Of the multitude of picture books in print, there are bound to be many different genres. One of my faves is the “marching to the beat of your own drum” type.
So here goes:
Meet Woolbur. He runs with dogs. He cards his own wool. He rides the spinning wheel. And he NEVER follows the flock.
Woolbur makes me happy. He is a free spirit who does his own thing, and he ends up inspiring the rest of the flock.
This one has the makings of a classic. Camilla Cream LOVES lima beans. But she won’t eat them because none of the other kids at school like them. In fact, she’s so worried about what people think about her that it causes her to break out into a bad case of “Stripes”!
Crispin is literally not your typical dragon. Instead of fire, he breathes whipped cream, marshmallows, teddy bears, and assorted other things. But sometimes, you need a different kind of talent to save the day.
Henny is a chicken with arms. Need I say more?
Mr. Tiger decides he’s had enough of the orderly, polite life of the city so he decided to go wild. But maybe what he really needs is a happy medium.
I’m soon going to become a broken record, but we LOVE Peter Brown books.
Oddrey is a little bit different from everybody else.
This one’s a best-seller on Amazon.com. Though in my humble opinion, most of the ones on this list are equally worthy. So many great books!
Sherman Crunchley has to find a way to tell his dad that he really doesn’t want to follow in his footsteps and become chief of police when his father retires.
Tina is an adventurous cow whose sisters don’t believe that she has climbed a tree and met a dragon.
Bernadette isn’t like other monsters (hey, it’s the theme), which makes it hard for her to make friends when she goes to Monster Academy.
Finklehopper Frog buys a snazzy jogging suit and starts hop-jumping. But all the other joggers laugh at him until Ruby Rabbit points out that his style suits him just fine.
Like many other rhyming books, it may take you a few reads to get the rhythm right. But it should be worth your while because the kidlets will definitely enjoy it.
Skippyjon Jones is no ordinary cat. In his imagination, Skippyjon is El Skippito, the great sword-fighter ready to fight banditos:
My name is Skippito Friskito.
I fear not a single bandito.
My manners are mellow,
I’m sweet like the Jell-O,
I get the job done, yes indeed-o.
Some folks feel the book is full of stereotypes, so definitely not everyone will like it. Personally, I think the Skippyjon Jones books are terrific. Maybe I’m naive, but I don’t think there’s anything bad about having a strong accent and liking pinto beans. And Skippito LOVES doing his own thing.
The Hueys are unique in the world but are all alike and do everything the same, until one of them decides to knit himself a sweater.
Steve’s mom tells him to be himself on his first day of school, but that can only get a wolf-boy in trouble. After all, wolves howl, shred and pounce. Will Steve find his place in the classroom?
Happy reading! 🙂
Raising Readers 