles Folkard. Orion Books, 2008.
Based on a book of the same name that was published in 1932 by J. M. Dent & Sons. It includes a good selection of classic nursery rhymes and has charming drawings mostly in black and white. A good alternative to the above title.

Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss. Collins, 1958.
Probably the silliest children's story ever written. This is the one with the tweetle beetles.

The very hungry caterpillar by Eric Carle. Puffin Books (Penguin), 1969.
How could I leave this one out? If you can fit a finger through the holes to make a wiggly caterpillar, you must be very little.

Caps For Sale: a tale of a peddler, some monkeys, and their monkey business by Esphyr Slobodkina. Harpercollins, 1968.
There are many opportunities for laughter if you read it out loud. Available in board book format.

Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag. Faber & Faber, 1929.
The story is perhaps a little dark in theme but thoughtful, and the black and white illustrations and handwriting font have a unique style.

Jane Hissey's Old Bear Stories by Jane Hissey. Hutchinson, 1994.
Comforting stories with beautiful, realistic illustrations of reassuringly familiar objects, suitable for pre-schoolers.

Spiders Spin Webs by Yvonne Winer and Karen Lloyd-Jones (illustrator). Charlesbridge Publishing, 1998.
Beautiful realistic illustrations and text that is a poem on each page. Spider identification guide in an appendix. An educational and enjoyable book that presents spiders in a non-negative light. Similar titles include Butterflies Fly, Frogs Sing Songs and Birds Build Nests.

Mr Pod and Mr Piccalilli by Penny Dolan and Nick Sharratt. Walker Books, 2005.
A pleasant story with enjoyable illustrations which I found rather interesting because something like the "bouba-kiki effect" can be found in the interaction between the text and the illustrations. There is a Wikipedia page explaining what the "bouba-kiki effect" is.

Copyright Lili Marlene 2009, 2010.