Picture Books

For ages 4-8 but to be enjoyed by all.

R. Gregory Christie’s Award-Winning Titles

A simple search of illustrator R. Gregory Christie produced 41 results. While trying to narrow the search to only award winners to minimize this reading list, I was pleasantly disappointed to see that “narrowing” it down to simply award winners still left me with 24 results. Here they are… Sugar […]

Award of the Week – The New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2016

The NYT Best Illustrated Children’s Books are named annually since the 1952. The NYT Book Review has selected a panel of judges who select each year’s winners based solely on artistic merit. Below are the 2016 winners, including a title illustrated by R. Gregory Christie The White Cat and the […]

On Our Night Stand – What Gertrude and I are Reading Before Bed

Bedtime with a toddler, at least in my house, is hit or miss. She may go to bed unbathed, teeth unbrushed, without pajamas but I can always count on a story. Check out our current favorites. Lenny & Lucy By: Philip Stead A picture book about moving to a new […]

Award of the Week – The Boston Globe-Horn Book Award

The Boston Globe-Horn Book Award is presented each year to winners in each of three categories: Picture Book, Fiction and Poetry, and Nonfiction. Each winning title must be published in the United States and is chosen by a panel of three judges appointed annually by the editor of the Horn Book. Below are this year’s […]

The Cook Prize

The Cook Prize is presented by the Bank Street College of Education and honors the best science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) picture book published for children ages 8-10. Finalists are chosen by a panel of judges including two math/science faculty from the Graduate School of Education and two teachers from the School for Children […]

Cows in Storytime – Dairy Parade 2017

The first Tuesday in June is a local holiday in my hometown. Every June our county’s finest come out for the annual Dairy Parade highlighting our local businesses, community organizations, marching bands, and, of course, the local dairy industry complete with a Dairy Princess. The Dairy Parade has been a mainstay in my life, first […]

Comstock-Gág Read Aloud Book Awards

Comstock-Gág Read Aloud Book Awards is a program initiated by the Curriculum Materials Center at the Livingston Lord Library at Minnesota State University that supports two separate awards, the Comstock Read Aloud Book Award and the Wanda Gág Read Aloud Book Award. The Comstock Read Aloud Book Award is an annual award for the best read […]

Girls in STEM

In honor of CLCD’s founder, Marilyn Courtot, computer programmer and female pioneer, here is a list of award winning books that put women in the STEM spotlight. Enjoy! Ada Twist, scientist By: Andrea Beauty Ada Twist is a very curious girl who shows perseverance by asking questions and performing experiments to […]

This Time Last Year – Award Winning Books From May 2016

From the top books published in May 2016, the following titles went on to win awards and live up to their pre-pub hype Save me a seat By: Sarah Weeks Ravi has just moved to the United States from India and has always been at the top of […]

National Teacher’s Day — Celebrating One of the Best!

National Teachers day is May 9, 2017 and to celebrate I decided to honor one of my longest and closest friends, Leslie Randall Peters, who also happens to be an amazing art teacher. Of all of my friends, (all 4 of them), it seems that Leslie always knew exactly what she wanted and how to […]

Don’t Get Caught in the Rain — Rainy Day Stories

April brings spring showers and hopefully spring flowers so do not despair on a rainy day but instead embrace it and enjoy these books for a rain themed story time. Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain: A Nandi Tale By: Verna Aardema A cumulative rhyme relating how Ki-pat […]

Happy Birthday! Celebrating Authors/Illustrators Born in April

Celebrate spring and the birthdays of these great authors and illustrators April 2 Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales By: H.C. Andersen A collection of Andersen’s tales including The Fir Tree, The Little Match Girl, The Emperor’s New Clothes, Thumbelina, The Tinderbox, and The Ugly Duckling. Ages 6 and up April […]

Storytime in the Garden — Picture Books About Flowers and Gardens

I am on a good weather high. Yesterday was sunny and 60’s and todays forecast is close to 80. As we were out walking yesterday I saw a lot of people clearing out their gardens to plant new seeds and noticed flowers coming up. Though we are still a long way from our last frost […]

Love for Libraries — Celebrating National Library Week

I have a love hate relationship with libraries. Of course, having worked in a public library, academic library, school library, and medical library, I love libraries! Still, having worked in a public library, academic library, school library, and medical library, I hate libraries. Let me explain. I have often said I could write a book […]

The E.B. White Read-Aloud Award — Picture Book Finalists

The E.B. White Read-Aloud Award is given annually by the American Booksellers Association. Below are the Picture Book finalists for 2017 which “reflect the playful, well-paced language, the engaging themes, and the universal appeal to a wide range of ages embodied by E.B. White’s collection of beloved books”. Click here for the Middle Reader finalists. A […]

Spring is Here…Finally!

Spring is here finally, or at least for today. The sun was shining and warm air surrounded us as we walked downtown. Daddy took Gertrude to the park on the bike, I hung diapers to dry out in the driveway. It feels great! After a long winter it is hard to remember the beauty of […]

April Fool’s — Trickster Tales From Around the World

Trickster tales are stories that have stood against the test of time. They often involve a mischievous animal character who loves to play tricks on his friends. Often times the tricksters will get what is coming to them but other times they get away with their pranks. Almost every culture has its own trickster tales […]

Winter is for Snow — But…It’s March for Goodness Sake

Having been buried in nearly 2 ft of snow this past week I thought I would share with you a post and reading list I did back in November at the beginning of the season. Now, similarly, more than 3 months later we have been pummelled with snow so that any hopes of an early Spring […]

The Chocolate Lily Book Award — British Columbia’s Reader’s Choice Children’s Book Award

The Chocolate Lily Book Award was the brain child of teacher-librarian, Karen Ehrenholz who was looking to connect her own daughters as well as her students to writers and illustrators in their own community. The award is a reader’s choice award which encourages grade school students to read and enjoy fiction written by authors and […]

Scrub a Dub Dub Put Me In the Tub — Stories About Bathtime

Full disclosure…this list comes straight from my desire to take a shower (I can’t stand taking a bath). It has been a long and admittedly stinky week. Thanks to Winter Storm Stella we can no longer see the green grass which made us think Spring was around the corner. Silly Central NYers! That green grass […]