Deep Dive ~ The Best Pages of My Favorite Children's Books, Part 1
Mom's turn to pick!
It’s a favorites-within-favorites deep dive! Featuring my favorite pages of my favorite picture books. My four kids and I read together every day, and these are the books I always reach for when it’s my turn to choose. I thought it would be fun to show you a peek into the best parts of these beloved books.
“Reading is the best thing you can do with your child,” proclaim the school teachers, my mother, and experts. Parents who read certainly know that not all children’s books are created equal; my kids and I all agree that these picks are the crown jewels of our family library.
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Harry and the Lady Next Door
A favorite from my own childhood, this book sweetly validates Harry in his frustration with a noisy neighbor. The last page is tied for favorite.
The Cat in the Hat
Of course this is my favorite page — the words are fun to read quickly PLUS the cat cleans the whole house.
The Digging-est Dog
By the age of ten, I had memorized this book because it was my brother David’s favorite — we read it hundreds of times together. Mrs. Thwaites’ energy here is really spot on.
The Story of Ferdinand
The scale, the warmth, the movement of this illustration still makes me feel like a little child, which is a picture book’s job, isn’t it? I love that we get to travel the path of the story on this page.
Flora and the Chicks: A Counting Book
Molly Idle, a former DreamWorks animator, is a masterful storyteller, despite zero words accompanying her illustrations. Can’t you just hear this picture?
Heckedy Peg
I’ve had this book since before my kids were born, it’s the clever tale of a mother who knows and loves her seven children completely and uniquely. Don’t you love their eager little faces? I’m Tuesday in my family!
Richard Scarry’s Please and Thank You Book
This specific page of this specific book ziplines me straight back to my childhood. All of Richard Scarry’s books do, but especially this page with the iconic Lowly Worm, the chaotic paper + glue moment, and that fluffy towel…!
From Head to Toe/ De la cabeza a los pies
Eric Carle is my #1 favorite children’s illustrator, and the connections in this book — between children and animals, as well as English and Spanish — warm me up like only a children’s book can.
Good Dog, Carl
I am not a dog person, but y’all, the way I love this animal!!! Every time I read this delightful wordless tale of a rottweiler babysitting a small baby, I wonder if this 80’s mom was onto something with her childcare solution. That gentle piggyback ride gets me.
My First Book of Feminism (For Boys)
Thoroughly unpolitical, the sweet and uplifting book encourages boys to embrace both yin and yang energy as they explore the world, with a gentle focus on how they can use their innate strengths to lift the girls and women in their lives. You know my favorite page is the one with a camera!
Quick As a Cricket
Short and pure fun, it’s an exploration of childhood identity illustrated by opposites with Don Wood’s gifted lifelike-but-imaginary technique. The first book each of my readers memorized! This pages makes me feel big and little at the same time. Very cozy.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
So grateful for a book where everything sucks! Thank you, Judith Viorst! And come on, is there any better zinger than “I hope you sit on a tack”? No.
Extra Yarn
Our young heroine Annabelle is generous, creative, and unflappable, even when everything is taken from her. Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen are masterful storytellers. A page with a Nate on it will always be my favorite!
Technicolor Treasure Hunt
Of the dozens of counting books we’ve read together, my kids and I never tire of the cheerful hand-painted rainbow of this book.
Draw Me a Star
It’s rare for an illustrator to give a step-by-step guide to their artwork in the middle of a book, which is why I always reach for this beautiful Eric Carle creation story. It includes a note from Eric to the child at the end, with a little story about his grandmother and this little star drawing.
Awesome! I highly recommend the Substack Can we read? by Sarah Miller: https://canweread.substack.com/
Alexander’s bad day is one of my favorite books to read aloud! So relatable! Who doesn’t have a litany of complaints! The bath is too hot! The cat prefers his brother! And those damn train pjs! So many injustices when you’re little!