There’s something about Christmas that makes me reminisce about being a kid–or even doing my best to recreate favorite holiday moments (read: lots and lots of paper crafts).
In honor of that childlike wonder inspired by the season (and all the little ones in our lives!), we’re giving away five great kids books, all of which beckon back to picture book favorites:
Seven long-lost Dr. Seuss stories appear for the first time in The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories, including a story of a duck named McKluck. Originally featured in black and white in 1950 and 1951, the stories have been colorized for the new book. (Ages 6 and up)
Bumble-ardy by Maurice Sendak transforms the birthday party-less life of a little pig into a wild rumpus. It’s an instant classic, sprinkled with picture book legend Sendak’s dark humor. (All ages)
Little Bunny and the Magic Christmas Tree by David Martin (check out our Meet the Illustrator interview with Valeri Gorbachev) finds the littlest member of a bunny family on an unforgettable Christmas Eve adventure. (Ages 2 and up)
The Jumanji 30th Anniversary Edition by Chris Van Allsburg takes readers back to the Caldecott Medal-winning story of a mystical board game. This special edition contains a CD of actor Robin Williams reading the timeless tale. (Ages 6-8)
From Mercer Mayer, the author/illustrator behind the beloved Little Critter series, comes Mercer Mayer’s Little Monster Fun and Learn Book. Kids will learn their ABC’s, counting and much more with Mayer’s Little Monster. (Ages 3-8)
P.S. – For other great kids books, check out our December children’s books roundups: holiday picture books and gift books for all ages!
TO ENTER: Comment on this post with the name of your favorite picture book.
CONTEST DETAILS: One winner will be chosen by random.org from among entries received by 6 pm CST on December 9. The winner will receive copies of The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories, Bumble-ardy, Little Bunny and the Magic Christmas Tree, Mercer Mayer’s Little Monster Fun and Learn Book and Jumanji. This prize must be shipped to a North American address.
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Congratulations to our winner, Maureen, who loves Noisy Nora, Whose Mouse are You? and My Cat Just Sleeps at Our House.
Thank you to all who entered! Contest is now closed.
My oldest son (2.5yrs) loves Niccolini’s Song by Chuck Wilcoxen (illustrated by Mark Buehner) about a night watchman that sings lullabies to the trains in the train yard.
Brooke, I used to work with a librarian Robin, whose brother wrote that book…it is a wonderful book!!
Last year I gave my nephew A SICK DAY FOR AMOS MCGEE – I loved it so much, I almost bought one for myself.
My favorite picture book is Goodnight Moon which was a treasure for my children.
I agree with Goodnight Moon…thanks for the chance!
I have always love “Where the Wild thing Are”. My granddaughter enjoys “How do dinosaurs say goodnight”.
I love David Shannon’s No David! books.
Goodnight Moon for sure!! My kids always love that one!
Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar is my ALL TIME favorite.
Love this! Lots of us are going through hard times, but we all have things to be thankful for. This year I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl…soon to be seven months old. I’m a single Mom, and was told after emergency c-section not to drive for two weeks! hehehe When my Katherine Siobhan (Katie) was just five days old we made our first trip to the local library. I had books on hold that I read about in my bookpage news. I hope to instill a love of reading in my daughter. Of course right now she wants to EAT the pages!
just one! oh my goodness! “mortimer’s christmas manger”. but then there’s “you are my i love you.” “zen shorts.” okay, okay, i’ll stop.
Richard Scarry books are awesome!
oops! Katie’s favorite: Knick Knack Paddy Whack, Barefoot Books
My kids would love these books! Their favorite book is The Christmas Giant by Steve Light. He wrote and illustrated the story with fountain pens!
Tell Me a Mitzi by Lore Segal. Really captured my imagination as a child.
We LOVE Noisy Nora, Whose Mouse are You? and My Cat Just Sleeps at our house!!
My sons are huge David Shannon and Mo Willems fans when it comes to picture books.
My favorite childhood picture book was a beautifully illustrated edition of A is for Alice.
Ish by Peter Reynolds—-love love love the message.
Detective Dinosaur for us
Richard Scarry and the Mercer books – Grandma and I and in fact all of theirs.
Picking a favorite picture book is like picking a favorite child….impossible. I can’t even pick a favorite picture book author!
How about ‘Dogs Don’t Wear Sneakers’ by Laura Numeroff.
One of my more recent favorites is “I’m Your Peanut Butter Big Brother” by Selina Alko.
Would love, love, love having these books to share with my grand-girls, Sarah and Leah! They already love the classic little golden books, especially The Little Engine that could!
I can’t possibly pick one, my daughter has so many favorites, but some of our favorite authors are Mo Willems and the Elephant and Piggie books, and anything by Kevin Henkes…of course Dr. Seuss
My kids and I loved so many, and as a teacher I still do. Now I’m enjoying introducing some old favorites to my grandchildren. like Arnold Lobel’s Frog & Toad series.
Our family’s favorite book, for all generations, is “Love You Forever.”
Our all time favorite picture book is “Carl’s Birthday.” We never grew tired of telling the story a different way each time we “read” it.
My all time favorite is “The End of the Beginning” by Avi. Reading this little book never fails to make me smile.
Most people probably won’t know about the wonderful books of Satoshi Kitamura. My son loved ” Cat Is Sleepy”, Dog Is Thirsty”, and ” A Friend For Boots”. They were some of the first books he learned to read.
Oh my, only one??? Rainy morning by Daniel Pinkwater would be today’s choice
A Home for a Bunny – one of my daughter’s favorites.
“I Love You, Little One” by Nancy Tafuri and “The Kissing Hand” by Audrey Penn were favourites to read and express my love to my two young ones.
Also, really enjoyed “The Letters Are Lost” by Lisa Campbell Ernst. My son learned his alphabet from this book.
For art and teaching connection and love for the environment, I love, “Pond Circle” by Betsy Franco, illustrated by Stefano Vitale.
My favorite as a child was “The Poky Little Puppy” by Jeanette Sebring Lowrey. Since I now raise Great Danes, my favorite is “GoD and DoG” by Wendy Francisco which also has a musical version to go along with it. It is a wonderful tale of the importance of dogs in our lives and I always send a copy to a friend who has lost their dog to comfort them.
My grandson loooooves trains. Any book with trains is a favorite. His current favorite is “I Saw an Ant on the Railroad Track”. It has beautiful illustrations and is written in rhyme. He is spellbound every single time it is read to him.
We worn a few out but Goodnight Moon was our favorite,again and again,what fun!!!All cozy
My fave picture book is Katy and the Big Snow, by Virginia Lee Burton. It was originally written/published in the ’40s. My 3-year-old son LOVES to hear it over and over again.
The Polar Express
Any book by Mo Willems (especially Pig and Gerald), or Melanie Watt (Chester the Cat).
My favorite picture book was a Little Golden Book called The Little Lost Angel. I hadn’t seen it for years, and one day I looked on ebay and was able to purchase it for less than $5.00. It made my day!
That is sooo hard because I love so many of them. “The Five Chinese Brothers” is always a fav read, but anything by Chris van Allsburg as well. Too many to pick.
Latest favorite picture books in our house? — My daughter loves “The Magic Nesting Doll” by Jacqueline K. Ogburn (Long’s paintings are phenomenal). My son adores “I Want My Hat Back” by Jon Klassen. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve read it. He knows it by heart.
My grandchildren loves The Children’s Book of Virtues..teaches as it entertains,but I think I know it by heart,beautiful illustrations by Michael Hague and edited by William J. Bennett
Wow… so many great picture books out there….I really enjoy Mo Willems’, Elephant & Piggie series. Simple illustrations & a great sarcastic tone that makes the books fun for adults to read.
Goodnight Moon.
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
That’s a tough question, there are so many that are near and dear to me, but The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein comes to mind first.
I LOVE the Polar Express. And the Rainbow Fish!
We LOVE the Mercer Mayer and Bernstein Bears Books at our house!!!!
The Giving Tree is one of my favorites.
Goodnight Moon is by far the best!
My favorite picture book is THE WRETCHED STONE by Chris van Allsburg. I use it every semester in my developmental reading classes at the local community college. I begin by saying, “See if you can figure this out.”
(It is an extended metaphor about reading and someone always gets it.)
My favorite…after 36 years of being a school librarian that is hard…
But, I love the book that has me in it…Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk.
Wonderful book to inspire kids to write their own stories!
We love the Cajun Night Before Christmas….we have great memories of family reading this to us and now we read it to our kids.