# Picture book masterpieces **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 13, 2007, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489 "2007-08-13T22:36:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/41 "2007-08-14T18:25:59Z")
[QUOTE=Interrobang!?] In the first book, Curious George smokes a pipe before bed. And I seem to recall a dramatic “experimentation with ether” moment in a later book. [/QUOTE] Yes, I remember both of those! And I remember the pipe thing being controversial. Funny, because I read Curious George as a kid, and I have never had the least urge to smoke a pipe! > [@](#): > > I find **Corduroy** especially awful because the new versions take a quintessentially urban character – bought at a big department store, moves to a little apartment – and plop him into the suburbs. There’s really no similarity aside from him being a bear in overalls. > > Really galling? Lisa, the little black girl who becomes Corduroy’s friend, is completely AWOL, and he hangs out with a bunch of multicultural stuffed animals all the time. Bleh. Oh, God, is that annoying. I think I’ll stick to the original. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/42 "2007-08-14T18:40:20Z")
_Are You My Mother?_ by PD Eastman and \*Guess How Much I Love You \*by Sam McBratney both have a special place in my heart. I loved _Tikki Tikki Tembo_! Did anyone mention _Millions Of Cats_? ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/43 "2007-08-14T18:41:32Z")
If you like the pigeon books, check out _Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale_, by Willems. It’s a riot. One I don’t get tired of is _Bear Snores On_ by Karma Wilson. The poetry is fun to read, and the illustrations are gorgeous. In fact, the illustrations of the sequels is even more beautiful, though I think the writing is a bit less wonderful. I’ve fantasized about doing murals in my daughters’ room of the inner cover illustrations of Bear’s cave in winter, spring, summer, and fall. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/44 "2007-08-14T19:50:03Z")
[QUOTE=amarinth] Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears got a Caldecott, but no one seems to know it. [/QUOTE] “Zeee! Is Everyone Still Angry With Me?” That one? Loved it, can’t find it now. [QUOTE=Elret] I came in to say The Gruffalo but I had no idea there even was such a thing as The Gruffalo’s Child! I am so excited I don’t even know what to do. [/QUOTE] It follows on nicely from the Gruffalo, too. The same team of Donaldon/Schaeffler do several other books, but the Gruffalo ones are best. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/45 "2007-08-14T21:04:19Z")
[QUOTE=NailBunny] Does anyone remember a picture book about this whole town working together to build a giant sandwich to trap a bunch of bees or something? [/QUOTE] I think this is [The Giant Jam Sandwich](http://www.amazon.com/Giant-Jam-Sandwich-Sandpiper-Book/dp/0395442370) by John Vernon Lord … I have mixed memories of it because I used to babysit for a kid who wanted this book read over and over AND OVER, etc. ---
**Author:** ![NailBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@NailBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NailBunny)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/46 "2007-08-14T21:08:30Z")
That’s it! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/47 "2007-08-14T22:28:50Z")
I don’t think anyone’s yet mentioned _Go Dog Go_, which had a whole [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=368217) about it. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/48 "2007-08-14T22:54:47Z")
One that hasn’t been mentioned is _The Very Hungry Caterpillar._ ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2007, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/49 "2007-08-14T23:59:09Z")
[Quick as a Cricket](http://www.amazon.com/Quick-Cricket-Childs-Play-Library/dp/0859533069) [Don’t Be Surprised](http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Be-Surprised-Pop-Up-Picture/dp/0803722826/ref=sr_1_1/002-1078215-4346431?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187135616&sr=1-1) [Rumble in the Jungle](http://www.amazon.com/Rumble-Jungle-Giles-Andreae/dp/1589253671/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-1078215-4346431?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187135714&sr=1-1) [Bitter Bananas](http://www.amazon.com/Bitter-Bananas-Picture-Puffins-Olaleye/dp/0140557105/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-1078215-4346431?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187135832&sr=1-1) My son LOVED these. Beautiful illustrations! ---
**Author:** ![Butterscotch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dc4da7/32.png) [@Butterscotch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Butterscotch)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/50 "2007-08-15T10:41:44Z")
[The Whales’ Song](http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0803709722/ref=sib_dp_pop_ex/105-4650884-7846032?ie=UTF8&p=S009#reader-link) The art work isn’t done justice by the Amazon ‘search inside’ feature, but the pictures are beautiful, all oil paintings. It’s a stunner, and should be a classic. I’ll stop there before I get completely carried away! ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/51 "2007-08-15T11:14:04Z")
[Fleur-de-Lupin](http://www.amazon.com/Fleur-Lupin-Binette-Illustrated-Schroeder/dp/B000UBTX5W/ref=sr_1_14/102-5689030-0254524?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187176084&sr=8-14) by Binette Schroeder. I loved the artwork when I was a kid. Thirty years later, I saw it was still for sale! So I bought a copy. As I currently don’t have kids in my life to read to, I decided to use the whole-page illustrations as artwork for my walls. I neatly tore out the pages and hung them on the wall, in a long ribbon, so the story can be followed without words, like a kind of storyboard. I was very happy with the way it looked, it was a nice change from having just one poster or a couple of smaller frames hanging on the wall. ---
**Author:** ![pprgrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f6c823/32.png) [@pprgrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pprgrl)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/52 "2007-08-15T11:22:49Z")
Ooh! ooh! [Harold and the Purple Crayon](http://www.amazon.com/Harold-Purple-Crayon-Anniversary-Books/dp/0064430227) is an absolute must. I can’t believe no one else has mentioned it yet. This is one of those really simple picture books that just seems to get better and better as I get older. I also loved [The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics](http://www.amazon.com/Dot-Line-Romance-Lower-Mathematics/dp/1587170663) but I’m not absolutely certain it’s a masterpiece - I lost my copy several years ago. But it’d still be in the first half-dozen or so books I’d buy for any kid. I had no idea it was written by Norton Juster (who is best known for The Phantom Tollbooth) until I looked it up for this post. ---
**Author:** ![manx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@manx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manx)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/53 "2007-08-15T12:02:58Z")
Anything and everything [Shaun Tan](http://www.shauntan.net/books.html) does, but in particular _The Rabbits_, written by John Marsden. It’s a visually sunning exploration of the colonisation of Australia, and can be reread over and over. I choose to believe that it ends with a note of hope, but it makes for bleak reading initially. Chris van Allsburgh, who I don’t normally have a lot of time for, has a brilliant, non linear book of detailed illustrations with single line captions. [This website](http://www.lafsd.k12.ca.us/people/smoe/) has a neat class project with the illustrations, and I have dim memories of my teachers using them similar exercises. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/54 "2007-08-15T12:24:59Z")
I grew up with this edition of **A Lion In The Meadow** by _Margaret Mahy_. I don’t know if subsequent editions have the same illustrations (I think they probably would). They have always stuck in my mind. Also, anything by _Raymond Briggs_, especially **The Snowman** , **Fungus the Bogeyman** , and **The Bear** ---
**Author:** ![manx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@manx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manx)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/55 "2007-08-15T12:28:11Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] I grew up with this edition of **A Lion In The Meadow** by _Margaret Mahy_. I don’t know if subsequent editions have the same illustrations (I think they probably would). They have always stuck in my mind. [/QUOTE] The same illustrations are used, but the ending was changed when it was reprinted, maybe last year or the year before. I never had it as a kid, so I can’t remember how it originally went, and I don’t know whether to be outraged or not. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/56 "2007-08-15T12:32:45Z")
Yay for reading to kids! [Chinaberry](http://www.chinaberry.com/cat.cfm/pgc/11000) is my all time favoritest non-commercial books for babies-teens (and some adult books too) source. Do yourself a huge favor and sign up for the catalog. It is awesome toilet reading. Pick up a few books they recommend from the library and then, when you fall in love with their stuff, order from them. They really care about kids, books and reading. I may be a little biased here, but Chinaberry changed the entire way I look at kids books. Other Indy Kids Booksellers: [Rosie Hippo](http://www.rosiehippo.com) very waldorfy, the sight is a bit odd to navigate. **Some of the favs around Chateau Ujest:** [Rainbabies](http://www.amazon.com/Rainbabies-Laura-Krauss-Melmed/dp/0688151132/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt/104-5775306-8187119) Luminous artwork, wonderful story. I cry every time I read it. [Heckedy Peg](http://www.amazon.com/Heckedy-Peg-Voyager-Hbj-Book/dp/0152336796/ref=pd_sim_b_5/104-5775306-8187119) Brave mom, luminous artwork. Good story. [Anno’s Counting Book](http://www.amazon.com/Annos-Counting-Book-Big/dp/0064433153/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-5775306-8187119?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187179231&sr=1-1) Wordless picture book that is just amazing in helping kids learn to count and understand numbers. [Dogger](http://www.amazon.com/Dogger-Shirley-Hughes/dp/068811704X/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-5775306-8187119?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187179330&sr=1-2) My Number 1 ( with an exclamation point) book to give as a gift for any child who is about to become a big brother/sister. I cry every time I read it. [Goose](http://www.amazon.com/Goose-Molly-Bang/dp/0590890050/ref=sr_1_4/104-5775306-8187119?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187179466&sr=1-4) [The MacDuff Series](http://www.amazon.com/McDuffs-Wild-Romp-McDuff-Stories/dp/0786819308/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-5775306-8187119?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187179609&sr=1-1) My kids couldn’t get enough of these. [Twinkle Twinkle Little Star](http://www.amazon.com/Twinkle-Little-Star-Iza-Trapani/dp/1879085704/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-5775306-8187119?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187179767&sr=8-1) and the other children’s songs set to art work with additional lyrics by this author. A Must, IMHO. [Six Dinner Sid](http://www.chinaberry.com/prod.cfm/pgc/11100/sbc/11100/inv/6424) A cat with an appetite. [The Rag Coat](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316574074/ref=wl_it_dp/104-5775306-8187119?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1NFSGDLB4HAWH&colid=327JHLGM8SLFZ) Ages 4 or so and up. ---
**Author:** ![Emilio\_Lizardo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Emilio\_Lizardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emilio_Lizardo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/57 "2007-08-15T13:06:16Z")
[Flotsam](http://www.amazon.com/Flotsam-Caldecott-Medal-David-Wiesner/dp/0618194576/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-1876788-5195968?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187182798&sr=8-1) by David Wiesner is pretty amazing. [The Fortune-Tellers](http://www.amazon.com/Fortune-Tellers-Picture-Puffin-Books/dp/0140562338/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/104-1876788-5195968?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187182988&sr=1-2) by Lloyd Alexander is another favorite. Great story and beautiful pictures. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/58 "2007-08-15T13:45:01Z")
[QUOTE=Judith Prietht] Anyone remember **Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs** by Judy Barrett and Jon Barrett? [/QUOTE] YES!!! In fact, I came into this thread to suggest this one. It was my favorite book in early elementary school…I think I bought it through the school book club or something. Watch out for that Tomato Tornado!!! I’m also a really big fan of [\*\*Bedtime for Francis \*\*](http://www.amazon.com/Bedtime-Frances-Russell-Hoban/dp/006027106X/ref=pd_bbs_2/105-1838601-1362008?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187185334&sr=8-2) by Russell Hoban and Garth Williams. It’s a really wonderful story about the way kids stall when it’s time for bed, and the illustrations are great. I also love **[A Kiss for Little Bear](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0064440508/ref=pd_sl_aw_alx-jeb-9-1_book_4512021_1)** by Else Holmelund Minarik. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/59 "2007-08-15T14:14:54Z")
I second **Harold and the Purple Crayon** and add **The Great Gracie Chase** by Cynthia Rylant and Mark Teague and **Guess How Much I Love You** by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram, both of which I love for the illustrations maybe more than the story. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2007, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489/60 "2007-08-15T14:17:14Z")
My favorites are Curious George, Babar, and pretty much anything by Leo Lionni. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/picture-book-masterpieces/415489.md?page=4)