I am enjoying reading kids books more than I thought I would–well, some of them. I’m generally not a huge fan of the maudlin, poetic, “I love you” books, but I do like the more “character-driven” ones, if you can say that about a board book or a picture book.
I am really digging Mo Willems in particular. Che loves Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
I love that Willems creates characters who, though imaginary, feel real. There’s a verisimilitude to them. The pigeon wheedles us and throws temper tantrums. Trixie gets frustrated that her father has no clue what she’s trying to say. They aren’t merely characters who behave and are cute.
You can check out Willems’ website. It’s also cool that he lives in Noho. I also just read that he is going to be appearing at the Holyoke Barnes & Noble later this month.
Che also just received two books by Leslie Patricelli. She has very simple drawing, but the concepts are very fun. Higher! Higher!
As I mentioned, I have been pleasantly surprised by how fun some of these books are. I also like to embellish the stories, of course. Check them out below:
http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=sujaldotnet-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&asins=078681988Xhttp://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=sujaldotnet-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&asins=0786818697 http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=sujaldotnet-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&asins=0786837462 http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=sujaldotnet-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&asins=0786818700 http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=sujaldotnet-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&asins=0763632414 http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=sujaldotnet-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&asins=0763632457
The Connecticutian 