Picture books

[Motokid]

As the author of a picture book I am wondering why there isn't a specific catagory for such books? Is there any interest amoung forum attendees for
a sub-catagory featuring picture books, and/or board books?

I am new here so maybe this topic has already been discussed. If so, just point me to that thread please.

 

[Halo]

Good questions! Well, over to you lot - do you think there should be a sub-forum for picture books? Or do you think they fit quite nicely within Children's Fiction?

Motokid: is your book a children's book, or a picture book for adults, like Raymond Briggs' When the Wind Blows?

BTW, you could also suggest this in the Forum Feedback and Suggestions area, where it might get more attention.

 

[Motokid]

It's a children's picture book

It's geared more towards kids aged 6 and under. Mostly for having a parent read it to them, but I've been finding that kids like to read it themselves too. So the age range might be tweaked up a year or two.

I would like to see a catagory all it's own, but a sub-catagory under children's fiction works better than what's available now.

 

[dele]

I haven't seen too many posts about picture books to really make it worth while. The only posts I can think of off the top of my head are either for nostalgic reasons or for gift-giving ideas. And those posts seemed to fit nicely into the Children's forum or the General Book discussion forum.

It could be that I'm just in the wrong age bracket, but I don't think we really have enough interest on this forum for a whole sub-category dedicated to picture books.

If anyone else has any thoughts to the contrary, please don't be shy. This is quite an interesting dilemma.

 

[Motokid]

From my eyes

Here's my viewpoint:

The earlier you can get children interested in books the easier it will be to keep them interested throughout life. Right? All studies show that reading to your kids from birth provides valuable payoffs. Since very young kids are more visually oriented it seems to me that:

Picture books are the very foundation of all reading.

Therefore it deserves a catagory.

There might be plenty of parents out there who've never heard of "The Stinky Cheese Man", or "Everyone Poops" who would really appreciate a place to learn about them.

C. Edward Link

 

[dele]

Picture books are the very foundation of all reading.

Therefore it deserves a catagory.

That may be true, but it's true in the same sense as saying that the alphabet is the building blocks of reading and so deserves a category too. I hope that I'm wrong on this one because as you said, picture books are important. The question is if it's really necessary or even practical at the moment on this forum.

Why don't you start some more topics about picture books to show us what you mean. It would be interesting to see the responses you get as well as how much interest they attract.

 

[Motokid]

unchanged

The alphabet we use, as far as I know hasn't changed in hundreds of years.

There are huge numbers of children's picture, and board books. And the number grows on a daily basis.

In many cases kids are being introduced to picture books by their parents long before they start learning the alphabet. In some cases parents are reading to kids while they are still in the womb.

Since children start life in a very visual, and oral world, picture books seem to be a pretty crucial building block to early reader development.

that's my thought path right now....

 

[dele]

Ah, but there's more than just one alphabet, isn't there? There's the Latin alphabet (the one we're using right now), the Cyrillic alphabet, the Chinese alphabet, the Japanese alphabet, the Greek alphabet, the Hebrew alphabet, the Arabic alphabet. And that's barely scratching the surface. There are entire books dedicated to them!

I think it really would be intriguing to learn about them and their history. But I don't think we need a sub-category for them. That would be a waste of space.

 

[Motokid]

dinner

Until somebody throws the subject into the feeding frenzy of sharks that lie here, you'll never know how much interest there is in any given subject, and whether or not a catagory for it is needed.

Obviously there are plenty of people who agree with you since there's very little feeding on the meat of picture books. Maybe it needs some more spice....

I still believe picture books represent a significant portion of the foundation in each, and every person who reads for the fun of it.

In most cases they are the very first introduction to the world of writting.

 

[Ronny]

I would like to hear more about picture books. I've read at least 2 a night to my son for 7 years and know of lots of good ones. We also like adding new ones, so I would like to hear what others thought about new ones. This has been a big year for my sons reading he's gone from a few words here and there to his own books, so I love keeping him supplied with new ones. I work in the school library 1 day a week which helps me keep up with what kids are reading and liking.

Picture books are important and fun and even if you don't have children of your own, chances are at some point you may need to give a child a gift and what better gift than a great book.

 

[Motokid]

The ones that stick out most in my mind are:

The Stinky Cheese Man
Everyone Poops
Where The Wild Things Are (no big surprise there is it?)
Yertle The Turtle
Sam's Sandwich

Hope I didn't spell any of them wrong. It's been quite a few years since I've seen a few of those books.

 

[Ronny]

I will pick those up next time I'm at the library. My son likes funny stories with lots of colorful pictures. Some of our favorites are,

Cat and Mouse: a delicious tale by Jiwon Oh,
Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French,
Giggle, Giggle Quack by Doreen Cronin,
Parts by Tedd Arnold,
Don't Take Your Snake for a Stroll by Karin Ireland,
My lucky Day By Keiko Kasza,
The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash by Trinka Hakes Noble

 

[Mari]

Oh gosh, don't get me started.

Okay, too late...

Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing. Judi Barrett. Pictures to giggle over.

Arthur's Really Helpful Bedtime Stories. Marc Brown. A story a night, so it will last a while.

Crafty Chameleon. Mwenye Hadithi. Colorful illustrations, exciting story.

Anything by Demi. A master illustrator.

Good Zap, Little Grog. Sarah Wilson. Perfect nonsense.

If the Dinosaurs Came Back. Bernard Most. Imaginative.

King Bidgood's in the Bathtub. Audrey Wood. Wild illustrations.

Officer Buckle and Gloria. Peggy Rathman. My favorite.

Read Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young. Jack Prelutsky. Every home with children should own this book.

That's Good! That's Bad! Margery Cuyler. It's good!

 

[Ronny]

And my list is growing, which is good with summer coming up. Our library has a summer reading program that my son did last year and loved.

 

[Geenh]

Where the Wild Things Are is my favourite picture book of all time!!! I have my own copy...

 

[Kookamoor]

Some favorites off the top of my head:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar - one of my favorites as a child.
Where the Forest Meets the Sea - absolutely gorgeous.
The Lorax - well, actually anything by Dr. Seuss

 

[clueless]

The Queen's Knickers - hilarious

 

[Ronny]

A bit off track but my son has The Very Hungry Caterpillar & Where The Wild Things Are and both are my copies from when I was about 4 or 5. They are complete with my doodles and notes in the cover, which he loves to try and figure out.