5 Picture Books From My Childhood

When I was little, my mom read to me a lot! We have a decent sized bookshelf shaped like a dollhouse that is full with just the books I remember when I was a child. Richard Scary, Curious George, Fancy Nancy (my personal favorite) and many others are on there. Sometimes I would pull half the books out onto the floor, which was always a hassle to clean up because they had to be placed back on the shelf so snugly. I used to spend a lot of time reorganizing that shelf.

I still love to take those books off the shelf and admire their familiar covers, or read my favorite pages. They aren’t used as often as they used to be (my siblings are both too old to read them regularly) but I’m so glad they’re still at hand for me to grab every now and then. I have so many memories with those books!

This morning I happened to be doing school in the room with the dollhouse bookshelf and got the idea for this blog post. I’ve chosen five of my favorite picture books off its shelves to share today. They are all good books with fun pictures and sweet or funny stories. Maybe you need some picture book recommendations for a little reader in your life, or maybe you just enjoy hearing about other people’s reading life. Either way, this post is sure to be an amusement.

What Makes a Good Picture Book?

Before I get into the list of books, I want to have a quick discussion about what makes a picture book ‘good’. The way I see it, judging a picture book is a little different from judging other kinds of books. You aren’t looking for just a bit of well written work because a child might be bored. But if the book is nothing but twaddle, the child likely won’t be gaining any more by reading it than you are.

So how do you know what makes a good picture book?

Well, picture books have to entertain the reader. They need to be written for children, and be exciting to read. That can be accomplished through pictures, writing, or the story itself. A picture book also needs to be of good written quality. They should stand out from each other.

At the end of the day, I do not hold picture books to such a high standard as I hold other kinds of books for it to be ‘good’. The real value of a picture book comes from the memories you have and are making with it. A child may not remember the story forever, but they are not likely to forget what it meant to them.

All of these books are special to me in some way. I want to make it clear that not only can they be used to enjoy a good story, but to create special memories with your child, grandchild, little sibling, or maybe just with yourself!

But then, isn’t that what books are for anyway? 😉

Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots? by Carmela LaVigna Coyle

Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots? by Carmela LaVigna Coyle

This first book was given to me by my grandmother. She bought it for me when I was only six and a half months old. At that time, my grandparents were traveling my parents and little baby me out west. Since then she’s found several other books in the series for me.

Every time I see one of them I think of her. Recently I found one of these books for sale in a gift shop and sent a picture of it to her. Turns out she remembers it just as well as I do. 🙂

The book is a series of questions a little girl is asking her mother about how a princess should act. Each question is an unusual thing for a princess to do, and the girl worries she may not be a princess if she does these things. But for every question posed, Mommy has an answer. It’s a very cute story, and the pictures are quite silly and terribly adorable.

The Fisherman’s Cat, by Cassie Rita Austin

The Fisherman’s Cat, by Cassie Rita Austin

This book was given to me by some close friends of ours. I don’t remember exactly how old I was when I got it, but I do remember growing up and thinking about it as one of the more serious of my books.

The book follows Jake, a fisherman’s cat. His life is going splendid. He helps his crew catch boatloads of fish, always receiving a bucketful of fish in return for his work. His only worry in life is the jealousy of the Gloucester cats. At least, that was his only worry, until his ship and crew sink in a frightening storm.

Jake is left to fend for himself on Ten Pound Island Lighthouse. Over the rest of the book he has to learn to move on from his old life and make friends with the cats who caused him harm.

I don’t find the story as thrilling now as when I first read it. I don’t get frightened by the shipwreck. But the reminder of when this used to be my most mature children’s book still sticks with me. I was proud whenever I read this book, and it makes me smile to remember that now.

Bread and Jam for Frances, by Russell Hoban

Bread and Jam for Frances, by Russell Hoban

I used to love this book so much! As I reread it for this post I remembered just how much fun I used to have reading it. We had several different books about Frances, but this is the only one that I remember never getting bored with.

Frances is a picky eater. She doesn’t like soft-boiled eggs because of the way they slide off her spoon, and she doesn’t like breaded veal cutlets, or French-cut string beans, or chicken salad sandwiches. The only thing she will eat is bread and jam, her very favorite food.

The story follows Frances through her many little rhymes she sings to her food, telling them just what she dislikes about them. But eventually she eats so much bread and jam that she starts to wish there was something else to eat. The book finishes with a wonderfully described lunch that she makes all come out even.

The Empty Pot, by Demi

The Empty Pot, by Demi

What I love about this book is the way a young child can enjoy it, but they will also continue to find it lovely even as they get older. It’s written a lot like a fable (with a moral and lesson) but is also a beautiful story. The pictures fit the words on the page so perfectly, and they both are equally important to the story.

This is a story about a young boy named Ping, who loves to grow flowers, bushes, and even big fruit trees! China’s emperor is looking for a successor and organizes a test of gardening to decide his new ruler. Ping is excited to show off his skills. But it does not go as he expected. In fact, everything goes wrong. Ping’s flower will not grow, no mater how much TLC he pours into it.

When a year has passed, all he has to show for his work is an empty pot. But Ping is about to find out that he was not being tested in the way he thought.

Tea for Ruby, by Sarah Ferguson

Tea for Ruby, by Sarah Ferguson

Tea for Ruby is a darling story that begins when Ruby gets an invitation. It’s a very special invitation, inviting her to have tea with the queen! As Ruby exuberantly tells everyone she knows the news, she’s given lots of advice about how she should act at tea. Specifically reminding her how not to act.

My favorite part about this book is the illustrations. Not only are they done by the same illustrator who did Fancy Nancy (Robin Preiss Grasser), there is also so much activity going on on each page. There are drawings of Ruby shouting at some family member or friend, and then a picture of her ‘at the tea party’. The spreads are done so that you can compare one picture to another, and pick out the resemblances. While reading the book you will never run out of things to notice. In this story, the art tells the story as much as the words do.

And of course you can’t forget about the tea party this whole book is leading up to! What little girl would not fall in love with the idea of Ruby getting invited to the tea party of her dreams? It adds such a wonderful sense of anticipation to the story, and may make it my favorite book on this list.

Final Thoughts

This has been such a fun post to write! I have had such a wonderful time looking back on these books from when I was younger.

What are some of your favorite picture books from when you were little? Did you read any of these? Do you think I should do another post like this one?