Author: Alan Ahlberg
Illustrator: Bruce Ingman
Publisher: Candlewick, 2007
Age: 4-8
Themes: fairy tales, characters in literature, humorous stories
Opening: Goldilocks arrived home all bothered and hot. Previously she had been running like mad in the dark woods.
Summary: (from my library catalog) The adventures of various nursery rhyme and fairy tale characters are retold in backward sequence with each tale interrelated to the other. Includes Goldilocks, Jack and the beanstalk, Jack and Jill, the frog prince, Cinderella, and the gingerbread man.
I picked this book because: What a fun idea to not only twist the direction of time using familiar fairy tales and characters in literature, but to play with a word not generally used by early elementary students! I would like to think kids would be inspired to write a tale themselves after reading. Ingman’s illustrations are deceptively simple and delightful! Enjoy!
Resources/activities: Identify then read all the fairy tales included in the book. Choose one of the tales and create an illustration of your own – maybe even include yourself as a baby!
For more Perfect Picture Book Friday picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE.
Author/Illustrator: Jon Agee
Summary: (from my library’s catalog) A knight who feels secure on his side 
I like this book because: I live for picture books with humor so dry, concepts so simple, yet all brought together elegantly! And when the function of text and pictures can only work together, just as the maker intended, well, the stars shine brighter, don’t they?
Resources/Activities: once you’ve read the book together a few times (because you’ll want to) discuss each spread and all the elements present that help deliver the picture book maker’s intentions; act the whole thing out as a play; imagine what happens after the last page.
For more Perfect Picture Book Friday picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog 
Author: Hazel Edwards
Summary: (from my library catalog) The 
I like this book because: Simple, funny, and it’s based on a true story. Ha! Well, it’s true to our main character. And while we never find out what her name is, we surely know her! The bold yet spare palette capture the reader’s focused attention and get right to the point with very few lines. Hope you can find this ol’ gem!
Resources/Activities: write and illustrate your own stories based on what may be the reason for household problems and quirks. What makes the floors creak? Why won’t the toilet stop running? What goes bump in the night? Was that a squirrel or a branch or…?
For more Perfect Picture Book Friday picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog 
Author: Andy Stanton
Summary: (from my library catalog) When 
I like this book because: The humor and read-aloud-ability are the super-powers of this book. I really want to share it with my storytime crew, and though I wonder if the youngest might not catch some of the humor, it might just be worth trying! And summer is almost over – good time for us land-locked-lubbers! The illustrations are fun, bright and energetic, but in a few spots some interesting details are too close to the gutter – sorry I noticed at all, but hey, I notice stuff!
Resources/Activities: Read companion stories that have to do with eating, like I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie/Jackson and Schachner, The Runaway Dinner/ Ahlberg and Ingman, Stop That Pickle!/ Armour and Shachat;discuss your favorite foods and how much could be eaten in one sitting; have a mini watermelon eating contest (not as harmful as hotdogs!)
For more Perfect Picture Book Friday picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog 
Author: Ellen Yeomans
Summary: (from my library catalog) This Duck and That Duck get along swimmingly. But sometimes two 
I like this book because: IT’S GORGEOUS! The characters are adorable – but the mood! The soft light of a summer sun low in the sky on a hazy day makes me feel that humid summer days of yore were not all that bad (so easy to imagine from a spot in the semi-desert!) And it’s so funny! The humor builds steadily and by the end I had laughed heartily, out loud, all by myself! I think I want to take this book everywhere I go! Fingers crossed that my 4yr old neighbor comes over very soon.
Resources/Activities: Visit a pond of course, and look for other ducks! Learn the difference between a diving duck and a dabbler; Take a series of photos with a rubber duck slightly hidden, in your house and/or your garden, and share them with friends who like to find objects hidden in pictures; Read other books about ducks: Make Way for Ducklings/Robert McCloskey, 
For more Perfect Picture Book Friday picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog 
Author: David Elliott
Opening: This is Wooliam. He is a sheep. You will note that Wooliam is reading. There are not many sheep who read. But Wooliam is one of them.
Summary: (from the publisher): Baabwaa is a sheep who loves to knit. Wooliam is a sheep who loves to read. It sounds a bit boring, but they like it. Then, quite unexpectedly, a third sheep shows up. A funny-looking sheep who wears a tattered wool coat and has long, dreadfully decaying teeth. Wooliam, being well-read, recognizes their new acquaintance: the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing! The wolf is so flattered to discover his literary reputation precedes him that he stops trying to eat Baabwaa and Wooliam. And a discovery by the sheep turns the encounter into an unexpected friendship.
I like this book because:The whimsical watercolor-collages are cheerful and satisfying, as I always note them to be in Melissa Sweet’s books, but this time I am especially enjoying the character designs. I want to camp out with these three! But the storytelling! Ahh! It’s the sort I might call cheeky if I new exactly how the British apply the word. In any case it takes me back to stories I’ve read to my children just before they started reading early chapter books on their own, where they had more patience and could soak up all the goodness of a well-layered sense of humor. Have I sold you yet?
Resources/Activities: read a book, learn to knit a scarf (check out 
Author/Illustrator: Éric Veillé, translated by Daniel Hahn
Summary: (from my library catalog) Offers humorous drawings comparing things before and 
Why I like this book: Hilarious! But, come on – who would not have picked up a cover like THAT? This is one readers can really spend their time looking at again and again, figuring out what happened and why. The illustrations are simple in comic-style, with great use of negative space and complimentary colors. So fun!
Resources/Activities: Make your own lists and/or drawings of some of your own belongings and what they might look like after an incidence, like a rainstorm, a day at school, a visit from family or friends, etc.
For more Perfect Picture Book picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog 
Author: Bernard Friot; translation: Yvette Ghione
Summary: (from the publisher) A hilarious picture book tale of a small boy’s mischief, with a sly take on what it wreaks in the world of the grown-ups.
Why I like this book: This hilarious depiction of a small narrative ‘incident’ is a perfect example of what an illustrator can do to amplify the story through deceptively simple gestures and details. Bravo! I’m sure the kids will laugh out loud with this one, but it may make a few more suspicious of their dinner salads!
Resources/Activities: This book provides an interesting opportunity to discuss past and present practices of work associates and families: why would a boss invite his workers home for a dinner? Have workers invited their bosses? For what purpose? Together read, How to Eat Fried Worms 
For more Perfect Picture Book picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog 
julie rowan-zoch 
