How To Choose A Kid's Picture Book

Our Bookseller Sarah C. shares with us today her observations on the best method on picking a children's book. Scattered throughout the article are some of Sarah's favorite picture books. Click on any of the pictures for more information about the books.


First of all, with few exceptions, there are practically no picture books for children that are completely awful--that nobody should ever buy because no child would like it or get something out of it--and if you read to children much, you will have experienced the book you love to hate but that your child loves to have read over and over and over. And Over.
It would be great if every book we read our kids was one we both loved. But really, every one of those thin, thin books holds a world of it’s own. Images meet words to make something completely unique that children explore with a freshness of eye and mind that adults can only remember.
But there are so many of them and now we have a lot books that whistle, pop, spew little bits of cardboard out of pockets or light up, and it’s hard to get a kid to look at a plain old book: just a book with illustrations and a story that will become part of the mental furniture of our child, form long-lasting memories of love and pleasure, comfort and reassurance, or spark new trains of thought. It needs no batteries or moving parts because the moving parts and buzzing electricity are in the child.
If you have no time and are on the fly, there are two approaches to take. Ask a staff member for a recommendation based on what you know about the child you’re buying for, or alternatively, what the staffer loves in the kid’s section. Even if we don’t spend much time in the children’s books area, we can direct you to the newest of the new and the old favorites--and there is a reason that certain books are old favorites: they’re kid tested over a long period of time. Or go with what’s on our Recommends shelf. Or look at the shelves and see what’s face out. These tend to be new or award winning books that our buyer has decided we want a lot of of because they’re special.
If you have a little more time go over to a shelf and pull out a handful of books from one section of a shelf. I would wager that within every 4 or 5 inch span of a kid’s picture book bookshelf there is at least one real gem waiting to be opened and loved. Sometimes you’d better not judge a
book by its cover--you need to sit down with it and give it a read or page through it. Look through those books and I’ll bet one or more of them will surprise you and look like something you’d like to share with a child.
Books are expensive these days and no one wants to bring home a book that never gets opened or is used as a floor covering. Introducing a book to a child indirectly is sometimes a good technique. Sit down with a willing child near the target child and begin reading with enthusiasm and interest. At least five times out of six Mr./Miss Reluctant will sidle over and be engaged by the time you are done.
Encourage interruptions. Answers questions and point out things that interest you.
Bedtime is a good time to get a child’s attention. If your child can’t go to sleep without Goodnight Moon, read or merely page through the new book before you read the current favorite, talking a bit about what you see and what might be going on in the pictures. If she becomes curious about what’s happening, you’ve got her.
Sit down and read the book yourself, right in front of your child. Make sure there’s room next to you though.