1) Dandy by Ame Dyckman, illustrated by Charles Santoso
I just shared this one last week on Instagram but it is such a heavy favorite right now that it needs mentioned again. There was a 2 week period where either my husband or I were reading it every night. And I enjoyed it so much I didn't sneak it off to the library return box! The Daddy Lion loves his little girl (called Sweetie in the book) but he also loves having a perfect yard. The other Daddy's in the neighborhood seem rather competitive about this. So when he discovered a rouge dandelion in his yard he knows he has to destroy it. Until his beloved daughter befriends the dandelion and thwarts his every attempt to get rid of Charlotte (the dandelion, obviously). It's super sweet, charming, and we'll probably own it soon.
2) If You Had Your Birthday Party on the Moon by Joyce Lapin, illustrated by Simona Ceccarelli
This was on my list of {14} Picture Books about the Moon and Space earlier this week but it had a long period of being Luke's absolutely favorite book that it seems unfair to leave it off this list. And this is one I snuck back to the library, not because I didn't like it but because it was on the longer side and I had read it enough (then my son noticed it was gone and I had to use up one of our precious holds on it to get it back). It's all hypothetical, about what your birthday party would be like on the moon, from the 3 days journey each way, to not being able to have traditional cake in the spaceship because of crumbs, to warning your friends not to take TOO heavy of a rock as a souvineer because they might not be able to lift it back on Earth. We did learn a few things about the Moon on this book although now I don't think a Taun-Taun pinata is going to cut it at his next birthday party.
3) Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs by Tomie dePaola
It can be pretty surprising the books Luke will latch on to and request repeats of. I didn't expect this one! It's based on the author's real experience of visiting his Grandma and Great-Grandma when he was a kid. Nana Upstairs was his mostly bedridden Great-Grandma who he would spend a whole lot of time with on their weekly visits. Nana Downstairs was his Grandma who did all cooking and entertaining downstairs. Luke still talks frequently of Great Grandpa (my Grandpa and the only great-grand he remembers meeting) and it warms my heart to hear him talk about Great Grandpa and to enjoy this story about the value and specialness of those relationships.
4) The Bear, the Piano, the Dog, and the Fiddle by David Litchfield
We read the first book in this "series" and it wasn't highly memorable but Luke and I both enjoyed this one, of a fiddle playing dog who had learned to play when his owner put down his fiddler after nobody wanted to listen to an old man play when they could be listening to a bear who played the piano. The fiddle playing Dog joins an animal band, including the piano playing Bear and his former owner is worried the Dog has long forgotten him in his fame. I thought the pictures in this one were so colorful and outstanding and the story was really sweet.
5) Go for the Moon: A Rocket, a Boy, and the First Moon Landing by Chris Gall
Another one I had to read multiple times and it was a longer one! I believe this is based on the author's experience of being a kid during the first moon landing and how he would play with his model rocket in the backyard and play what they were watching the astronauts do on tv. It was a nice way to bring it all back, to show Luke how he can play "space" or make model rockets and learn more about what's in all these books we've been reading. It went into pretty good detail while also making it very kid accessible.
Have YOU read any good picture books lately?
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