Some Picture Books

I don't really know how to review pictures books. Most pictures books don't have a sophisticated plot (which is how it should be), so I can't really talk about that, and I have absolutely no artistic ability. I know what I like, but I can't even really tell you why. So, I am not really sure how to talk about them. However, I have read some really fun picture books lately, so I am going to give it a shot. Here are a few picture books that I have really enjoyed lately:


The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
by Mordicai Gerstein

This book tells the incredible true story of Philippe Petit's tightrope walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. The story is amazing and told in very few words. The author does a good job of letting the pictures and the words work together. I also really enjoyed the pictures. I really felt like I was able to get a grasp of the sheer height of the towers from several of the expandable pictures. It was pretty incredible. Overall, I enjoyed the story thoroughly and highly recommend it.

Pretty much any book by David Wiesner. The two covers featured here, Sector 7 and The Three Pigs, are probably my favorite of his books, but I have enjoyed all of the books by him that I have read. I love his smooth artwork. I know that as a kid I would have liked the pictures because they are realistic, which was my thing.

Sector 7 is a wordless book. I wasn't sure if I would like a wordless book because I have little imagination, but I really enjoyed it. I thought it was easy to tell what the story was, and it was kind of fun listening to different interpretations of the same pictures.

The Three Pigs starts off like a traditional Three Little Pigs story, but there is a twist that is quite delightful. I don't really want to give it away because it was really fun to discover it for myself, but don't be fooled by the initial simple storyline!

Tuesday is another wordless book. Well, there are a few words, but it is basically wordless. My husband really enjoyed this one and calls it "the frog book." I enjoyed the pictures a lot, especially how each individual frog seemed to have a personality - like the frog that waves to the guy in the kitchen. It was just cute and funny.

Kitten's First Full Moon
by Kevin Henkes

This is a very simple story about a silly little kitten who thinks the moon is a bowl of milk. The pictures are also very simple black and white pictures depicting what the kitten is doing/thinking. I loved the pictures, and the expression that the kitten has when she falls in the water cracks me up. The story is simple (and short!) enough that I think really young kids will be willing to listen to it. I read it to a group of two year olds the other day and they thought it was hilarious and acted various things out (like wiping their mouth when she licks the bug). It was an enjoyable read for us all.