Anything illustrated by Quentin Blake. My favorite is the picture edition of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Last week I bought the Little Golden Book of Margaret Wise Brown’s MISTER DOG.
Why? Because Mr. Dog smokes a pipe, not only in the book, but on the very cover! Only a matter of time before it’s banned by Federal decree.
JUlia Donaldson and Axel Scaeffler make a great collaborative team. The Gruffalo & The Gruffalo’s Child are great, and will stand the test of time, IMO. Also the Rob Scotton Russel The Sheep books - they’ve got a contemporary look I love.
The Rainbow Goblins by Ul de Rico is still one of my favorite picture books. Other favorites:
Demetrius and the Golden Goblet by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Michael Hague
Masquerade by Kit Williams (even apart from the whole treasure thing, the book fascinated me)
The Secret Book of Gnomes by Wil Huygen
In Fairyland by Andrew Lang, illustrated by Richard Doyle
Anyone remember Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judy Barrett and Jon Barrett?
Ooh! Ooh! I remember my dad showing me that book when I was little! (In both English and German, but unlike him, I speak no German…) That illustration of “Slovenly Peter” always freaked me out. And the scissors. Oh the scissors.
The Five Chinese Brothers was always my favorite. The picture of the brother who could swallow the ocean is priceless, as is the picture of the brother who coulud streeeeeettttttttttccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhh. You’re movign through the book and then you have to turn the whole thing to see his picture.
I love picture books with good art! Here is a list of the Caldecott medal winners .
When I asked my daughter, now 13, what her favorite picture book was, she mentioned David Wiesner’s Tuesday. Tuesday has no text; it’s just a story about a night when frogs could fly.
I notice the latest Caldecott winner is also illustrated by Wiesner.
Other notables on the list:
Snowflake Bentley–illustrations are done with block printing
Mirette on the High Wire–set in Paris…illustrations are impressionistic.
Oh, I just remembered another book that is relatively new, and really excellent: Toys Go Out: Being the Adventures of a Knowledgeable Stingray, a Toughy Little Buffalo, and Someone Called Plastic by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Paul Zelinsky.
I loved this book when I was a kid. I happened across it again a year or so ago and I’d agree that it verges on “masterpiece.” One of the definitive books of its subgenre.
I think I’ve mentioned this before, but The Cinder-Eyed Cats deserves consideration; the “meh” story is more than made up for by utterly breathtaking artwork.
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.
Heavens! Won’t someone think of the children?! I think I might run out and buy that one, too, because you are probably right about its imminent banning.
I recently discovered Make Way for Ducklings, which I don’t remember reading as a child. GREAT book with terrific artwork!
My daughter is into Corduroy right now, and it’s just as charming as I remember it. I don’t like when original books are turned into series by new authors/artists. They tend to get very formulaic, and the Curious George books are a perfect example.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom has cool art…small toddlers love to look at it with all the bright colors & patterns.
My family doesn’t have any Wiesner books yet, but I came in here to mention Flotsam, which I now see is the one that won the Caldecott. My boss (also a doper) bought it for her grandkids, and brought it to the office to show us before giving it to them.
A Dark, Dark Tale, by Ruth Brown and A Big Spooky House by Donna L. Washington. Lovely pictures in both of these. The second has more text, but it’s a great read-aloud type of book, and there are hidden cat-face details everywhere.
If You’re Afraid of the Dark Remember the Night Rainbow & Caretakers of Wonder by Cooper Edens.
I don’t remember that book, but when I saw it pictured at Jodi’s link, I realized right away that it must be the same guy who did Anansi, which I loved as a kid. My daughter wasn’t impressed with that one last time I had it out of the library, but it’s been a while.
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.
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.
We like Jan Brett’s books, especially her versions of Goldilocks and The Owl and the Pussycat.
Also, the Max and Ruby books and others by Rosemary Wells.
I like those too. Max and Ruby are so cute!
The Stinky Cheese Man - Scieszka and Smith
The Z was Zapped - Chris Van Allsburg (gorgeous artwork and morbid)
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears got a Caldecott, but no one seems to know it.
Kitten’s First Full Moon is going to last.
Yes! This book has stayed with me throughout my life, just lovely…usually when I try to describe it to others, they give me a look like they’re wondering what kind of Kool-Aid I’ve been drinking.
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?